The epidemiological situation in Slovenia has continued to deteriorate, and the government has announced stricter checks of Covid passes, without imposing new measures for now.

The Slovenian government said on Friday that 1,965 new coronavirus cases and nine related deaths had been registered in the past 24 hours. The number of hospitalized persons has increased by 10 percent since last week.

The test positivity rate is 28.6 percent, compared with 21.4 percent a week ago. The 7-day average of infections in a single day has increased by 9.4 percent to 1,437, while the 14-day incidence rate has reached 760. The number of active cases currently stands at 16,040.

A total of 440 infected people are receiving hospital treatment and 122 of them are in intensive care. A week ago, there were 403 hospitalized persons and 116 of them were in intensive care. Infectious diseases specialists recommend tighter restrictions and anti-epidemic measures after the number of people in intensive care units surpasses 150.

To date, 52.6 percent of the total population have been fully vaccinated and 56 percent have received at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine.

The government has announced stricter checks of Covid passes, especially in the west of the country which has seen a surge in the number of cases. According to media reports, Covid passes will be checked by state inspectors, and additional checks are also expected to be introduced at work.