Over the past 24 hours, 1,404 coronavirus tests have been performed in Slovenia, confirming 169 new cases of the infection, and there have been two deaths, the Slovenian government said on Monday.

During the weekend, fewer coronavirus tests are conducted, but the increase in the percentage of positive tests is still a cause for concern.

On Sunday, Slovenia reported a record number of 411 new COVID cases after 2,956 tests were carried out.

According to health ministry's latest data, the number of active cases stands at 3,444, while there have been a total of 8,832 cases of the coronavirus infection in the country since the start of the epidemic. There are currently 172 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, 26 of whom are in intensive care units. To date, there have been 169 coronavirus-related deaths.

Bojana Beovic, head of government's coronavirus expert team, yesterday said that new measures for curbing the epidemic could be expected this week. According to her, Slovenia will not be able to avoid entering the so-called red zone due to the increase in the number of new cases.

For Slovenia to enter the red zone, according to a plan recently adopted by the government, the 14-day incidence rate per 100,000 inhabitants would need to surpass 140, and it is already at 165, and an additional condition is that there are over 250 patients in hospitals every day, with at least 50 of them in intensive care unit, which is not yet the case

If both criteria were met, that would mean Slovenia would again declare an epidemic, as well as introduce new restrictions and measures.