Ljubljana - The omicron variant of coronavirus is rapidly becoming the dominant variant in Slovenia and experts estimate it already accounts for 40% of all cases.

Last week, omicron represented a few percent of all cases that were positive in PCR tests. Among tests performed on Wednesday, 40% were omicron, Tatjana Lejko Zupanc, the head of the infectious diseases department at the UKC Ljubljana, told the press on Thursday.

The National Laboratory of Health, Environment and Food said today it had confirmed 981 omicron cases with PCR tests and 93 with gene sequencing by yesterday; by today the figures rose to 1,170 and 248, respectively.

The laboratory, which sequences 70-100% of all positive PCR tests, said that 99% of all PCR tests positive for omicron were subsequently confirmed as positives in gene sequencing.

Lejko Zupanc warned that at the current pace, half of the working population would be out of action, either due to infection or high-risk contact that necessitates quarantining.

Some countries have decided to shorten the quarantine period precisely because of that. In Slovenia, such a choice has not been made yet, although the triple-vaccinated do not have to quarantine when they come into high-risk contact.