Slovenia on Wednesday recorded 2,107 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, taking the national tally of confirmed cases to 100,389, according to official figures.
The country conducted 6,579 coronavirus tests on Tuesday, 32 percent of which came back positive. According to the COVID-19 tracker site Sledilnik, there are currently 20,794 active cases in the country.
A total of 1,251 COVID-19 patients are being treated in hospitals across the country, 211 of them in intensive care. Thirty-nine new deaths took the toll to 2,190.
Health Minister Tomaz Gantar has said that voluntary mass testing for coronavirus could start in Ljubljana as early as next week prior to Christmas holidays, with testing to be made available more widely after the New Year holiday.
The Slovenian government has decided to ease certain business restrictions related to the COVID-19 epidemic from Tuesday till Dec. 23. Some services will resume nationwide, such as public transportation, as well as hair salons, flower shops, car washes and dry cleaners. Others will be limited to the four regions with the best epidemiological situation.
The government also slightly relaxed the measure of wearing protective masks for one week. Face masks will be mandatory in outdoor public areas only if it is not possible to keep at least a 2-meter distance.
Slovenia has had fairly high numbers of new infections and one of the highest mortality rates in the world in recent weeks, but the epidemic has been plateauing for over a month at roughly 20,000-21,000 active cases.
As the world is struggling to contain the pandemic, countries including France, China, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States are racing to find a vaccine.
According to the website of the World Health Organization, as of Dec. 8, there were 214 COVID-19 candidate vaccines being developed worldwide, and 52 of them were in clinical trials.
