COVID-19
At the end of 2019, several cases of pneumonia with a hitherto unknown causative agent, the new coronavirus called SARS-CoV2, and the disease caused by the virus COVID-19 were detected in Wuhan, China. In early 2020, the virus spread rapidly to all countries of the world. In Slovenia, the first case of infection introduced from another country was confirmed on 4 March 2020. Soon, the SARS-CoV2 virus began to spread around the country. Following the proposal of the National Institute of Public Health, the Slovenian Ministry of Health declared an epidemic on 12 March 2020 thereby activating the Pandemic Plan. To contain the spread of the infection, various measures were introduced to restrict gatherings, movement and the provision of services. The measures included the closure of educational institutions, the suspension of public transport, the promotion of work from home, restriction of movement within municipalities and the suspension of all non-essential services, including those in healthcare. In healthcare, all non-essential services were suspended, with the exception of oncology services (the exception did not apply to cancer screening programmes, which were suspended) and pregnancy-related services. Medical staff were redeployed to COVID-19 wards and other sites, measures were introduced to restrict entry into health institutions (first contact with a doctor by telephone, only allowing the admission of patients with appointments, entry into the institution only through a triage point, mandatory questionnaires before entry, etc.), along with measures to protect both employees and the patients/population against infection (the use of personal protective equipment). The measures were adapted depending on the epidemiological situation at a given time. The first wave of the epidemic reached its peak at the end of March 2020, after which the number of new cases began to decline. In the second half of April 2020, the government began to ease restrictions, the restrictions on health services were lifted on 9 May 2020, and the end of the epidemic was declared on 31 May 2020. Still, some sensible measures were kept in place.
At the end of August and in September 2020, the number of new COVID-19 cases started increasing again. Due to the rapid spread among the population, an epidemic was again declared on 19 October 2020. Various measures to restrict movement, gatherings and the provision of services have been reintroduced. In healthcare, all non-essential services, with the exception of oncology services, were again suspended. This time, cancer screening programmes were also part of the exception and continued to run undisturbed with some adjustments and minor changes in scope (particularly due to the lack of staff getting ill or redeployment to other wards and sites). The number of new cases was much higher in the second, autumn wave than in the first, spring wave of the epidemic. In the second one, the 7-day average reached 2,000 new cases, while in the first one it was only up to 50 new cases. The virus spread particularly rapidly in nursing homes. New variants of the virus emerged and spread even faster. Due to the large number of infections and limited laboratory capacity, the testing regime and the search for contacts changed as the epidemic progressed. At the end of 2020, the global development of science and services provided us with rapid antigen tests for SARS-CoV2, which allowed for much quicker (albeit slightly less reliable) results. On 27 December 2020, the first inhabitants of Slovenia received their COVID-19 vaccine shots. In the coming months, the vaccination of the population was promoted according to the Vaccination Strategies, which defined the priority groups in line with the availability of the vaccine and other factors. The Slovenian government adjusted the measures as the epidemic progressed. The second wave of the epidemic had three peaks: the end of October 2020, the beginning of January 2021 and the beginning of April 2021. In mid-April 2021, the number of new COVID-19 cases began to decline steadily. On 15 June 2021, the end of epidemic was declared. Nevertheless, some measures limiting the spread of infection have remained in place.
For more detailed information on the epidemic in Slovenia and the world and measures limiting the spread of the infection, please follow the links below.
National Institute of Public Health (NIJZ)
The National Institute of Public Health (Nacionalni inštitut za javno zdravje, NIJZ) is monitoring developments regarding the coronavirus outbreak. They publish up-to-date and key information and recommendations to protect public health, and issue guidelines for healthcare professionals and epidemiologists in connection with the SARS-CoV2. In accordance with the methodology for monitoring SARS-CoV2 infections, they publish daily data on the epidemic, including laboratory-confirmed cases from the previous day. They also conduct epidemiological surveys based on laboratory reports.
Since March 2020, the Government of the Republic of Slovenia has been monitoring the epidemiological situation in Slovenia and adopted and adapted measures to contain the spread of the coronavirus in the country depending on the number of infected people and the occupancy of hospital beds. The government publishes current data on the epidemic, measures to contain the spread of infections, instructions and explanations on testing and quarantine, measures for crossing Slovenian borders, as well as the latest ECDC situation updates (the colour-coded list of countries) and the national COVID-19 vaccination strategy.
