Ljubljana - Slovenia logged 1,086 new coronavirus infections for Friday, down by nearly 16% week-on-week, as the downward trend in infections continued, show fresh official data. Additional six Covid-19 patients died.

Hospitalisations decreased by 34 to 580 this morning and the number of ICU cases was down by five to 199, according to government data.

The rolling 7-day average dropped further to 1,074, down by 27 from the day before, and the cumulative 14-day incidence was down by 19 to 766, show data by the National Institute of Public Health.

The estimated number of active cases, 16,189, fell by 387 compared to the day before.

The test positivity rate stood at nearly 26% yesterday, a drop of some three percentage points compared to a week ago.

Experts meanwhile warn that Slovenia's coronavirus curve, which is currently on a decline, will bend upward again around the New Year period due to the spread of Omicron, which is expected to soon become the dominant variant.

According to the latest official data, there has been 65 Omicron cases confirmed in Slovenia so far. No person found to be infected with the new strain of coronavirus so far has required hospital treatment, according to Health Minister Janez Poklukar.

Even though studies suggest that Omicron appears to be milder compared to the other variants so far, concerns remain as the sheer number of new cases in the Omicron wave could overwhelm hospitals.