Slovenia commemorates some 4,000 COVID victims

Slovenia on Sunday commemorated some 4,000 victims of COVID-19 in the Alpine country with a ceremony marking the anniversary of the country's first recorded death in the pandemic.

Top officials and religious community leaders on Sunday gathered at a cemetery in the capital Ljubljana where they planted a willow tree and expressed sympathy with the relatives of the people who died after contracting the coronavirus.

Authorities have said that the vast majority of the fatalities were recorded among the elderly and the care home residents.

The country of around 2 million people has recorded over 200,000 infections.

Slovenia has a curfew in place along with a ban on gatherings and other anti-virus measures.