A total of 6,580 tests for the novel coronavirus have been done in Slovenia in the past 24 hours and 1,690 have come back positive while 31 people have died as a consequence of the infection and now the death toll exceeds 1,000, the government said on Saturday.

The share of positive tests in the total number of tests done is 25.68%, which is less than on Friday even though more infections have been discovered as more tests have been done.

The total number of people who have caught the disease since the outbreak of the epidemic has increased to 64,270.

Currently, 1,219 COVID-19 patients are being treated in hospitals, 21 more than on Friday, and there are 197 patients in intensive care units, one more than yesterday.

The death toll now stands a 1,026.

Due to the high number of infections among medical staff as of next week systematic and compulsory testing will start in medical institutions.

Medical workers will have to be tested at least once a week and the government has also announced preparations for similar testing in retirement and nursing homes.

Prime Minister Janez Jansa said after a meeting of the national COVID-19 response team on Friday evening that everything would have to be ready by December 5 for the voluntary mass-scale antigen testing and registration of candidates for it.

The purpose of this plan is to determine the percentage of people who have come into contact with the virus in the total population, the way Slovakia has done and some other countries have said they will do.