A security person scans COVID-19 certificates of attendees of a political party gathering in Ljubljana, Friday, Sept. 10, 2021. |
Health Minister Janez Poklukar said hospital beds have been
filling up as the country logged the highest number of daily cases since
January. With more than 3,000 confirmed infections in the past 24 hours,
Poklukar said a lockdown is looming.
“While we watched with fear at neighboring Italy at the
start of the epidemic, we are now at a turning point because of low vaccination
rates and we could easily have a Bergamo scenario,” Poklukar said, evoking the
hardest-hit Italian city last year.
Officials say Slovenia has fully vaccinated around 53% of
its 2 million people. Authorities plan to open more COVID-19 wards in the
European Union nation as intensive care units are 92% full, Poklukar said.
Other nations in Central and Eastern Europe that also have
low vaccination numbers have seen infections surge to record levels.
Reluctantly, countries have been reimposing some restrictions to get a grip on
the situation.
Slovenia so far has required COVID-19 passes for employees
to enter their workplaces. Croatia has required them for health care and
nursing home workers and in Serbia, the health pass detailing one’s vaccination
status is required for late evening hours in bars, restaurants and nightclubs.
Romania has reinstated tougher restrictions that also include a curfew and
shutting down some venues.
While the European Union’s average vaccination rate is
around 70%, countries in Central and Eastern Europe hover around 50% and less.
Despite high numbers of COVID-related deaths in recent weeks in the region, it
has seen only a slight up-pick in vaccinations.
“We have the weapon and the means, which is vaccination,”
Poklukar said. “And we are not using it.”
In neighboring Croatia, health authorities on Wednesday also
reported surging daily new cases of around 4,500 in the country of 4.2 million.
Every second test in the capital Zagreb came out positive and new testing sites
are being opened, authorities said.
Serbian doctors said children and small babies are among
those on ventilation as the weeks-long surge of COVID-19 infections and
hospitalizations shows no sign of abating. Prime Minister Ana Brnabic said
there will be no immediate new restrictions but health authorities were
contemplating shifting school classes online.
Serbia on Wednesday logged nearly 7,000 new infections and
64 more deaths. More than 1.1 million people have been infected in the Balkan
country of 7 million while nearly 10,000 have died.
“The most important thing at this moment is to implement the
rules already in place,” said Brnabic. “If we don’t do that, any new measures
will make no sense.”
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