CNIPH Defines Most Sensitive Groups of Patients - List Provided
The Croatian Institute of Public Health (CNIPH) has released a document that will help doctors decide who can attend classes and work in schools during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 2nd of September, 2020, with the document entitled "Diseases and health conditions that may increase the risk of severe forms of COVID-19", the CNIPH has sought to remind people that from the very beginning of the pandemic, there has been a lot of talk about health conditions that can increase this risk of a more severe form of the disease, and relate to people with respiratory, cardiovascular, renal and malignant diseases, diabetes, immunodeficiencies, and the elderly.
The CNIPH notes that coronavirus is a new disease about which scientific knowledge is still being gathered and has sought to remind everyone of all of the protection measures which need to be undertaken, such as restricting contact with other people, wearing a mask and enhanced personal hygiene. In addition, "in the household it is necessary to stay away from a person with this [sort of] health condition, ie to avoid close contact, and to implement other preventive measures."
If the person's health condition is such that the person can only wear a mask for a short period of time, wearing one should be limited to particularly risky situations that the person can't avoid, for example in public transport, in health care facilities, etc. It is even more important that their family and others with whom they are in contact, for example, at school or at work, constantly wear a mask and consistently implement other preventive measures.
For most people with the health conditions which will be further described below, being in a working environment with normal working conditions, in school or performing other obligations doesn't really pose a greater health risk than going out to other public places such as shops, banks, restaurants, using public transport and the like, according to the CNIPH.
Within these groups of diseases and health conditions, a smaller number of persons can be distinguished who belong to a highly vulnerable (risky) group of patients, ie persons who have a state of health which has been extremely impaired. For each extremely vulnerable person, it is necessary to individually consider their state of health and functioning, taking into account the current epidemiological situation. Such persons should consult their primary care physician about their health status in light of the current epidemiological situation with the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
Extremely vulnerable groups of patients are adults and children, regardless of age, with the following health conditions:
• Persons who have had organ transplants, this relates primarily to solid organs
• People with certain malignancies (people with malignancies who are receiving chemotherapy, people with lung cancer who are undergoing radical radiotherapy, people with haematological malignancies and bone marrow malignancies such as leukemia, lymphoma, myeloma, at any stage of treatment, people with receiving immunotherapy or other long-term therapy for malignant diseases, including chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy (CAR-T therapy), persons receiving immune system-related therapy for malignancies such as protein kinase inhibitors or PARP inhibitors, bone transplant recipients which have had the procedures done less than six months ago and are still on immunosuppressive therapy)
• People with severe respiratory diseases, including cystic phobrosis, severe asthma and severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (the severity of asthma and COPD is defined by a doctor, and these are primarily people whose disease requires specialist health care and permanent therapy under specialist supervision)
• People with rare diseases that significantly increase the risk of all infections (eg severe combined immunodeficiency, children at increased risk of infections due to other severe forms of primary immunodeficiency, homozygous sickle cell anemia)
• People receiving high doses of immunosuppressive drugs (eg children and adults at increased risk of infections due to immunodeficiency caused by treatment of an underlying disease (eg iatrogenic immunosuppression after transplantation or severe vasculitis)
• People who need respiratory assistance including oxygen, suction, non-invasive ventilation or prophylactic antibiotics due to recurrent respiratory infections
• Pregnant women with severe heart disease (congenital or acquired)
• People with heart diseases of varying types.
• Other persons classified as highly vulnerable based on the clinical assessment of a chosen physician or clinician. It should be noted that this document will adapt to new scientific knowledge as we continue to find out more about this virus.
For more on coronavirus in Croatia, as well as notices from the CNIPH, follow our dedicated section.
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Croatian Vet Clinic Warns People to Wear Masks in Funny Way
September the 3rd, 2020 - One Croatian vet clinic has caused a stir and a lot of likely broad grins on social media with its warning to those visiting that they must wear a mask in order to be granted access into the facility.
