Isabel Togoh Forbes Staff
TOPLINE
Slovenia is the first country in Europe to declare an end to its coronavirus outbreak, its government declared on Friday, after a dramatic slowdown in new cases.
KEY FACTS
35 cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed in the country over the past two weeks, including one on Friday.
The rate of reproduction, known as ‘R’, is now below 1, meaning an infected person on average will transmit the virus to less than one person.
Slovenia has had 1,465 confirmed cases of coronavirus since the first case was reported there on March 4, 2020, according to the country’s National Institute of Public Health. According to Johns Hopkins University data, 103 people have died.
The mandatory seven-day quarantine for EU citizens traveling into Slovenia has been lifted.
But some social distancing measures remain until at least the end of May. This includes having to wear masks in public enclosed spaces, while testing and contact tracing will continue.
The restrictive measures have been a source of tension: Last Friday, thousands of citizens cycled through Ljubljana, Slovenia’s capital city, to protest the center-right government’s lockdown.
Demonstrators accused Prime Minister Janez Jansa was using the measure to attack journalists, stoke anti-immigrant rhetoric and increase police powers. The government denies the claims.
CRUCIAL COMMENT
Janša told Parliament on Thursday: “In the past two months, almost exactly two months in fact, Slovenia was able to curb the epidemic, despite the general lack of support. Today, Slovenia has the best epidemiological picture in Europe, which means that the end of the general epidemic could soon be declared.”
But attention now turns to a transition phase in which the “danger of individual outbreaks” and a potential second wave looms over the country of 2 million people. Janša added: “In this phase, the future or the managing of the risks is ultimately no longer in the hands of the Government…but rather in the hands of each individual.”
KEY BACKGROUND
Europe has had the largest cluster of countries worst affected by the coronavirus pandemic, and at one point was the hot spot for the virus. But this month, Italy, Spain, France, Germany and the U.K. are some of those severely hit countries that are lifting the most stringent restrictions on daily life and allowing some non-essential businesses to reopen. New Zealand is also one of few countries to declare they have beaten coronavirus, and at the end of April transitioned into a more relaxed lockdown.
