After Slovenia received several shipments of protective gear in the past few days, its current stock should suffice at least for a week, chief of the civil protection service Srečko Šestan told the press. New orders have also been placed, so there should be enough protective gear in the future as well, said Aleš Cantarutti of the Economy Ministry.
Slovenia currently has over 7,500 protective suits, 26,000 FFP3/N95 masks, 790,000 surgical masks, 100,000 IIR surgical masks and 7.7 million pairs of gloves. Provided that the gear is used up at a similar pace as it was in the past week, this will suffice for at least one week, Šestan said, noting that additional shipments were expected.
He said health institutions – hospitals, community health centres, retirement homes, pharmacies and dentists – had priority in the distribution of protective gear. Some 30% of the gear is intended for other providers of crucial services such as funeral services, taxi drivers, security guards, prisons etc.
The Civil Protection and Disaster Relief Administration has between 2,000 and 5,000 people working in the field every day, including helping with border checks and distributing aid to people’s homes. Šestan said they were also ready for a potential increase in demand for their services.
Some 100 employees of the Financial Administration (FURS) and FURS vehicles were also helping with the distribution of the gear, the chief of the civil protection services said.
According to Economy Ministry State Secretary Aleš Cantarutti, the first Slovenian-made masks have already been delivered as well. Given the number of companies making face masks in Slovenia now, Cantarutti believes the country will eventually reach a certain degree of self-sufficiency in this respect.
Nevertheless, the Commodity Reserves Institute has made several new orders in the past days, and the delivery of those items, including 326 additional ventilators, is expected in the next 60 days.