Ljubljana/Maribor - Members of the Slovenian Armed Forces (SAF) who came to hospitals' aid in mid-November to help with rising Covid hospitalisations will wrap up their work at medical centres on Friday. "The hospitals have assessed that there is currently no longer a need for the assistance of SAF members," the Defence Ministry has told the STA.

A total of 40 members of military medical teams have provided assistance at UKC Ljubljana and UKC Maribor as well as several other hospitals.

The UKC Maribor medical centre bid them farewell today, also saying goodbye to the equipment for monitoring vital functions of Covid-19 patients the SAF members brought along.

Matjaž Vogrin, UKC Maribor's medical director, thanked the six members for their help, noting that the number of patients in the hospital was decreasing.

The figure is currently at 94, so the hospital has been able to close two Covid units already, and is planning to close another on Monday. "I hope we never have to ask for your help again," Vogrin told the SAF members.

The SAF medical teams helped out in intensive care units, emergency medicine wards and other hospital wards, the ministry said, adding that such temporary cooperation was carried out under an agreement between the health and defence ministries to assist hospitals in combating the epidemic.