Persons entering Slovenia as of Sunday will be subjected to a week-long quarantine at home or at a location agreed with the civil defence, and then tested for the new coronavirus, says a government decree which shortens such quarantine from two weeks. Cross-border workers, cargo vehicle drivers and transit passengers will be excluded.Under the decree, if a person declines to be tested after a seven-day quarantine or if test cannot be performed, the quarantine will be automatically extended for a week.
If the test is negative, the quarantine ends, but the person will need to immediately inform the health authorities about possible Covid-19 symptoms. This also applies for the duration of the quarantine.
If the test is positive, the person will be treated under the standard procedure for such cases. The quarantine will also be extended if the results are not available on the day of the testing, but only until the results are known.
Persons who have permanent or temporary residence in Slovenia will be quarantined at home or, if this is not possible, at a location agreed with the civil defence. They will have to cover the costs of the quarantine.
Persons who do not have permanent or temporary residence in Slovenia will need to provide an address where they will be accommodated and quarantined, otherwise they will not be allowed to enter the country.
Foreigners who are coming to Slovenia to work will be ordered quarantine at the address stated by the employer, which they will need to prove at the border.
Employers will need to provide foreign workers with adequate conditions for the quarantine, as well as with food and security. Their accommodation must meet the recommendations issued by the National Public Health Institute (NIJZ).
Slovenian citizens who state that they are infected or that they have apparent symptoms of Covid-19 upon entering Slovenia will be instructed to immediately contact the health authorities. Foreigners will not be allowed the enter the country in such cases.
The decree does not apply to cross-border daily migrant workers and weekly migrant workers who work in Austria, and for persons attending a funeral of a close relative in a neighbouring country.
Also excluded are drivers of cargo vehicles who transport goods to and from Slovenia or across Slovenia, persons who will travel through Slovenia in a single day, and persons who possess diplomatic passports.
The measure does not apply to persons providing urgent services, members of rescue and protection services, health workers, police officers, firefighters and persons participating in humanitarian convoys.
Also excluded are citizens of Slovenia, Austria, Italy and Hungary who own or lease land plots located on both sides of the border and who perform agricultural work on such land.
Head of the Koper unit of the NIJZ Milan Krek told the press today that the current measures had prevented a steep increase in the number of infected persons, which would overburden the healthcare system and cause excessive number of deaths.
He added that Slovenia had been handling the epidemic very well, much better that many countries, but that the situation was not stable yet and that people should stick to the expert recommendations.
“We need to hold on for a few more days in order to stabilise and ease the epidemic,” Krek said, adding that it was riskful to soften the restrictions before the epidemic was stabilised.