New York-based media company Vox named Slovenia among the overlooked success stories in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic. Together with four other countries, Iceland, Greece, Vietnam and Jordan.
Slovenia’s capital Ljubljana has 250 confirmed Coronavirus cases, that’s less than 1 case per thousand people. (photo: Miran Kambic, slovenia.info)
‘From Slovenia to Jordan to Iceland, governments took early action to impose lockdowns, test and trace thousands of people, isolate the sick, encourage social distancing and preventive measures like mask wearing, and communicate honestly with the public. Those interventions curbed the number of new confirmed Covid-19 cases and deaths, allowing leaders to reopen schools and businesses and reintroduce a sense of normalcy into everyday life. Some are now reporting no new confirmed cases or deaths.’ Vox wrote in its report.
The achievements of these countries are even more impressive considering how different they are from one another. Greece has avoided the worst despite being a tourist country in the EU, which is a global hotspot. Vietnam borders on China and has limited financial resources, but also managed to avoid a major outbreak. Slovenia’s relatively small epidemic is particularly impressive given that Slovenia is a growing tourist destination bordering Italy, one of the European epicenters of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Slovenia isn’t just flattening the curve. It’s squashing it. (Source: National institute of Public Health Slovenia)
Vox summed up their decision with the following words: ‘Slovenia’s success mainly stems from an aggressive early lockdown, quarantines of sick people, and generous government spending. The country’s first case was confirmed on March 4, and it only took Slovenian officials about two weeks to close schools and businesses and freeze public transportation. The government also gave 3 billion euros — 6 percent of Slovenia’s GDP — to citizens and businesses to survive the shutdown.’
The article is available here!
Slovenia continues decrease in active coronavirus cases. (Source: COVID-19 sledilnik)
Known as the Pearl of the Adriatic Sea, the charming coastal town of Piran is undoubtedly one of the most popular vacation destinations in Slovenia. It has four confirmed Coronavirus cases. (photo: Drazen Stader, Produkcija Studio, slovenia.info)
Bled is one of the most popular tourist destination in Slovenia and the whole Municipality of Bled has only two confirmed Coronavirus cases. (photo: Jure Korber and Tjasa Borsnak)
Bohinj is part of the Triglav National Park, the only natural park in Slovenia and one of the oldest in Europe. It still doesn’t have a confirmed case of Coronavirus. (photo: Luka Esenko)
In case you feel the symptoms of possible COVID-19 infection (coughing, fever, shortness of breath), call 112 for further instructions.
Coronavirus call center with up-to-date information is available at the free of charge phone number: 080 1404, operating daily between 8:00 and 20:00. It’s accessible only if you are calling from one of the Slovenian phone networks.
Contact phone number by the National Institute of Public Health (NIPH): +386 31 646 617, operating daily between 9:00 and 17:00. It’s accessible from any phone network.