Prime Minister Janez Janša posted on Twitter that an epidemic has been declared for the whole of Slovenia for 30 days, as of Monday. He posted this message on Sunday evening when a section of the Government, together with the advisory group of the Ministry of Health, discussed the current situation.

That the declaration of the epidemic of the novel coronavirus was imminent was clear after yesterday’s results when the number of COVID-19 patients treated in intensive care approached the threshold for declaring the epidemic.

According to the plan of measures for containing the novel coronavirus, the Government anticipated the declaration of the epidemic when the incidence rate of new cases in the last 14 days exceeded 140 per 100,000 inhabitants, when more than 250 people require hospitalisation and over 50 people require intensive care.

Prime Minister Janša also wrote on Twitter that the declaration of the epidemic only directly triggered the activation of the civil protection forces. All other measures must be adopted individually, which will take place proportionately with the needs starting from today.

He also emphasised that the European experience shows that there are measures, which are proportionate, effective and also save lives, health and the economy: the general use of protective face masks, partial restriction of movement during night time and between places, working and learning from home and the use of the #OstaniZdrav application.