The way in which we live our lives has been dramatically altered in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. The newest member of the coronavirus family to have successfully jumped species to humans has dealt a dramatic blow to almost every aspect of normality, and that is without even beginning to delve into the catastrophic economic consequences.
Masks have been a hot topic for many, with some opposing the idea of being asked to wear masks when in certain areas such as shops and other enclosed spaces, and others becoming irritated at the sudden expenditure and the previous difficulty in even being able to find masks to purchase. Still, regardless of the strength of the opinions of some, the requirement to wear masks on public transport and indoors remains in force. One Croatian vet clinic, called Dr. Doolittle, has made sure that those bringing their pets for medical care at least get a laugh in these depressing times.
As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 2nd of September, 2020, visitors to the Osijek-based vet clinic were pleasantly surprised by the announcement posted on the door of the practice, so much so that the notice became some what of a hit on social media.
The warning reads: “Please be sure to wear a mask when entering. Thank you! If you don't have a mask, we'll have to measure your temperature, and you know very well how we do it.''
Visitors to this Croatian vet clinic were pleasantly surprised by this announcement, and in addition to being thankful for the expertise of the staff in treating their beloved pets, they also praised their sense of humour in the current, often depressing climate dominated by the virus.
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Did Coronavirus Pandemic Pass Renters of Croatian Luxury Villas By?
As Novac/Barbara Ban writes on the 2nd of September, 2020, while a considerable amount of Croatia's tourism workers remain hooked on what the tourist season was like, fear what might happen in autumn and wonder how they will survive until next Easter, the crisis seems to have bypassed all those involved in renting holiday homes and Croatian luxury villas with swimming pools.
Exactly as expected, this type of accommodation was extremely highly sought after and booked by foreign tourists. A significant number of Croatian luxury villas and other such houses, especially those located in Istria, are still full, despite the fact that some Europeans, including Austrians, Slovenes and Britons aren't bothering coming to Istria because of Croatia's placement on the red lists of these countries. These European guests, along with Germans, make up the majority of guests in the post-season months.
However, only the German market will be able to fill these capacities to some extent, so the renters of Croatian luxury villas and other types of similar accommodation will eventually be able to be satisfied to some degree, as will the agencies that mediate in renting out this type of accommodation.
Ivan Milotic, co-owner and marketing strategist of the My Istria travel agency, which is known for renting the most luxurious houses in Istria, admitted as much. He explained that they have never had such a good level of booking in June as they did this year, which was actually to be expected given the fact that the borders re-opened to the countries from which the largest number of tourists come to Istria. After months of quarantine, everyone could hardly wait for a holiday and their arrival in the then 'coronavirus-free' zone.
''Due to the situation around the closing of the borders with Croatia, in September, we've been at about 60 percent of the occupancy of our houses. The decline started when the Austrians and Slovenes put us on their red lists. In those last 10 days of August, we lost 20 percent of our traffic because those guests packed up and returned home,'' Milotic said. But that doesn’t mean he’s unhappy with a season few expected much of.
''We started receiving our first guests back at the beginning of May, so from June the 15th, after the borders opened, the occupancy of the houses would be 99.9 percent. There are perhaps a few buildings left that have gone too far with their prices, and we have a thousand facilities in our offer. That trend lasted until August the 18th when Austria put us on the red list. From Friday to Saturday that day, we lost 18 percent of our bookings,'' Milotic said. But still, not everyone cancelled. He pointed out that there are guests who turned a deaf ear to these measures and came anyway.
''After that, we've been having an interesting situation because something gets cancelled, but then something also gets booked again. This is a really interesting season,'' Milotic admitted.
''We've adjusted our prices somewhere, depending on the demand. We had a good amount of reservations which took place before the outbreak, but also a lot of reservations after that. In some cases, the prices were reduced by up to 20 percent, but in principle they didn't change that much,'' Milotic pointed out. He explained that after tourism started, it was to be expected that this form of accommodation would be high on people's lists due to the level of isolation, as well as the level of quality.
