Ljubljana - Slovenia confirmed 135 new cases of coronavirus on Friday, up more than 45% over the week ago a seven-week high, as the case count continues to rise at a rapid pace driven by the highly contagious delta variant.

The positive cases came from 1,673 PCR tests, making for a positivity rate of 8.1%, a full percentage point higher than the day before and a level last seen during the tail end of the third wave in early June.

More than 45,000 rapid antigen tests were also performed where all positive cases are double-checked with the more reliable PCR tests.

The 14-day incidence per 100,000 population is now at 48 and the number of active cases is estimated at 1,044, according to National Institute of Public Health (NIJZ) data.