Over the past 24 hours, Slovenia has registered 2,107 new cases of the coronavirus infection and 39 related deaths, the Slovenian government said on Wednesday.

In the past 24 hours, 6,579 coronavirus tests have been performed, and 32% returned positive.

Currently, there are 1,251 COVID patients in hospitals, 33 fewer than on Tuesday, while the number of patients in intensive care units decreased by seven and is now at 211.

The number of hospitalised patients is decreasing on the week, albeit very slowly, government spokesman Jelko Kacin said.

The epidemiological situation is still considered to be very severe, so some restrictions will only be relaxed until December 23 in order to avoid another surge in infections at a time when people could increasingly socialise outside their family circle.

Slovenia's Health Minister Tomaz Gantar said on Tuesday that he was in favour of tight restrictions during the coming holidays, including a lockdown of economic activities at a time when many people go on holiday, which would cause the “least damage” to the economy.