Brdo pri Kranju/Ljubljana - The government will discuss measures to contain the rapid spread of coronavirus infections in Brdo pri Kranju on Friday afternoon. Health Minister Janez Poklukar has said that healthcare is at capacity, noting that there is no other way than to restrict social life in the coming days.

The government had been expected to decide on the next course of action amidst rising Covid figures on Thursday, but postponed this for a day. Government spokeswoman Maja Bratuša said yesterday that decisions that are to be adopted required careful consideration, adding that they would be based on talks with the Covid-19 advisory group and the cabinet's discussions conducted already at Thursday's session.

The N1 portal reported that a decision to declare the third state of epidemic since the coronavirus outbreak last year was on the table during the session, however it is not yet clear what will be the government's move. The dilemma seems to be between the tightening of the current measures and another lockdown.

Media reports also say that Poklukar came to yesterday's session with an ultimatum - a complete lockdown or his resignation. According to the STA's unofficial sources, he is in favour of another epidemic declaration and a full lockdown.

It is not clear, however, whether the advisory group has backed such measures or not, as it seems that its position on the matter has changed several times in recent days. On Tuesday, the STA reported that the group had decided to propose to the government a ten-day complete lockdown, but then this was dismissed by the group's head Mateja Logar, who described the proposal as an "error in the minutes".

A day later, Logar backtracked, telling commercial broadcaster POP TV that there was no error in the minutes documenting Monday's meeting and confirming that the group had indeed discussed a complete lockdown as an option.