Croatian PCR Tests Are Hot Commodity, Symptomatic People Come First
January the 8th, 2022 - Croatian PCR tests have become quite the hot commodity indeed as people wait for days not only for their results but to get their hands on one in the first place. This is not only due to a rise in the infection rate, but because the unvaccinated (the number of which remains high in Croatia) can get covid certificates based on a negative test result. For now, at least...
Vesna Visekruna Vucina from the Croatian Institute of Public Health was a recent guest on New Day, where the situation with Croatian PCR tests and the spread of Omicron was discussed.
As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, the increase in the number of infected people, Vucina says, was due to the recent Christmas and New Year festive gatherings, but also due to the nature of this variant of the novel virus itself.
When asked about the level of public interest in vaccination, she said: “This is mostly to do with booster doses. As we've already seen, when there's such a sharp increase in the number of patients, a certain number of people do decide to be vaccinated with their first dose, but people are afraid of large numbers. Vaccination is growing towards higher age groups, it is highest in the age group of 70 to 74 years. However, the elderly are still not vaccinated sufficiently enough,''
“Vaccination protects against more severe forms of the disease developing. Over 70 percent of those hospitalied with more severe clinical pictures are not vaccinated," she told N1.
On what to expect in the next two weeks, Vucina said that we have already seen in previous waves that there will now be many people who will become so unwell that they'll need to be hospitalised. “It is to be expected that this wave will continue, but it is difficult to say what we can expect,” she warned.
Regarding the epidemiological measures that are currently in force and the introduction of new ones, she said: “It would be desirable to adhere to the already existing measures, those that have been recommended since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic. We'd like to urge people to get vaccinated because in combination with basic measures and vaccination, there is little risk of developing a more severe form of the disease,'' she added.
Croatian PCR tests and their waiting times...
There are a huge number of people coming to testing points at this moment in time, and the system is struggling to keep up with it.
“There will probably be an increase in capacity given the huge demand for testing. People who have a more severe form or pronounced symptoms have in some way an advantage over those who are asymptomatic. Most unvaccinated people who want to do a PCR test do so in order to get a covid certificate,'' she said.
“People can take a test at home if they have suspicions or have been in contact with someone infected. It’s hard to predict what will unfold when you see new strains of a virus emerge. It's difficult to know what will happen with the mutation of the virus. It's necessary to get vaccinated, to reduce the possibility of spreading the virus to an absolute minimum,'' she noted.
"Just because someone is young is at lower risk of developing complications, doesn't mean we can be absolutely sure that there will be no complications. We don't yet know what kind of clinical picture Omicron causes," she said, adding that research suggesting a milder clinical picture had been done in younger people and that the typical therapy and treatment were the same as for Delta-infected people.
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Deputy Rebro Hospital Director Milivoj Novak Says No to Stricter Measures
January the 8th, 2022 - Deputy Rebro hospital director Milivoj Novak believes that there's no real point in continuing to test when we inevitably pass the mark of 50% of those being tested turning out to be positive for the novel coronavirus. He isn't for stricter measures, either.
As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, deputy Rebro hospital director Milivoj Novak, commented on the epidemiological situation in Zagreb's largest hospital for N1 as Omicron spreads.
"The situation is primarily under control, we have a lot of testing going on, 620 people were tested yesterday, the percentage of those infected is high. What's important to us is the following, we've prepared 250 beds which should cover months, and we're below 90 percent full, there are less than 30 patients in the intensive care unit and at the moment there is no danger that we will become overwhelmed currently,'' Milivoj Novak said.
Those contracting the infection and becoming unwell are getting younger and younger, he pointed out, but the good thing is that the number of seriously ill people needing hospital treatment is not growing. "It gives us hope that this is going to get better," he added.
"It's mostly unvaccinated people getting sick. Of course, the vaccinated, especially if they have serious diseases and belong to risk groups, can also get sick, but in principle, those who aren't vaccinated are the ones becoming unwell, they can also become extremely seriously ill,'' warned Milivoj Novak.
Milivoj Novak is against the introduction of any stricter measures
Asked how worried he is about the new coronavirus variant, Omicron, Milivoj Novak says it would be too bold to say they're' ''happy'' about Omicron. "According to some reports, the clinical picture of people infected with Omicron seems to be milder, but it would be too bold to say at this point, that that's what we all want," Novak said.
Speaking about the tightening of the country's epidemiological measures, Novak said that the current measures are "okay, but we don't adhere to them".