''We noticed that some guests opted for houses and Croatian luxury villas instead of hotels. Some have even greater comfort than the hotels themselves, but they don't, of course, have the same services. But in this situation the guests were looking for a place to stay where they'd feel safe. The houses and Croatian luxury villas proved to be a complete success,'' he added.
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New Croatian Geothermal Projects on Horizon in Slavonia, Podravina...
September the 3rd, 2020 - Despite the ongoing coronavirus pandemic which has thrown a spanner in the works for many a previously planned investment, not everything has been forced to grind to a halt or be put back on the shelf and await better economic circumstances. New Croatian geothermal projects are on the horizon for Slavonia, Podravina and Medjimurje as numerous bids arrive.
As Novac writes on the 2nd of September, 2020, as many as nine bids were received for the exploration of geothermal waters in four exploration areas in the areas of Slavonia, Podravina and Medjimurje, which were submitted by seven different bidders, the Hydrocarbons Agency reported on Wednesday.
The Hydrocarbons Agency announced tenders for four exploration areas in Croatia intended for the exploration of geothermal waters for energy purposes in early June, and the tender closed on Tuesday, September the 1st, 2020.
These are the research premises Ernestinovo, Lunjkovec-Kutnjak, Legrad-1 and Merhatovec, and the Tender Commission determined that nine bids from seven different bidders were received for the tender on this upcoming Croatian geothermal project.
''The next step is the evaluation of the received bids, but it's already clear that the tender, despite these challenging times, was a complete success because bids were received for all of the announced locations, and the applicants are reputable Croatian and foreign companies with experience in developing geothermal projects,'' read a statement from the aforementioned agency.
They announced that they will present all of the details about the potential investors and proposed projects after the Commission properly evaluates the received bids.
''Croatian geothermal projects have the potential to be the flagship of energy transition, given that the exploration will take place in areas for which geothermal potential has been determined on wells initially drilled for in the exploration and exploitation of oil and gas,'' concluded the Hydrocarbons Agency.
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World University Rankings Place Split In 801-1000 Range, Zagreb In 1001+
ZAGREB, Sept 2, 2020 - Times Higher Education (THE) has released its World University Rankings 2021, according to which the University of Oxford is again the best in the world, while the University of Split ranked in the 801-1000 range, and the University of Zagreb maintained its position in the 1001+ group.
The World University Rankings include over 1,500 universities from 93 countries, the biggest number so far. The list is based on 13 performance indicators in four areas: teaching, research, knowledge transfer, and international outlook.
The University of Split has fallen behind compared with the 2020 list when it was in the 601-800 range, but it remains the best-ranked Croatian university.
The University of Ljubljana was placed in the same range as Split and the University of Maribor in the same group as Zagreb. The University of Belgrade, ranked in the 601-800 range, is the best-ranked university in Serbia, while the University of Novi Sad was placed in the 1001+ group.
The University of Oxford tops the list for the fifth consecutive year, followed by Stanford University, Harvard University, California Institute of Technology, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
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FinMin: Keeping Jobs Is A Priority
ZAGREB, Sept 2, 2020 - Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Zdravko Maric said on Wednesday after an inner cabinet meeting that keeping jobs is a priority and that support measures for sectors affected by the coronavirus crisis, such as hospitality and transport, will be made known in the next few days.
Maric made the statement while responding to reporters' questions about the continuation of measures for the hospitality sector, which Tourism and Sports Minister Nikolina Brnjac had announced earlier, saying that they were on the table and being taken care of.
He said that internal consultations were ongoing and recalled that the government had generously financed support for the economy, however, he noted that everything has its fiscal repercussions and fiscal possibilities.
"This year the budget result is not a priority, however, in these circumstances it is necessary to find funds and ensure budget sustainability for this year and the years to come," said Maric.
Keeping jobs is a priority, he said, recalling that the government had presented a shorter working week and that the recently approved SURE program would provide a little more than €1 million in loans for Croatia.
Intensive talks are underway regarding the generous envelope that is part of Europe's recovery plan, Maric said, adding that testing was already underway regarding the use of support in hospitality.
