Slovenia becomes the first European country to declare end of COVID-19 outbreak

Saturday, May 16, 2020

On Friday, Slovenia became the first European country to declare an end to its domestic coronavirus outbreak. The Slovenian government officially announced that the COVID-19 pandemic has come to an end in the country. The announcement arrived following a statement by Slovenia’s National Institute of Public Health that mentioned all indicators related to the coronavirus disease currently points towards a slowdown in the spread of the virus in the population across the country.

The Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Jansa also informed the parliament that Slovenia has the best epidemiological picture in Europe as of now. According to the Slovenia Ministry of Health, the country recorded only one positive coronavirus case on Thursday with no casualties. In fact, only 35 people had been infected with coronavirus over the past two weeks. The ministry also informed that the reproductive rate of the virus that is known as the R rating or R0 was below 1.

Therefore, the country has decided to ease lockdown restrictions and relax some border closure measures. Citizens arriving from the European Union would no longer be required to quarantine themselves if they have not left the European Union recently for a period of more than two weeks. All other foreign residents would also be allowed entry but will have to isolate themselves for 14 days.

However, irrespective of declaring an end to the pandemic, the government would continue to keep strict measures in force. The country will continue to restrict public gatherings and carry out widescale testing as well as contact tracing at least until the end of the month, which will then be subjected to review. The usage of masks will also remain compulsory until the end of May.

All citizens of Slovenia showcasing any symptoms of coronavirus or have tested positive will have to contact healthcare professionals with immediate effect. Foreign citizens having signs or infected by the virus would not be permitted to cross the border.

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