Slovenia to shorten obligatory self-isolation period

Ljubljana, Jan 8 (IANS) Obligatory self-isolation for Slovenians who have been in contact with Covid-19 patients will be shortened from 10 days to seven days starting from January 10, the National Institute of Public Health (NIJZ) said.The change comes as the Omicron variant, which has a shorter incubation period than the previous Covid-19 strains, prevails in Slovenia, reports Xinhua news agency. "The share of Omicron (among new CCovid-19 infections) is practically 80 per cent," Nuska Caks Jager, deputy head of the Center for Infectious Diseases at NIJZ, told a news conference.In spite of the spike in new cases, the government has decided against a new lockdown in order to prevent a negative impact on the export-oriented economy, which, it hopes, will expand by 4.7 per cent this year versus an estimated growth of over 6 per cent in 2021.Over the past months only citizens that have been fully vaccinated, have overcome Covid-19 or have recently tested negative have been able to enter most public spaces. Wearing a face mask has also been obligatory whenever entering a public space.Although the government has been calling upon its 2.1 million citizens to get vaccinated against Covid-19, so far only 56.6 per cent of the population has been fully vaccinated.
--IANS ksk/

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