Maric added that he understands the problems faced by the occasional transport sector whose representatives earlier in the day handed out leaflets to lawmakers listing their problems.
We have embarked on horizontal measures and have continued to support tourism and transport and everything will be made known in the next few days, he said.
Our priority is to keep jobs and we are willing and ready to do the best we can, he added.
Maric explained that there had not been any money in the budget for the first round of support either, however, the money was eventually found and efforts would be made to continue to preserve jobs.
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Croatia Ranks 41st On Global Innovation Index 2020
ZAGREB, Sept 2, 2020 - Croatia has climbed three places to 41st place among 131 countries on the Global Innovation Index (GII), a rank similar to those in the past five years, the State Intellectual Property Office said on Wednesday.
As in previous years, the ranking was topped by Switzerland, Sweden, the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands.
According to the results for 2020, Croatia's innovation output outranked innovation input, the State Intellectual Property Office said.
Some of Croatia's most pronounced advantages are ecological sustainability, the export of cultural and creative services compared to total trade, the number of scientific and technical articles published, and when it comes to the pupil-teacher ratio in secondary education, Croatia ranked 1st among all 131 countries, it was underscored.
Croatia's greatest weaknesses include its low level of university/industry research collaboration, the state of cluster development, and low intensity of local competition, the Office said.
The World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) has been releasing the Global Innovation Index since 2008, in cooperation with partner institutions -- Cornell University and the European Institute of Business Administration (INSEAD). GII 2020 gives an overview and ranking of the innovation performance of 131 countries and economies around the world.
The theme of this year's GII is "Who Will Finance Innovation?", and it discusses how to foster innovation-driven entrepreneurship and social, cultural, and economic growth. GII 2020 also investigates new methods of financing innovation in a post-COVID world.
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PHOTOS: Zagreb Burger Festival 2020
September 2, 2020 - The most mouth-watering burgers and all the best vibes from today's opening of Zagreb Burger Festival 2020
The sun was out as Zagreb Burger Festival 2020 kicked off today in Strossmayer Park, in the heart of the Croatian capital. People lounged in deck chairs, sipped gin and tonic or beer while enjoying a relaxed musical soundtrack and carefree vibes.
Here we bring you the best photos of the day, plus details of some of the mouth-watering burgers on offer this year.
Rešetka
There is to be no judged competition this year. Instead, visitors can scan a code on the receipt they receive to vote for their favourite burger. Rešetka, last year's winners, have three contenders at Zagreb Burger Festival 2020; E, Buraz, a beef patty served with chicken liver pâté, smoked garlic cream and cucumber relish, Đurina Frende, a dry-aged tenderloin beefsteak patty, served with rocket pesto and a brown butter mayonnaise, Divji Đuro, a mixed beef, and wild deer meat burger, served with a leek and sour cream spread and a ragu of forest mushrooms. E, Buraz and Divji Đuro were the best two burgers we tried all day (we tried a lot)!
The Garden Kitchen and their wonderful Veggie Deluxe
The Garden Kitchen has four burgers; Smokey DD is a double beef patty with two slices of smoked cheese, BBQ mayo, sliced red onion, and dill pickle. A favourite of The Garden Festival site, they sold over 25, 000 of these burgers in 2019. Their Decadent burger is made from aged rib eye, with grilled onion, truffle mayo, cheddar cheese, and rocket. Top marks to them this year for also offering the only two non-meat versions available – Veggie Deluxe, a vegetarian burger made from falafel with grated courgette, served with hummus, grilled pepper, lemon garlic mayo, and salad, plus Asian Fusion, a burger made with spiced salmon, served with dill pickle, horseradish mayo and salad.
The chefs line up
At Chef's Burger by Ivan Pažanin, they're going all out and only doing double patties at Zagreb Burger Festival 2020. Their Basil Garlic Burger is served with rocket, tomato, onion, and, of course, basil and garlic. With kapula being a Dalmatian word for onion, you can guess the slant of their Crispy Kapula - crispy onion, honey mustard, onion marmalade, fried onion, and pickled jalapeno. Their Original Cheeseburger comes with tomato, pickle, mustard, mayo and ketchup.
