LJUBLJANA, April 5 (Xinhua) -- Slovenian government announced on Sunday an extension of the lockdown that was put into place three weeks ago to contain COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus.
"The measures are working and will last for at least two to four more weeks," government spokesman jello Kacin said at a daily briefing.
The lockdown includes the closure of most shops and all schools, and bans on movement and gathering of people in public places.
Kacin said the curve of new infections was more favourable than in other EU countries but "this may not blind us". Stringent measures will have to continue.
Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Jansa visited UKC Ljubljana, Slovenia's largest hospital on Sunday, and said "Life will start to return to normal tracks once protective gear is enough and we have learnt how to use it."
Bojana Beovic, an infectious disease specialist who heads the Health Ministry's medical task force for coronavirus, said Slovenia was handling the epidemic well due to the stringent measures and hospitals have not been overwhelmed yet, but she noted that this was merely "an intermediate objective".
"The epidemic is not slowing down, however," she stressed, adding that "the sooner we turn the curve down, the sooner our lives will normalize."
The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Slovenia rose by 20 to 997 by Sunday, including 28 coronavirus-related deaths.
