All government employees in Slovenia will be required to get vaccinated against Covid-19 starting in October, meaning that negative PCR tests will no longer be enough for government employees to come into their workplaces, Slovenia's government said on Thursday.

Everyone working in public administration will have to get their first vaccine shot by 1 October, and will be required to be fully vaccinated against Covid-19 by 1 November – unless they had already recovered from the disease, Croatian state agency Hina said on Friday.

Stricter restrictions on public life, including mandatory Covid passports for workplaces, public transportation, shopping malls, or for entering banks and post offices, went into force on Wednesday. The new measures spurred a rally of anti-vaxxers and anti-maskers on Wednesday evening in Ljubljana, which gradually escalated into rioting.

According to opinion polls cited by local media, more than 40 percent of Slovenians seem to be against stricter epidemiological measures, even though the country is recording a renewed surge in cases.

According to government data, the rate of newly vaccinated Slovenians has been increasing since early September. About 44 percent of Slovenia’s 2.1 million population have been vaccinated so far, or 53 percent of the adult population above 18 years of age.

Meanwhile, the caseloads are getting worse, and according to the latest reports by the local health authorities released on Thursday, there are currently 11,238 active coronavirus cases in the country. They added that 347 Covid-19 patients are currently in hospital care, including 75 in intensive care units.