National Laboratory for Health, Environment and Food
The National Laboratory for Health, Environment and Food (Nacionalni laboratorij za zdravje, okolje in hrano) is the central and largest Slovenian public health laboratory. Its services include environmental protection, diagnostic and public health microbiology, chemical and microbiological analyses of various types of samples, and research.
During the epidemic, the laboratory has been tracking SARS-CoV2 variants, performing whole-genome sequencing and publishing weekly sampling results.
The Tracker (Sledilnik) project is aimed at collecting, analysing and publishing data on the spread of the SARS-CoV2 virus in Slovenia. The website combines and presents existing data on the epidemic in a way that everyone can understand, particularly using graphs and visualizations. The goal of the Tracker is to provide an overview of the data, which is key to understanding the scale of the problem. The Tracker provides the public and decision-makers with a comprehensive overview of the epidemic at the national level and allows for proper risk assessment so that they can act accordingly and make informed decisions regarding measures to contain the spread of infections.
The Tracker community uses publicly available data from official sources (such as the NIJZ, the Slovenian Government and the Ministry of Health), administrative sources in the healthcare system (such as the University Medical Centres Ljubljana and Maribor and the University Clinic Golnik), Civil Protection sources and from the national and local media.
The Jožef Stefan Institute (Institut Jožefa Stefana) makes projections for the spread of the COVID-19 epidemic in Slovenia and publishes them on its website. The team at the institute uses Dr Leskovar's model for COVID-19 epidemic modelling in Slovenia, which is also presented in detail. The COVID-19 projections are updated daily. The institute publishes key articles and projects that are the basis for COVID-19 research and modelling at the institute. In addition, the website includes Coronavirus Watch, which provides data and visualizations of new COVID-19 cases and deaths in all the countries of the world. The institute takes an active part in this project. There is also Corona Live, a display of real-time data on the epidemic in the world with various animations. It is managed by one of the Jožef Stefan Institute's staff.
European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC)
The Centre plays a key role in coordinating epidemiological surveillance and the response to infectious diseases at the European level. The measures envisaged include health and non-health countermeasures and close cooperation between the national authorities of the EU Member States, the European Union and the World Health Organization.
The centre provides monitoring data and scientific advice on infectious diseases and conditions to be reported, disease outbreaks and public health hazards. It analyses and interprets EU data on infectious diseases and conditions using the European Surveillance System (TESSy). It advises countries and expert institutions on infectious diseases, provides the early detection and analysis of new threats, assists countries in preparing for disease outbreaks, and coordinates European training programmes in interventional epidemiology and public health microbiology.
The COVID-19 page contains data on the epidemic at the European and global level, a weekly situation update by country, a weekly report on the epidemiological monitoring of the epidemic, and data displays with tables, maps and graphs. The centre also publishes maps with epidemic indicators, which support the Council of Europe in its recommendations for travel within the EU. The maps are updated every Thursday and show 14-day indicators with a one-week delay. There is also information on the various coronavirus variants and on the availability of coronavirus vaccines, including the status of vaccination in the EU.
The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME)
The IHME is an independent research centre in the field of public health at the University of Washington School of Medicine (USA), which provides accurate and comparable measurements of the most important global health challenges and evaluates strategies to address them. Their information is freely accessible and provides decision-makers with the necessary evidence for informed decisions on the allocation of resources to improve the health of the population as efficiently as possible.
The IHME develops and regularly updates the forecasting models on the global, regional and country levels to help plan the COVID-19 pandemic response. Forecasts for Slovenia are also available. Apart from that, the IHME issues weekly reports in PDF format. After selecting the location, you can access the latest report for Slovenia, which contains a summary of the latest projections from the IHME model on COVID-19 in Slovenia. The report describes the current situation (number of new cases, number of deaths, etc.), trends in drivers of transmission (mobility, use of masks, testing, vaccination), projections of different scenarios, current protection measures, hospital bed occupancy, as well as vaccination and mortality rates. The report also provides a comparison with other European countries and more detailed comparisons with neighbouring countries (Austria, Croatia and Italy). Older reports are available too.
