Ljubljana - In the wake of soaring Covid cases, the government decided at Thursday's session to supply almost 4.5 million FFP2 face masks, 13,000 latex hand gloves, 1,500 one-litre bottles of hand sanitiser, nearly 5,000 one-litre bottles of surface disinfectants and more than 4 million masks for general use, the Government Communication Office (UKOM) said.

The move is aimed at containing or preventing the rapid spread of the virus, UKOM added. The Commodity Reserves Agency will hand over the protective equipment to the Protection and Rescue Administration and the supplies will be then distributed to the end-users from the National Logistics Centre in Roje.

The masks and other equipment will be supplied to the municipalities, kindergartens, schools, Civil Protection, the military and police, healthcare and social-care institutions and other critical infrastructure.

Goods released from the commodity reserves under this decision shall not be replaced, UKOM's press release reads.