Ljubljana - Slovenia confirmed 8,396 new cases of coronavirus on Sunday. The latest figures bring the 14-day incidence per 100,000 people, a closely-watched benchmark, to 5,620, meaning almost 6% of the population have had a confirmed case of the virus in the past fortnight.

Sunday's case count is almost 70% higher than a week ago. More than three-quarters of all PCR tests were positive, largely because a positive rapid test is required for access to PCR testing for everyone except high-risk groups.

Over the span of last week a total of almost 74,000 new cases were confirmed, compared to a tally of 45,000 in the week before.

Overall hospital figures continued to rise and there were 636 patients with Covid-19 in hospital this morning, up by 28 on yesterday in an increase of 70 over the week before, government data show.

However, the number of ICU cases is bucking the trend. Standing at 135 this morning, it was flat on yesterday and 23 lower compared to a week ago.

Deaths, on the other hand, are rising. A total of 14 Covid-19 patients died yesterday, for a weekly death count of 80, compared to 42 in the week before.

Since the start of the pandemic Slovenia has logged 6,264 deaths, according to data by the National Institute of Public Health.