Slovenia confirmed 1,796 new cases of coronavirus on Friday, on a par with the day before. A total of 6,710 tests were carried out, meaning that the positivity rate dropped to 26.8% from 28.2% the day before, the government’s coronavirus spokesman Jelko Kacin announced on Twitter.
The number of tests has been gradually declining in recent days after it was decided to scale back testing to focus on the most vulnerable groups, most notably the elderly and health staff. Friday’s test total is roughly ten percent below the daily peak.
Epidemiologist Bojana Beović, the head of the government’s medical task force for coronavirus, noted that the number of tests remained high despite the recommendation to adjust testing and was still “fairly reliable,” meaning that the figures serve as an indicator of the state of the epidemic.
Hospital admissions continue to surge. There are currently 779 people in hospital, up from 703 the day before, while the number of patients in intensive care remained level at 122.
Beović said the growth was expected given the scale of confirmed infections. The figure is expected to continue rising and is projected to peak at around 1,200 if the containment measures are successful. The projected peak number of ICU patients is in the 200-300 range.
Another 23 people have died, 15 in hospital and eight at nursing homes, according to Kacin.
Since the start of the epidemic Slovenia has logged over 34,000 cases, of which 21,885 are currently active, while the rolling 14-day average has increased to 1,044 per 100,000 residents according to data tracker Covid-19 Sledilnik.