End of epidemic declared, but not everything's back to normal: What life in Slovenia will be like

Illustration: Nikola Jovanovic; Photo: Shutterstock

The Slovenian government has officially declared the end to the coronavirus epidemic, making it the first country in Europe to do that, after the authorities confirmed that there had been less than seven new cases a day for two weeks.

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However, declaring the end of the epidemic does not mean that Slovenians' lives are returning to normal. On the contrary. Although the borders will be open and citizens arriving to Slovenia from other countries are no longer under obligation to spend at least seven days in quarantine, for the Slovenians themselves, a number of measures remain in force.

Although the assessment of the Institute of Public Health is that the danger from coronavirus has passed, the epidemiological situation still requires caution, and many measures will remain in force in Slovenia.

Measures remaining in force

Bojana Beovic from the Institute explains that citizens will still be under obligation to wear masks in stores, to keep their distance in closed facilities, and that constant disinfection is still mandatory.

"All these measures remain in force," Beovic explains.

According to her, care will continue to be taken to prevent the virus from spreading again. People will continue to be tested, placed in isolation, and if an infection occurs, their contacts will be traced, while vulnerable categories will be put in quarantine. It is also stated that people should continue to take great care of personal hygiene, and respect social distancing.

Also, Slovenia will continue do distribute aid packages to the most vulnerable population, and assist the economy endangered by the epidemic.

There's no quarantine, but there are rules

According to the Slovenian authorities, all persons who enter Slovenia will not have to be quarantined, but there will be certain restrictions. Namely, those who have a permanent or temporary permit to stay in the territory of Slovenia or other EU countries can enter the without going to quarantine - in case they had not traveled outside the EU in the previous two weeks. Others, citizens of non-EU countries, will have to spend some time in quarantine.

Slovenia, which has two million citizens and borders Italy, Austria, Hungary and Croatia, has so far reported 1,464 confirmed coronavirus cases and 103 deaths.

On this page (in Serbian) you can follow coronavirus data from all over the world

(Telegraf.rs)