Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Jansa said on Tuesday that the coronavirus epidemic in his country would be curbed in a few weeks and that he believed around 40% of the population were already immune to the disease.

“Practically 800,000 people are already protected either by getting vaccinated or having recovered from the disease, which gives us reason to believe that by the summer we could defeat the epidemic and start living normally again,” Jansa said on Twitter, adding that for this to happen, everyone should continue complying with epidemiological restrictions.

According to the latest figures, 32.3% of the population has been immunized with the first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine and 17% have received both shots.

Those who have become infected and recovered from the disease in the last six months are also considered immune.

A new round of relaxation of epidemiological restrictions is expected by the end of this month or the beginning of next, after the number of new infections on a daily basis drops to below 300.

In the past 24 hours, 497 new infections have been reported and the number of hospitalized patients has dropped to below 400. There are currently 383 Covid-19 patients in hospitals, including 113 in intensive care. Six more patients have died.