The coronavirus pandemic is causing issues left right and centre when it comes to health and the economy, which has had to be all but paused, and problems are being experienced in the field of drug availability, too, as exports continue to be affected.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 13th of April, 2020, the Croatian drug market is far from immune from the coronavirus epidemic, and there has been a shortage of two medicines containing paracetamol and one other drug containing lopinavir/ritonavir for the treatment of HIV reported, according to a report from Vecernji list.

According to the Croatian Agency for Medicinal Products and Medical Devices, HALMED, these shortages of these particular medicines are not currently considered critical in the Republic of Croatia, since other medicines with the same active substances continue to remain available on the Croatian market. This shortage is due to a restriction on exports from India and the active substances of medicines wholly imported from China.

''In line with the evolution of the [coronavirus] epidemiological situation, HALMED is continuously collecting data and conducting analyses of the impact of the pandemic and epidemic spread of COVID-19 on the supply of drugs to the Croatian market.

We would also like to mention that we are in constant contact with the regulatory authorities of other EU member states and the marketing authorisation holders whose medicinal products are placed on the market of the Republic of Croatia in order, if necessary, to take the measures needed to ensure the adequate supply of the Croatian market,'' HALMED stated.

Make sure to follow our dedicated section for rolling information and updates on coronavirus in Croatia.

ZAGREB, April 14, 2020 - One third of freelancers in the Croatian media sector have lost all their jobs since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, 26% have lost most of their jobs, and only 15% have kept their jobs, according to a survey by the Croatian Journalists' Association (HND) and the Trade Union of Croatian Journalists (SNH).

"Two-thirds of the freelancers polled have lost all, most or half of their jobs since the beginning of the crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. It is alarming that almost a third of them have been left with no income at all. Only 14% of the respondents have managed to keep most of their jobs," the HND and SNH said in a press release.

Only a small group of freelancers in the media sector (15%) have managed to keep all of their previous business engagements.

The survey was conducted on a sample of 164 freelancers. A vast majority of the respondents cited journalism as the only and primary source of income. HND president Hrvoje Zovko pointed out that the survey results confirmed the importance of protecting those who feel the impact of the crisis first.

"We think that the government should agree to the demands made by the HND and SNH, which, among other things, aim to ensure measures for the protection of freelancers in the media sector," he emphasised.

SNH leader Maja Sever noted that journalists felt the impact of the crisis in less than a month from its start.

"We might not have been loud enough in warning that journalism needed help and that we needed job-saving measures, but only because we were busy. During this crisis, journalists have shown what an important role they play in our society. By providing citizens with timely and truthful information, they help the public receive important information on time, and accurate information can save lives today," Sever said.

More news about journalism in Croatia can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, April 14, 2020 - Charges have been pressed against four persons for attacking journalists in Split on Sunday, and 13 persons who carried an inappropriate banner have been identified, Interior Minister Davor Božinović said in an interview with the public broadcaster HRT on Monday evening.

A female journalist and a camerawoman were attacked outside a parish church in the Sirobuja suburb of Split on Sunday where a Mass was held despite the ban on public gatherings over the coronavirus epidemic. Criminal charges have been brought against three persons for using violence against persons performing a public duty, which carries a maximum prison sentence of five years, while one person faces misdemeanour charges for disturbing the peace.

Police have also identified 13 persons, including a minor, who subsequently gathered outside the church and displayed unacceptable behaviour and insignia, Božinović said. Two of them will be prosecuted under the Public Order Act, one under the Explosive Substances Act for setting off a flare, while the rest will be reported to the State Inspectorate for violating the measures imposed by the national civil protection authority as part of efforts to curb the coronavirus epidemic.

"There will be no concessions made, especially when it comes to officials and journalists, who are actually one of the most important links in the chain of defence against the coronavirus. Without them everything that the civil protection authority says would not reach the citizens, and we can see that a vast majority of citizens adhere to these measures to protect themselves and others," the minister said.

