New rules enter into force for arrivals from southern Africa
Ljubljana, 2 December - Due to the spread of the Omicron variant of coronavirus, the government decreed that from today, passengers arriving in Slovenia from seven countries in southern Africa are required to take three PCR tests during their mandatory 10-day quarantine, which was imposed already on Saturday.
Asuncion, Paraguay
The government imposing additional measures for arrivals from southern African countries over the Omicron scare.
Photo: dpa/STA
File photo
The government amended the rules for entering the country at a correspondence session yesterday and the decree, published in the Official Journal on Wednesday evening, entered into force on Thursday.
A 10-day quarantine remains mandatory for persons arriving to Slovenia who reside in South Africa, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia or Zimbabwe, or persons who have visited those countries in the 14 days before entering Slovenia. Foreigners without residence in Slovenia arriving from these countries are banned from entry.
The government has now imposed an additional rule requiring that these arrivals take three PCR tests after being ordered to quarantine at home.
They need to take a PCR test upon entering Slovenia and repeat it on the 5th and 10th days while quarantining at home, but cannot end the mandatory quarantine early regardless of the test result.
Those who had been in the African countries for 14 days before the new regulation came into force must report to emergency services by dialling the number 113, after which they will be ordered to quarantine at home for 10 days. They are required to take a PCR test right after making the call and on the final day of quarantine.
Nineteen people have already been put in the 10-day quarantine due to arrivals from areas at risk. One person received a quarantine order at the airport upon arrival, while 18 cases were self-reported, the police told the STA.
After the mandatory 10-day quarantine was imposed on Saturday, five people were quarantined on the same day, while four more followed on Sunday, six on Monday, one on Tuesday and two on Wednesday.
The government also recommends for travellers from countries that are not on the list but where Omicron has been confirmed to take a rapid test on arriving in Slovenia.
However, no other restrictions are planned at the moment for entry to Slovenia from EU countries where Omicron has been detected, Interior Minister Aleš Hojs told the press today.
He noted that Health Minister Janez Poklukar was discussing the matter with his EU counterparts. "I must say that at this point I see no need to beef up measures within the Schengen zone or the EU," he said after today's EU-Western Balkans ministerial in Brdo pri Kranju.