Slovenia has become the first European country to declare its domestic coronavirus outbreak officially over.
The country’s government confirmed in a statement on Friday that its Covid-19 epidemic had ended, after Slovenia’s National Institute of Public Health concluded “all indicators point to a slowdown in the spread of the virus in the population.”
According to data from Slovenia’s Ministry of Health, just one new case of the coronavirus was confirmed on Thursday, with no deaths reported. Over the past two weeks, just 35 people had been infected with the coronavirus, according to the health authority, while the reproductive number for the virus — known as the R rating or R0 — was below 1.
An R below 1 means each infected individual will on average transmit the virus to less than one other person.
On Thursday, Prime Minister Janez Jansa told parliament that the Balkan country “has the best epidemiological picture in Europe.”
Despite declaring an end to the epidemic, the government said it would keep measures such as widescale testing, contact tracing and bans on public gatherings in place pending a review on May 31. It will also remain mandatory to wear face coverings in public spaces until at least the end of the month.