Asked about a possible relaxation of the emergency measures, Božinović said that there were still a lot of unknowns about this novel virus and that it was difficult to predict when the measures would be eased. He said that the number of infections would need to fall for five to seven days, while this number in Croatia was still fluctuating. He said that it was not yet time to lift the restrictions.

"We discuss this every day, and this is not an arbitrary decision of the government and the civil protection authority. If we all make our contribution and behave in accordance with the epidemiological measures, we will sooner reach a point where it will be possible to relax some of the measures," Božinović said.

He said that 23 police officers were currently infected with the virus, 210 had completed self-isolation and 123 were still in self-isolation.

More coronavirus news can be found in the Lifestyle section.

ZAGREB, April 14, 2020 - House prices in Croatia in 2019 were on average nine percent higher than in 2018, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (DZS) shows.

Prices of new-builds rose by 8.3% on average, while prices of existing residential properties increased by 9.1%.

House prices went up by 13.2% in Zagreb, 6.9% on the Adriatic coast and 3.8% elsewhere in the country.

In the fourth quarter of 2019, prices of residential properties rose by 2.9% compared with the previous quarter and jumped by 10% compared with the last quarter of 2018.

Prices of new-builds fell by 0.5% compared with the third quarter of 2019 and increased by 6.9% compared with the third quarter of 2018, while prices of existing properties went up by 3.4% quarter on quarter and by 10.4% year on year.

In Q4 2019, compared with Q3, house prices rose by 2.9% in Zagreb, by 1.9% on the Adriatic coast and by 5.4% elsewhere in the country. Compared with Q4 2018, prices increased by 14.7% in Zagreb, by 6% on the Adriatic coast and by 7.5% elsewhere.

More real estate news can be found in the Business section.

April 14, 2020 - Head of the Croatian Institute for Public Health and a member of the National Civil Protection Headquarters, Krunoslav Capak, spoke about loosening measures in Croatia and when. 

Like much rest of the world, Croatia has been living with special measures because of the coronavirus pandemic. It seems, however, that the epidemiological situation in Croatia is quite good, so the question arises when the rules will be lifted, or at least loosened. 

We've already heard the news in Austria, which first announced that it was phasing out of the measures in place, as is Slovenia, Germany, but also Italy and Spain, the two countries most affected by the coronavirus in Europe.

Index.hr discussed loosening the measures and the epidemiological situation in Croatia with the head of the Croatian Institute for Public Health and a member of the National Civil Protection Headquarters, Krunoslav Capak.

Capak first commented on the fact that some countries, particularly those that were severely affected by the coronavirus, were already lifting measures.

"This situation cannot last indefinitely, especially in the economy, so that there is no economic collapse because then we have not done anything. The measures can be relaxed, but it must not be as before, special conditions such as distancing must be introduced," Capak said.

He announced that he would consider loosening some measures in Croatia in the next period as well.

"One of those things is public transport. When public transport comes back, social distance measures will be prescribed. But before relaxing measures, such as normalizing public transportation, we think the epidemiological situation must be stabilized so that, God forbid, we don't have a jump in the number of new cases as it happened in Serbia," said Capak.

Capak said that there should be a consecutive number of days without new cases or a drop in new cases, or, more preferably, a drop without sudden leaps. The Head of the National Headquarters and the Minister of Interior, Davor Bozinovic, also gave a concrete time interval. A drop in the number of new cases should occur for five to seven days for them to begin loosening restrictions. 

Krunoslav Capak revealed which of the measures represented the least risk and could be loosened in the first wave. 

"It will definitely be economically good, good for the recovery of the economy and not a big risk. The business people will also help us a little by telling us which measure will most help the economy without creating chaos in terms of spreading the infection and increasing the number of new cases," Capak explained, noting that the decision to loosen measures, when the time is right, is to be made by the Headquarters.

Capak confirmed that the public transport mentioned earlier could be one of the first measures to be eased.

"We will certainly consider public transportation and think very carefully about how we will do it. Our best people from the Public Health Institute use public transport to get to the lab, and they have no other option than public transportation. Some people just have no other options. We will certainly consider public transport soon, but under stringent conditions," Capak revealed.

