Slovenia registered more than 3,000 new COVID cases in the past 24 hours, three times more than the day before, with the daily number of new cases equal to that registered at the height of the fourth wave in mid- November 2021.

After 7,468 PCR tests were conducted in the last 24 hours, 3,393 returned positive, with a test positivity rate of 45.3%, the National Institute for Public Health (NIJZ) said on Tuesday.

By comparison, 2,282 PCR tests were conducted the day before and 1,008 new cases were detected, with 44.2% of the tests returning positive.

According to NIJZ data, there are currently 20,225 active cases in the country. The seven day average of new daily cases is 1,747 and the 14-day incidence rate is 953.

There are currently 531 hospitalised patients and 163 are in intensive care, while 8 patients have died from COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, the Ministry of Health said.