“We went through a lockdown. This is an epidemiologically good thing, but it isn't good for the functioning of society. Now we're paying the price of Christmas, and we'll pay the price of the New Year and we're also waiting to pay the price of people going skiing,'' said the deputy director of KBC Zagreb.
As for testing, he pointed out that the problem is that the maximum possible number of those needing to be tested has now been reached. "We tested 620 patients yesterday, we can't test more people than that, and when the percentage exceeds 50 percent of positive results, does it make sense to test even more?" Everyone is infected," Milivoj Novak said.
He hopes that the collapse of the healthcare system will not happen, because they have both plan B and plan C and they're well prepared.
"In theory, it's possible that everything might collapse, but I don't believe that will happen," he concluded.
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Richest Croatian Municipalities All Located in Beautiful Istria
January the 8th, 2022 - The richest Croatian municipalities enjoy incomes as high as the 24 poorest in the country put together, which means there's some seriously huge wage disparity in Croatia. Rather unsurprisingly, they're all located in Istria.
As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, a new analysis undertaken by the Institute of Public Finance shows that back in pandemic-dominated 2020, the Istrian municipality of Medulin was the richest municipality in all of the Republic of Croatia. It generated the highest total revenues, totalling 77 million kuna, which is equal to the sum of the total revenues of the 24 poorest municipalities put together.
Interestingly, the total revenues of the ten richest Croatian municipalities, 530 million kuna, are equal to the sum of the total revenues of one quarter of all of the country's quite numerous municipalities. Among the Croatian municipalities with per capita income of more than 10,000 kuna, as many as 17 of them 29 are located close to the coast.
''We're really far ahead of other Croatian municipalities in terms of budget realisation. Since we're mostly a tourist destination, surviving the pandemic-dominated year of 2020 was a challenge, and recovering the level of income we once had is even greater,'' Medulin Mayor Ivan Kirac told local portal Glas Istre.
''Despite everything, I expect a significant increase in revenue this year. In the future, we're planning to base all of our strategies on income diversification, so I hope that we will create an even more resilient system to such troubles,'' explained Kirac.
The Croatian municipalities with the largest budget per capita include the Istrian municipalities of Kastelir-Labinci (2,700 kuna) and Oprtalj (2,600 kuna), which are in third and fourth place on a national level.
The Institute of Public Finance says that when interpreting the financial situation of Croatian municipalities and cities, one should be careful because many municipalities and cities have a high share of state and/or EU aid in total operating revenues in a given year, which doesn't typically apply to those located by the sea.
According to the Institute of Public Finance, Medulin maintained its leading position throughout 2020, when the coronavirus pandemic negatively affected the budgets of local governmental units and resulted in a decline in average total revenues and an increase in average deficits.
The Institute of Public Finance says that their analysis should encourage the public to further study the databases of the Ministry of Finance and its local governmental units, and get more detailed information on collecting and spending money from local budgets, Glas Istre writes.
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Omicron Variant Rapidly Spreading in Croatia, But isn't Yet Dominant
ZAGREB, 7 January, 2022 - The head of the Croatian Institute of Public Health (HZJZ), Krunoslav Capak, told a news conference on Friday that the Omicron variant of coronavirus was spreading rapidly, but was not yet the dominant variant in Croatia.
The fifth wave of the coronavirus pandemic in the country has begun as the fourth wave is subsiding, he said.
"Hospitalisations always come 14 days later, and it may happen that their number will follow this surge in new infection caseloads," said Capak.
In December, a mere three cases of infection with Omicron were detected in Croatia. However, last Tuesday, the variant accounted for 80% of the new cases in Zagreb and 30% in the second largest city of Split.
Capak said that the Omicron variant would first become dominant in Zagreb and the wider area of Rijeka. For the time being, it does not seem to be dominant in continental Croatia, he noted.
Croatia's capacity for PCR tests seems to be reaching its maximum, with 20,000 tests per day being performed now. The authorities are considering a possibility of recognising rapid antigen tests as diagnostic tests, Capak said.
Orthodox Christians in Croatia Mark Christmas According to Julian Calendar
ZAGREB, 7 January, 2022 - Members of the Serb Orthodox Church in Croatia on Friday morning attended Christmas services held in Orthodox churches in accordance with the Julian calendar.
During the ceremonies, the Christmas message of the head of the Serbian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Porfirije, was read.