He said extending the opening hours of shops, like before Easter from 7 am to 8 pm, is not currently being considered.

"We will stay part-time from 8 am to 5 pm. When we agreed to that, we wanted to make it one shift, that people working in stores rotate and reduce the number of people going to work. I think that it is very important and that it is a successful measure," Capak said.

Was there any feedback at the Headquarters as to whether the shops were organizing one shift?

"According to the information we have, most are. There may have been some shifts, but work is not two shifts, and that was important to us. I think it is very important to reduce the number of people, workers in stores, and customers," he added.

When asked about complaints from those who work from 9 am to 5 pm, who are left with little time to go to the shops, he said that those in the Headquarters understand this best, but that it is still a good and efficient solution.

"Of course, I'm pleased. We considered the scenarios and comparisons with other countries and I always thought we wouldn't have an Italian scenario. We did all the estimates on the number of beds and ventilators according to the Italian scenario, but I always thought it would be a lot milder here. If it were not for this situation in Split, we would have had a much calmer situation with less than 50 new cases a day," Capak said.

Can we expect that the tourist season will begin by the end of July or August?

"It is very difficult to predict. We do not know what will happen in Scandinavia, although it looks promising there, and we do not know what will occur in central Europe. We have a particular advantage here because of the favorable epidemiological situation.

However, the tourist season depends a lot on the situation in the countries from which tourists come to Croatia. We will certainly not allow people from countries where the situation is not good to come. That is why it is tough to predict the tourist season at the moment. I think it would be good to think about attracting local guests," Capak said of the tourist season.

Capak was asked if Croats who were planning holidays could then expect the movement ban within the country to be lifted.

"If it is a favorable situation, why not, we will see how we can ease it. For the time being, we are keeping that measure, but we will surely get there," Krunoslav Capak concluded.

Follow TCN's live updates on the coronavirus crisis in Croatia 

April 14, 2020 - Croatia representative and Barcelona midfielder Ivan Rakitic has been training in the safety of his home because of the coronavirus pandemic. The famous footballer opened up to Spanish media about his uncertain future at the Catalan club. 

T.portal reports that, like many footballers around the world, Ivan Rakitic spends his days inside the four walls of his home until football returns to the currently-quarantined Spain. 

“I am spending this time as we all are, with family, my wife and children. Luckily we have some space in the garden so we can play. We’ve had a little luck and good weather, it's getting a little easier for us,” Rakitic revealed in an interview with RTL on Sunday.

“I have to train as much as I can to be ready because I don't know exactly when we'll be back. I also respect the decision of Bayern and a lot of German clubs who are back and if the situation can allow it, even better. It doesn't look like that for us yet. I think we will be stuck at home for a while, but for the benefit of all of us,” he added.

But in an extensive interview with Mundo Deportivo, in which he received the full cover, Ivan Rakitic spoke about his status at Barcelona, as there has been a lot of speculation about him moving to a new club, from Inter to PSG, Sevilla, and Atletico.

“For two years now, and especially during breaks between seasons and during this forced break because of the coronavirus, I have been writing and talking about my departure from Barcelona. I always responded to this as I will now; playing for Barcelona to me is perfection, the fulfillment of a dream. So I would like to play and enjoy it here until the end of  my contract and help win all the trophies. If that is not possible, we will sit down and arrange my departure. However, I want to work with Barcelona until the end.”

If Rakitic has to leave Barcelona, is Sevilla his priority?

“True, I have a special affection for Seville, but above all for the city, as I have my family there. I always said that it would be great to wear that shirt again, everyone knows that, but it is not only my decision that matters, whether I want it or not. There are many more things. Monchi (the sports director of Sevilla) and everyone in Seville has my phone number, they haven't called me yet, and I recently had a birthday, but even then they didn't remember me,” he said laughing.

Rakitic has always said that Barcelona is the best team in the world. 

