Ljubljana, Jan 8 (IANS): Obligatory self-isolation for Slovenians who have been in contact with Covid-19 patients will be shortened from 10 days to seven days starting from January 10, the National Institute of Public Health (NIJZ) said.

The change comes as the Omicron variant, which has a shorter incubation period than the previous Covid-19 strains, prevails in Slovenia, reports Xinhua news agency.

"The share of Omicron (among new CCovid-19 infections) is practically 80 per cent," Nuska Caks Jager, deputy head of the Center for Infectious Diseases at NIJZ, told a news conference.

In spite of the spike in new cases, the government has decided against a new lockdown in order to prevent a negative impact on the export-oriented economy, which, it hopes, will expand by 4.7 per cent this year versus an estimated growth of over 6 per cent in 2021.

Over the past months only citizens that have been fully vaccinated, have overcome Covid-19 or have recently tested negative have been able to enter most public spaces.

Wearing a face mask has also been obligatory whenever entering a public space.

Although the government has been calling upon its 2.1 million citizens to get vaccinated against Covid-19, so far only 56.6 per cent of the population has been fully vaccinated.