There have been 2,496 new coronavirus infections in Slovenia in the last 24 hours, with every other test returning positive, and new epidemiological protocols are in force as of Monday due to the spreading of the more infectious Omicron variant.

The number of passengers in public transport has been reduced and the validity of negative tests when entering Slovenia has been shortened, with a PCR test being valid for 48 hours and a rapid antigen test 24 hours.

Home quarantine following a risky contact no longer lasts ten but seven days, and this will be further shortened to five days due to the dominance of Omicron, Milan Krek of the National Public Health Institute said.

The reason for shorter self-isolation is the shorter period of incubation of the Omicron variant as well as concern that at the peak of the fifth wave of the epidemic, due to mass-scale long quarantine periods and shortage of essential workers, basic activities, notably healthcare and education, could come to a halt.

Of the 5,233 tests conducted in the last 24 hours, 2,115 were positive, the test positivity rate being 48.1%. Five COVID patients have died.

The number of new infections is close to 150% higher than seven days ago.

There are currently 36,526 active cases of the contagion in the country and the number keeps growing at an alarming rate.

The average number of new infections over the past week has grown to 3,678 and the 14-day incidence per 100,000 population is 1,732.

There are 537 hospitalised COVID patients, of whom 161 are in intensive care units. The government has said that epidemiological rules will be stepped up when the number of patients in ICUs exceeds 200.