“Everyone who knows me knows I always want to win. My goal is always to win and conquer everything. First, in training, then during the games and the trophies and that will never change. I see myself at my best, and I do my best. If I didn't have that desire, I would do things differently, but I feel better than ever and see that I will compete at the highest level for the next three or four years,”

Barcelona offered Rakitic the chance to leave last summer, but now, because of the coronavirus pandemic, such transfers may no longer be feasible. Does Rakitic see himself as a player in other leagues, such as Italy or England, or would he rather stay in Spain?

“I understand the situation, but I'm not a sack of potatoes that could be traded. You can always talk to me, but most importantly: I want to be where I will be loved, respected and needed and where both myself and my family feel good. If it’s going to be in Barcelona, I’ll be thrilled. If not, I'll go where I choose and not where others want. I do not allow this kind of behavior towards me and I have already told them that is the most important thing.” 

To read more about sport in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

April 14, 2020 - Football is back! Well, almost. Hajduk Split returns to a much quieter Poljud to train under strict conditions.

Namely, Hajduk began training on Monday on the main and auxiliary grounds of Poljud. Training sessions are organized throughout the day.

Hajduk footballers have been given permission to train individually, i.e., without physical contact with other players and other people in general, as recommended by the Headquarters. The training is done by appointment, with two players training at the same time, one on the main pitch and one on Poljud's auxiliary grounds. Afterward, the players must go home because they are not allowed to shower at the stadium after training.

"The players will come to Poljud at different times and each player is alone on the field during training, which is in accordance with the instructions of the Civil Protection Headquarters," the club revealed.

The training is mainly about developing endurance and strength.

"This is how the Hajduk will train all week, and further activities will be organized in accordance with the latest instructions of the Civil Protection Headquarters," added Hajduk.

Recall, the Executive Board of the Croatian Football Federation has adopted changes to the competition calendar in the 1st and 2nd Croatian League and Croatian Cup, taking into account the current COVID-19 pandemic. 

According to the recommendation of UEFA, the Croatian Football Federation (HNS) management has considered all the options in the calendar to allow a successful end to the competition year. Considering that the further course of the coronavirus pandemic is unpredictable, the HNS Executive Board has adopted three calendar options for the Croatian First League, Second League, and Croatian Cup competitions.

HNS has been in communication with the Central State Office for Sport on this subject, which is aware of and agrees with the decisions cited here.

Depending on the epidemiological situation in Croatia and the decisions of the competent authorities, the Executive Board will, by a specific decision, determine which version of the competition calendar change will apply.

In addition, the Olympic Committee has set deadlines by which it will announce a possibly selected version of the decision:

Option 1
1st HNL Competition Starts: May 16, 2020
2nd HNL Competition Starts: May 23, 2020
Completion of the 1st HNL and 2nd HNL Competition: July 18, 2020
Deadline: April 20, 2020

Option 2
1st HNL and 2nd HNL Competition Starts: May 30, 2020
Completion of the 1st HNL and 2nd HNL Competition: July 25, 2020
Deadline: May 4, 2020

Option 3
1st HNL and 2nd HNL Competition Starts: June 13, 2020
Completion of the 1st HNL Competition: August 2, 2020
Completion of 2nd HNL Competition: 1st August 2020
Deadline: May 18, 2020

Before the Croatian First League was interrupted because of the coronavirus pandemic, Hajduk was in fourth place with 45 points, behind Lokomotiva (46), Rijeka (47) and Dinamo (65).

To read more about sport in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

April 13, 2020 - During the last weeks, an international wave of Hackathons took over the internet, inviting us all from Germany, Switzerland, Sweden, and the USA to jack in and “Save the World” with our keyboards, literally.

In this article, you’ll learn about two Croatian Hackathons, the “Data vs Corona” held on the last 7th of April, and the “VersusVirus.hr” starting next 17th of April. Both organized from within our beloved Croatia with members and participants from anywhere on the planet.