At the liturgy held in the Serb Orthodox Church of the Holy Transfiguration in the downtown Zagreb, the head of the Eparchy of Marča read Porfirije's Christmas epistle in which the dignitary greeted Christmas "with extraordinary respect and gratitude, to all the physicians and medical professionals. "I pray for the ill to recover promptly and for the plague that has attacked the world to pass," Patriarch Porfirije wrote in his message.
Porfirije also believes that "coronavirus is a pedagogical reprimand to human beings to restart complying with God's rules.
Christmas services were held in several churches in Vinkovci-Vukovar County.
Cardinal Josip Bozanić of the Zagreb Catholic Archdiocese also sent a Christmas message to Orthodox dignitaries and faithful.
Split to Get €7.2m Regional Blood Transfusion Centre
ZAGREB, 7 January, 2022 -The Split Hospital Centre on Friday started implementing the HRK 54 million (€ 7.2 million) project of a state-of-the-art blood bank which should be completed by next summer.
The future blood bank is partly financed from the EU funds.
Split Hospital Director, Dr Julije Meštrović, said that the regional transfusion centre would certainly improve the health standard of patients.
The project is being financed through the ITU mechanism of Split's urban agglomeration with the specific objective of renewing brownfield areas. The EU has set aside more than HRK 31 million for the project. Croatia's Health Ministry has ensured HRK 22 million to equip the building and Split-Dalmatia County will also participate in financing the project.
The plans for this new centre were initiated ten years ago, the head of Split's transfusion centre, Dr Slavica Dajak said.
Croatia Dismisses Serbian Interior Ministry's Reaction as Inappropriate
ZAGREB, 7 January, 2022 - The Croatian Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs on Friday condemned the criticism by the Serbian Ministry of the Interior of Prime Minister Andrej Plenković's comments on the search for a young Croatian who went missing in Belgrade a week ago.
The Serbian Ministry of the Interior said on Thursday it was not surprised that "Plenković has no respect for the work of the Serbian police." It called on the Croatian prime minister "to show respect for the missing person's family," adding that he was only obstructing the work of the Serbian police "with his absurd comments on the disappearance of the young man, a visitor to Belgrade."
Its reaction came after Plenković had said that "it is not important at all what (Serbian Interior Minister) Mr Vulin said" and that he was only interested in complete information of the young man's disappearance.
Defending Plenković, the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs said: "It is our shared priority to shed light on the fate of the missing Matej Periša and obtain full information on the sequence of events, and that is the only meaning of the Prime Minister's statement."
"The allegations by the Serbian Ministry of the Interior that the Croatian authorities are obstructing the work of the Serbian police during the search are counterproductive and unfounded and have no basis in what the Croatian prime minister said," the Croatian ministry said, adding that Plenković had called for the search to continue and stressed the contribution of all services involved in this effort.
Noting that the Serbian ministry's reaction was "pointless and inexplicable," the Croatian ministry stressed that the Croatian prime minister only said that "only official information on the results of the search" was important, rather than someone's statements, regardless of who made them, and that "any well-meaning person can understand that."
The Serbian ministry's reaction was all the more "surprising" because in his speech at the Christmas reception given by the Serb National Council in Zagreb, Plenković had pointed out that "the Croatian government will persist with the policy of dialogue and peace and the inclusion of ethnic minorities in Croatia while looking to the future and to cooperation with Serbia on all open issues," the Croatian ministry said.
It expressed hope that the good cooperation between the two countries' police forces would continue in the case at hand in the interests of shedding light on the fate of the missing Croatian national.
Mandatory Masks in Croatian Schools from 5th Grade Onwards
January 7, 2022 - Minister of Science and Education Radovan Fuchs spoke at a press conference and reaffirmed the return to school classes in Croatia from this Monday. He also added that there will be mandatory masks in Croatian schools for those in fifth grade and up, among other considerations.
"You can see that, as the Government has insisted that school classes in Croatia be given in person, we have reduced online teaching to a minimum. Despite its necessity, virtual classes have their downsides, even if it was made with the highest standards for which we received a lot of recognition," he said. He added that this is not a happy solution for the education of children and young people, especially given the other negative consequences of online teaching, such as isolation, which affects the development of students.
“Based on this, and in an effort to provide proper education in this time and moment, we strive to keep it in person, which has proven to be good,” he said. “Decisions on an eventual transition to online teaching are made on a regional level in cooperation with the Ministry. At this moment, we do not have an announcement from any county to think about it, thus everything will start normally from Monday", he said.
