Ljubljana - As many as 1,257 new coronavirus cases were confirmed in Slovenia on Sunday, up from 707 the previous Sunday. The positivity rate reached almost 48%, the highest since the start of the epidemic, show the latest figures released by the National Institute of Public Health (NIJZ) on Monday. As many as 11 Covid patients died.

There are now 603 Covid patients in hospitals, up 31 from Sunday, which is the first time since 2 May that the number of hospitalisations surpassed 600.

Back then, there were 608 Covid patients in hospitals, of whom 147 were in intensive care, which compares to 142 in intensive care today, up 4, with the youngest person in intensive care being 21 years old.

There are 629 beds for Covid patients in Slovenian hospitals, of which 150 in intensive case, but the figures are to rise to 749 and 159, respectively, on Wednesday.

The government announced last week once 160-180 beds are occupied in intensive care, rigorous measures would have to be taken.

Beds and a shortage of staff are the biggest problems in addressing a rising number of Covid patients, so there a lockdown has been tentatively mentioned as an option.

Public broadcaster RTV Slovenija reported that the Covid task force at the Health Ministry will discuss the current situation and potential measures this evening.

The 7-day average of new confirmed cases increased by a further 78 to 2,341 on Sunday from Saturday as the 14-day incidence per 100,000 residents was up 42 to 1,354.

The NIJZ estimates that there are now 28,579 active cases in the country.

So far, 53% of the population have been fully vaccinated. The share for those over 18 is at 63% and for those over 50 at 74%.