Before listing the winners of “Data vs Corona” and before I tell you how you can participate in “VersusVirus.hr” next weekend, I think it’s imperative for me to give you a quick intro into the “Hacker culture”, I’ll start by rectifying the definition of “Hacker”, the origin of the word, and list you a few examples to show the importance their role in our society.

Last week I used the word “Hackathon” outside of the typical techy environment I frequent, and the reaction of most people was far from positive, they immediately pictured a room full of computer-criminals who decided to use their safe-cracking skills for good (at least this once). This is a very painful misconception about the nature of “Hackers” and their role in our society. I clarified the misconception the first time to one of my colleagues, then a second time with a family member, then a friend told me he would not like to be related to “Hackers” when I invited to join, and I realized everyone thinks of “Hackers” as criminals.

So, before I go on inviting you to sign up to “VersusVirus.hr” until Friday 17th of April using this Google form, I think it’s important you understand Hackers are not criminals, in fact, we need more of them in our society, if you have one in your company embrace him or her as an Olympian, award them a Laurel leaves crown to wear around their heads and send them over to represent your company at “VersusVirus.hr”. 

But Gustavo, hold your horses, aren’t all hackers criminals? Programmers with no morality using their knowledge to sneak into computer-systems without permission? 

The quick answer is NO, in fact, there is no such thing as a “bad” Hacker. What has been presented to you in movies and TV series wearing the  “Hacker” label, is described as a “Cracker” in the “Hacker culture” jargon.

And what about the whole white-hat, black-hat Hacker story? 

Well, I know people that identify themselves as Unicorns. They are awesome! but please, don’t expect me to put their picture next to the Webster definition of a unicorn.

Every culture evolves, and so has the hacker culture. It has evolved and propagated so widely that today the #Hack has become a common social media tag used to showcase creative and smart solutions to everyday tasks or problems.

If you’re curious about the “hacker culture” and want to learn about how it all started in 1960 when the term “Hacker” started to be used to describe proficient computer programmers, then, I strongly recommend you read into this Wikipedia article on “Hacker culture”.

As per the legendary “Jargon File”, made by Raphael Finkel at Stanford in 1975, the definition of Hacker is:

“

hacker: n.

[originally, someone who makes furniture with an axe]

1. A person who enjoys exploring the details of programmable systems and how to stretch their capabilities, as opposed to most users, who prefer to learn only the minimum necessary.

”

Follow this link to read the full definition in the Jargon website, definitions 3 and 8 are very interesting and insightful! The latest edition was published in 1996 as The New Hacker's Dictionary (ed. Eric S. Raymond)

Ok, so you’re telling me that there is some kind of “Ethics”  Hackers follow? 

Correct! As Steven Levy summarized in the preface of Hackers, the general tenets or principles of hacker ethic include:

• Sharing
• Openness
• Decentralization
• Free access to computers
• World Improvement (foremost, upholding democracy and the fundamental laws we all live by, as a society)

The fundamental characteristic that links all who identify themselves as hackers are ones who enjoy "…the intellectual challenge of creatively overcoming and circumventing limitations of programming systems and who tries to extend their capabilities" 

Richard Stallman explains about hackers who program:

“What they had in common was mainly love of excellence and programming. They wanted to make their programs that they used be as good as they could. They also wanted to make them do neat things. They wanted to be able to do something in a more exciting way than anyone believed possible and show ‘Look how wonderful this is. I bet you didn't believe this could be done.’ ”

I see, so Hackers are not evil! What does it mean to me? Why should I care?

Because we stand on their shoulders. Our life would not be as pleasant without the efforts of “Great Hackers” such as Linus Torvalds (creator of the Linux kernel, and GIT the versioning control system) 100% of all world supercomputers run on Linux (even the server of this website does) or Richard Stallman (Creator of the GNU Manifesto) who back in the ’50s in the MIT Artificial Intelligence Labs saw the need to defend transparency, and the openness of code.

