A group of Italian military medical personnel arrived in Slovenia on Sunday to help their Slovenian colleagues with the treatment of COVID-19 patients, the Slovenian Defence Ministry confirmed.

Ten Italian anaesthesiologists and as many nurses will join the Slovenian Army Medical Corps in helping hospital staff in Ljubljana, Celje, Maribor and Novo Mesto. They will be welcomed at a ceremony in an army barracks in Kranj in the afternoon by Health Minister Janez Poklukar and Defence Minister Matej Tonin, the government said.

The fourth wave of the COVID-19 epidemic in Slovenia has been slightly subsiding over the past two weeks.

In the last 24 hours, 116 new COVID-19 cases and 18 related deaths have been reported. However, the country’s hospitals remain overburdened and the pressure is expected to ease over the next month.

Epidemiologists from the government’s scientific council said it was too early to consider easing the restrictions after a slight decline in new infections. They recalled that the epidemiological situation had worsened early this year after the alleviation of restrictions during the Christmas and New Year’s holidays.