LJUBLJANA, Oct. 22 (Xinhua) -- Slovenia has registered record high numbers of new COVID-19 cases for the second consecutive day -- 1,663 in the past 24 hours and 1,504 on the previous day -- bringing the total number of coronavirus cases in the country to 17,646, according to official figures released here on Thursday.
The 14-day incidence rate is 484 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, up 14.4 percent. There are 10,136 active cases. Hospitalizations have risen to 356, with 62 patients in intensive care. Nine new deaths took the toll to 211, data from the tracker site covid-19.sledilnik.org showed.
Slovenia conducted 6,215 coronavirus tests on Wednesday and the positivity rate exceeded 26 percent, fresh government figures showed.
Matjaz Jereb, head of the intensive care unit at the Department of Infectious Diseases at UKC Ljubljana hospital, was quoted by the Slovenian Press Agency (STA) as saying that there are an estimated 15,000-20,000 active cases in the country.
He pointed out that apart from the rising hospitalization figures, a major issue was that the virus was spreading among healthcare staff. More than 100 health workers are infected at UKC Ljubljana, he said.
Jereb said that the steep increase in new cases was the result of prevention measures being flouted. Another possible cause was that the infection had reached critical mass.
As the world is struggling to contain the COVID-19 pandemic, countries including France, Italy, China, Russia, Britain and the United States are racing to find a vaccine.
According to the website of the World Health Organization, as of Oct. 19, 198 COVID-19 candidate vaccines were being developed worldwide, 44 of them in clinical trials. Enditem