Stallman on “Why I Must Write GNU”: “Software sellers want to divide the users and conquer them, making each user agree not to share with others. I refuse to break solidarity with other users in this way. I cannot in good conscience sign a nondisclosure agreement or a software license agreement. For years I worked within the Artificial Intelligence Lab to resist such tendencies and other inhospitalities, but eventually they had gone too far: I could not remain in an institution where such things are done for me against my will.”

The first computer Hackers of the ’50s had all engineering, Math or Physics backgrounds and stood therefor on the shoulders of earlier “Master Wizards” and “Gurus” such as Charles Babbage, Albert Einstein, and Nikola Tesla (of Serbian heritage, born in Croatia, died in New York) to whom we owe the wireless communications we enjoy today, not only the radio, but also our new WiFi and Bluetooth, all of it! We owe it to his genius, and to Tesla’s firm resolve to keep his inventions “Open Source” for the sake of humanity. #humbleBrag

As you can see, Hackers are a great asset to have in any crisis situation, they are problem solvers, creative minds, and some even say they “Think different”. What’s certain is that we are calling them out! So, if you feel like the Hacker definition describes your spirit… 

1. you can apply as a Volunteer by writing an email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 
2. or you can sign up as a Mentor at this link

And please, visit the website www.versusvirus.hr, inform yourself, and help us spread the word! We’re on a mission to Hack Croatia!

You can also follow the development of the winning ideas in Data vs. Corona following their website: datavscorona.com, and continue reading below what my colleague Janja Šestak reports on their Hackaton. 

Janja Šestak: The Data vs Corona Hackathon was held this year on April the 7th. Around 200 participants gathered to brainstorm and hack solutions for the many significant problems the Coronavirus has brought to humanity.

There are many ways to organize a Hackaton, all of them, however, call out individuals and teams to work collaboratively and hack solutions in a short span of time (usually 24h) at peak performance. In the case of the “Data vs. Corona” Hackathon, the organizers decided to formulate the event as a competition! The prize? Pure honor! and the satisfaction of having found real solutions to the crisis affecting the health of so many of us around the globe. 

The competition model has clear advantages. It incentivizes speedy solutions avoiding organizational tasks like getting to know other participants and distributing responsibilities among people you have never worked with before. The 24h concept helps keep participants in an "against the clock" mentality. Many teams are used to participate and compete in Hackathons, meaning that they have setups that allow them to open their laptops and dive in in a matter of seconds. You can envision Hackathons as tournaments for Software developers (and sometimes also data scientists). If we look at it from that perspective, the current rise of Coronavirus Hackathons around the globe would resemble something close to what I’d call the “e-Olympic games” of problem hacking.

Just before the start of the Hackaton last Saturday at 9:00 pm Zagreb time, we had the pleasure of talking with Ana Čupić from QAgency, the organizers. A young medical doctor recently graduated from the Medical School at the University of Zagreb who found a way to assist the health system through data science in this international digital collaboration.

Remembering that the prize is not the reason why this event was organized, but to find real solutions to very real problems, QAgency instructed the Jury to award the team with the solution that would bring the greatest positive impact on the health of the patients.

The Data vs Corona leader-board:

The Royal wildlings - project based on patient recovery data through a web-based application.

Team members: 

• 1 Back-End Developer (Matteo Kinkela), 
• 2 Front-End Developers (Aleksandar Đorđević, Nikola Miloradović)

The Infamous Warhogs - mission statement: light-weight medical resource tracking tool for managing respirator and bed availability to assist healthcare workers responding to COVID-19 hospital overload crisis (but it can be any other thing, not strictly bed) - web-based application. 

Team members: 

• Ivan Rimac (CRO)
• George Tollefson (USA)
• Alex Sotis (USA) 
• Sanjid Rahman (New Zealand)

The Blue Wombats - Hospital Resource Tracker 

Team members: 

• Sam, Charles, Anthony, Omar, Alexa, Sebastian, Claire (all students from Santa Clara University)

Calm monsters - a simple, easily implemented software tool that shows where the need is and where supply is positioned for specific products and services

Team members: 

• Michael Glazer, Srđan Kotuš, Ivan Pavlovič, and V. Ruttan