Slovenia on Friday reported 542 new cases of COVID-19, and the country's government is to hold a meeting with epidemiologists on Monday to discuss new restrictions as the country has entered a critical stage of the epidemic.

The share of positive cases in the total number of tests performed in the last 24 hours is 18.4 percent, the weekly average of infections in a single day is 398, and the 14-day incidence has climbed to 219 cases, which according to criteria by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) means that the country has turned red on the ECDC epidemiological map.

The number of hospitalisations has been growing for more than two weeks and 117 patients are currently hospitalised, including 20 who are in intensive care wards.

With the two latest fatalities, the death toll has climbed to 4,496 and 42.5% of the population has been fully vaccinated.

The government and epidemiologists will meet on Monday to discuss the current situation and possible new measures, the situation in hospitals and the process of vaccination.

According to media reports, they are also expected to decide if the vaccination of some groups with the third, booster shot will start by the middle of next month.

Some countries plan to approve booster shots by mid-September and we don’t want to lag behind either, said government spokesman Jelko Kacin.

According to unofficial information, the third dose would be administered first to residents of retirement homes, followed by people aged above 50, and then by all who have been vaccinated with the single-dose Johnson&Johnson vaccine or two doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, if they wish to do so.

Mateja Loga, an infectious disease specialist who heads the government’s expert team for COVID-19, said talks were underway on how much time must pass from full vaccination to the booster shot, with estimates ranging between six and eight months.