Slovenia is first EU nation to announce official end of coronavirus epidemic
Ljubljana Castle, Ljubljana, Slovenia; The Guardian - Credit: Archant
Slovenia has beaten other EU nations to become the first country in Europe to announce a 'taming' of the coronavirus epidemic.
Schools, bars, and borders will gradually open over the weekend while a 14-day quarantine on EU citizens will also be removed.
The quarantine, however, remains in place for non-EU citizens except for diplomats and heavy transport workers.
You may also want to watch:
Slovenia's prime minister, Janez Jansa, told lawmakers on Thursday: 'Slovenia has tamed the epidemic over the past two months ... Today Slovenia has the best epidemiologic picture in Europe.'
Most Read
- 1 Government scraps Pick for Britain programme after Brits fill as few as 5% of roles
- 2 Boris Johnson still has questions to answer about Caribbean holiday
- 3 Poll: Laurence Fox in joint last place with Count Binface in race for London mayor
- 4 Ex-minister says Boris Johnson's government is a 'cesspit' where 'almost nobody' tells the truth
- 5 James Dyson moves main address back to the UK
- 6 Russell Kane: Why working class people like Boris Johnson
- 7 Government to dissolve parliament ahead of Queen’s Speech
- 8 Salmon industry insist officials miscalculated post-Brexit export figures
- 9 Brexit regret: Meet the Leave voters who wish they hadn't voted Leave
- 10 Keir Starmer's day will come
The declaration comes after the country began easing lockdown measures on April 20.
In its latest plans, the government will reopen schools, bars, restaurants, and hotels with up to 30 rooms but still require citizens to remain 1.5 meters apart at all times. Public transport will be running again, although many services had already returned last week.
The government will also soon lay out ways to allow groups of up to 50 people to meet.
Health officials have confirmed that less than seven new cases of the virus have been reported in the last two weeks.
The country declared an epidemic on March 12 and has since reported 1,464 cases and 103 deaths.
Become a Supporter
The New European is proud of its journalism and we hope you are proud of it too. We believe our voice is important - both in representing the pro-EU perspective and also to help rebalance the right wing extremes of much of the UK national press. If you value what we are doing, you can help us by making a contribution to the cost of our journalism.