Strict lockdown measures in Slovenia to last another 2-4 weeks
Ljubljana, 5 April - Strict lockdown measures that Slovenia introduced three weeks ago to fight the coronavirus epidemic are working and they will last "at least two to four weeks," only then will Slovenia consider starting relaxing the measures so that life may start returning to normal, government spokesman Jelko Kacin said on Sunday.
Ljubljana
Bojana Beović, the head of the medical task force for coronavirus action at the Health Ministry.
Photo: Daniel Novaković/STA
File photo
"Once we initiate relaxation measures, they will have to be carefully planned and measures, with the awareness that we will have to live with the virus and the epidemic for a while," Kacin, the spokesman for the coronavirus epidemic, said at the government's daily media briefing.
His words were echoed by Bojana Beović, an infectious disease specialist who heads the Health Ministry's medical task force for coronavirus. She said Slovenia was handling the epidemic well due to the strict measures and hospitals have not been overwhelmed yet, but she said this was merely "an intermediate objective".
The curves have been flattened and the epidemic has been brought into a "stationary state" but "we have not yet been able to reverse the trend". Reversing the curve will depend on government measures as well as the actions of each individual, she said.
Slovenia reported 28 confirmed coronavirus deaths by Saturday, up by six in a day, whereas the number of confirmed infections increased by just 20 to 997.