Tests are carried out by the lab's units in Ljubljana, Maribor, Celje, Koper, Kranj and Novo Mesto, while the Institute of Microbiology and Immunology performs tests for UKC Ljubljana, the country's largest hospital.

Classic molecular tests - which take four to five hours for results to come in - have been carried out in Slovenia ever since the outbreak of the epidemic.

Rapid molecular tests take only an hour or two.

Although there is an option of voluntary testing in Slovenia, most of the coronavirus tests are ordered by doctors.

A classic molecular test costs EUR 65 and a rapid one EUR 109.5. The cost is covered by health insurance.

The ingredients for tests are purchased as part of public procurement with Slovenian subsidiaries of foreign producers.

It takes an average 14 to 21 days to get the reagents, except when demand exceeded the producers' output capacities.

The lab told the STA that communication with the Slovenian suppliers is of utmost importance in such cases.

While the suppliers keep it up to date on the availability of rapid tests, the reagents for them are currently in high demand so the lab gets no more than 200 tests per two weeks.

As a result, there are some limits to rapid testing for individual hospitals at the moment.

The Celje lab can provide for instance do four rapid tests a day, whereas ten are carried out for UKC Maribor, the country's second largest hospital.

However, if a doctor orders rapid testing, labs carry it out as long as they have the ingredients, the national lab explained.

It said that producers are of course aware of the possibility of drastic needs for testing in the coming autumn and winter, so they are constantly increasing their capacities.