The number of new coronavirus cases in Slovenia has doubled since Monday, the government said on Tuesday.

In the past 24 hours 189 new cases have been confirmed, compared with 74 on Monday. Three more patients have died.

Since the start of the outbreak in Slovenia in early March, 6,764 people have been infected and 159 have died.

The government announced new measures following a rise in the number of infected people requiring hospitalisation, saying that more hospital beds would be ensured for COVID-19 patients.

Among the measures being considered are restricting the opening hours of restaurants, bars and retail shops and limiting the number of people gathered in one place to not more than ten, regardless of whether they are private or public places.