He added that exceptions are only possible in some schools with unavailable staff due to the omicron variant. "At the moment we have information about a school in a small town, where they have a shortened staff due to the epidemiological situation", he said.
Speaking about the measures in schools, Fuchs said that the same measures from November remain in force: mandatory masks in Croatian schools for students from 5th grade onwards, regardless of the space and distance. "In earlier grades, the distance is two meters or one and a half meters, and therefore the use of masks has been abolished. Children from first to fourth grade are in this group.''
In the end, he said that the vaccination of teachers has significantly improved. "Our average is about 70.1 or 71 percent. Again, in scientific institutes, it is almost 90 percent of the higher education system, 84-85 percent in secondary schools and 70.3 or 70 percent in primary schools'', he concluded.
Source: Telegram.hr
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30th Anniversary of Attack on EC Monitors Marked
ZAGREB, 7 January, 2022 - A ceremony was held in Podrute near the northwestern town of Novi Marof on Friday to commemorate five European Community peace monitors whose unarmed helicopter was shot down by the Yugoslav Air Force 30 years ago.
A helicopter carrying EU monitors Colonel Enzo Venturini and Lieutenants Marco Matta, Silvano Natale and Fiorenzo Ramacci of Italy and French Lieutenant Jean Loup Eychenne was shot down above Podrute by a Yugoslav Air Force MiG-21 on 7 January 1992. Everyone on board was killed.
In their memory, wreaths were laid by the representative of the President of the Republic, Dragan Lozančić, the representative of the Parliament President, Zdravka Bušić, Foreign Minister Gordan Grlić Radman as the representative of the Prime Minister, Ilario Schettino of the Italian Embassy, the representative of the French Ambassador, Florence Skrlj, Varaždin County prefect Anđelko Stričak and the mayor of Novi Marof and member of Parliament Siniša Jenkač.
Addressing the ceremony, Lozančić stressed the importance of the role of the European monitors in spreading the truth about what was going in Croatia at the time.
"The European monitors had a very important role in spreading the truth about everything that was going on in Croatia. That was very important for promoting the justice of our struggle for freedom and international recognition," Lozančić said.
Bušić expressed hope that the memory of these brave people would continue to be cherished, while Grlić Radman noted that this incident had accelerated the international community's decision to recognise Croatia's independence and shown the true nature of the Serbian expansionist policy.
"I think that this was also an attempt to stop the democratisation and independence of those countries that lived in a totalitarian regime," Grlić Radman said.
Schettino and Skrlj spoke of the importance of the European Union, its values and the common goals of the member states, while Stričak and Jenkač noted that this incident was part of Croatia's path to international recognition and that it clearly showed who the aggressor was and who the victim.
Paris: Agreement to Reinforce External Borders Before Schengen Enlargement
ZAGREB, 7 January, 2022 - The possibility of Schengen Area enlargement will be decided by EU heads of state or government, prior to which it is necessary to reach an agreement on external border protection and the registration of all aliens entering the EU, a French government source said on Friday.
President Emmanuel Macron has spoken in favour of Croatia's Schengen accession and the decision is up to the heads of state or government, the source said when asked if a decision on Croatia's accession could be expected during the French presidency of the Council of the European Union, in the first half of this year.
Before that, it is necessary to agree on the first stage of the Pact on Migration and Asylum, which includes external border protection and the registration of all aliens entering the EU, the source said. That seems reasonable to me and the heads of state or government will decide on that, he added.
The source said the adoption of the pact should be divided into three stages. The goal is to reach an agreement on such an approach and adopt conclusions on the first stage by March. That is an agreement on better external border protection and the registration of all migrants.
The first stage includes striking a balance between solidarity and responsibility, between readiness to share the migration pressure with the member states along the external borders and responsibility for the protection of those borders. This envisages an agreement on arrangements for keeping migrants on the external borders in order to check their identity for security reasons.
It's necessary to first agree on the strengthening of the external borders, in which the first stage of the migration package is important, and then one can talk about Schengen enlargement, the French government source said.
Visiting Zagreb in November, Macron supported Croatia's accession to the Schengen and euro areas.
France supports Croatia's Schengen accession. Croatia has shown that it is ready and has complied with the process, confirming that it is firmly organised and capable of protecting its own borders, the external borders of the Union, against smuggling, he said.
Macron also said that with Croatia's accession, Schengen would become more effective, adding that the Schengen regime needed to reform and that France would work on it while chairing the Council of the EU.
