Sixteen new cases of infection with the novel coronavirus and no fatalities have been confirmed in Slovenia in the last 24 hours, the government said on Monday.

A total of 530 tests have been conducted in the last 24 hours, and with the 16 new cases, the number of confirmed infections since the start of the epidemic has climbed to 1,716. There are 195 active cases.

Eleven people are hospitalised due to infection with Covid-19, five more than on Sunday, and the number of fatalities remains at 111.

Epidemiologists have been worried lately about the situation in a nursing home in Vipava, where the first cases of the infection among residents and staff were reported on Friday.

By Sunday, the infection was confirmed in seven staff members and nine residents, of whom some have been hospitalised. Other residents have been placed in quarantine or self-isolation, and today the testing of the remaining staff and residents continues, so the number of positive cases could increase, local media reported.

They also quoted statements by infectious diseases specialist Bojana Beovic and Prime Minister Janez Jansa suggesting epidemiological measures and restrictions should be tightened in order to put the situation in new hotspots under control, including further tightening of the border regime.