Slovenia recorded 3,456 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, up from 1,136 infections a day earlier, the National Institute of Public Health (NIJZ) said on Wednesday. This was also the highest single-day count in the country.
The previous record of 3,428 new cases was set on Jan. 5 this year.
The institute said that 44.8 percent of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests came back positive.
Slovenia, home to 2.1 million citizens, has been badly hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. To date, the country has recorded 5,102 COVID-19-related deaths. On Tuesday, 18 people died, up from ten a day earlier.
The virus continues to spread rapidly in the country despite the rule that only those who have been vaccinated, tested negative or recovered from the virus are allowed to enter most public institutions.
However, the government has been reluctant to mandate another lockdown to avoid hurting the country’s export-oriented economy, which it expects to expand by 6.1 percent this year after shrinking by 4.2 percent in 2020.
To date, 53.1 percent of the population has been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to official figures.
