Coronavirus: Slovenian hospitals sound alarm, but no lockdown as yet

"Our healthcare capacities are not unlimited. When intensive care units get to between 160 and 180 patients we will have introduce the most rigorous measures," Vindisar said at a press conference when asked to comment on unofficial media sources saying that the government was considering introducing a total lockdown.

According to the Health Institute's projections, the number of COVID patients in intensive care units could exceed those numbers by the end of next week, Slovenian public broadcaster reported on Friday.

A decision on lockdown hasn't been made yet, but the situation is very serious and deteriorating, said Vindisar.

The government reported on Friday that in the past 24 hours, 2510 new cases had been registered in the country, and seven more patients had died as a consequence of the pandemic.

Currently, there are 558 hospitalised COVID patients, 11 more than the day before, and 134 are in intensive care. Fifteen hospitals are taking in COVID patients and have 479 beds available in standard wards and 150 in intensive care units.

The government has issued instructions for hospitals to increase their capacities to 590 standard ward beds and 159 ICU beds.