In the last 24 hours 3,394 coronavirus cases and 23 COVID-19 deaths have been registered in Slovenia, with 46.2% of the tests coming back positive, the national public health institute said on Tuesday.

There were 372 fewer cases than the day before. A week ago, there were 3,763 new cases and 49.2% of the tests were positive.

Currently, 1,153 COVID patients are receiving hospital treatment, 0.8% fewer than on Monday, but the number of patients in intensive care increased by 2.5% to 283.

Chief epidemiologist Mateja Logar said the situation could significantly calm down around 10 December but hospitals could get back to normal only at the end of this or early next year.

The Jozef Stefan Institute, which does projections for the epidemic for the government, said the epidemic was slowly waning but that it is crucial to comply with the rules so that Slovenia would not be found in a situation to have to impose a lockdown like neighbouring Austria.