Rešetka had the best burgers that TCN tried this year (although the fish and veggie options at The Garden Kitchen were amazing!)
At Zagreb's Cheese Bar, there's a struggle to translate all the ingredients into English. Between several members of laughing staff and TCN's best guesses, we think their menu is as follows; Debs is a double burger served with škripavac cheese, tomato, salad and pickle. Wild is a burger made from wild boar and deer meat served with salad. Gorgo is a beef burger with gorgonzola cheese, Boško u maramici uses an Istrian beef and their Classic is reassuringly standard. Each of their burgers comes with its own special sauce.
Latin fusion outlet El Toro's burgers are all made with Black Angus beef. Their Classic comes with fried onions, an Emmental-type cheese, and salad. Deep Cheese uses Cheddar cheese and pickled fennel, Smokey again has Cheddar cheese, but with caramelised onions and a smokey, spicy BBQ sauce.
Rougemarin has a cheeseburger and a normal burger, plus a smaller Buhtla option for kids. As with their Zagreb restaurants, all of the meat they've brought to Zagreb Burger Festival 2020 is of high quality and is carefully sourced within a couple of hours drive from the capital.
Kascheta's main burger is made using Cheddar cheese, crispy bacon, fried and caramelized onions, mixed salad and BBQ sauce. Hambanjeros has Slavonian black pig bacon, caramelized onions, pickled jalapenos and BBQ sauce. Say Cheese has Cheddar, plus cheese sauce and onion rings, their Smoke Burger uses smoked buffalo mozzarella and. Their XXL Crni Burger is once again the most startling-looking burger of the event as it's served in a black bun. Black bread?? Eye-catching? Yes. Appetising? Hmmm.
Burger Institute has three options, each named after the leads in Sergio Leone's classic western; The Good is a pretty standard burger, livened with a light lime ketchup. The Bad has a red pepper relish, spicy mayo, and pumpkin seeds. The Ugly adds bacon, BBQ sauce and jalapeno peppers.
Zagreb Burger Festival runs until 13th September.
All photos © Mateo Henec
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Defence Minister Says That President's Visit To Albania Was Official
ZAGREB, Sept 2, 2020 - Defence Minister Mario Banozic said on Wednesday that according to his information President's visit to Albania was official and dismissed remarks that the ministry was keeping mum about the case.
"From what has been given to me in writing, it was an official trip, and the Conflict of Interest Commission will establish... if it was a private or an official visit," Banozic told the press in Split.
He said the media interpreted his recent statement about the president's visit to Albania flippantly. He explained that he was stating the rights which the president and Armed Forces commander in chief had in using military resources under the Defence Act.
Banozic said that in his statement he pointed to the amount that was paid because the expenses for the use of those resources were covered by the Defence Ministry, not the president's office and that he would always comment on that. He added that it was not true that the ministry was keeping quiet about it.
Banozic said the ministry did not participate in organizing the president's trips and that they were organized by the president's office in cooperation with its services.
He said the Armed Forces received a request, under the Defence Act, based on which he, as a minister, gave his consent for diplomatic or ceremonial purposes.
Banozic said he did not have the legal grounds not to consent to the use of the military and that any questions about this case should be put to the president's office.
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Hot Scoop: Is Beyonce in Korcula?
September 2, 2020 - Sometimes you overhear the best scoop in the streets. For instance, is Beyonce in Korcula?
The news is almost completely uncorroborated, but it comes from a source we have reason to trust, and it's not the first time Korcula has seen major celebrities in 2020 (need we remind you of Magic Johnson or Owen Wilson?) The story goes that Beyonce and her entourage are on a yacht in the Korcula archipelago and that they've requested the entire islet of Vrnik to be emptied for their visit.
While many celebrities have chosen to come to Croatia for their holidays this year, which is quite different from any other year, we've seen no other reports of Beyonce returning to Croatia this year. The story of one of her previous visits is well-documented, with her daughter Blue Ivy supposedly getting her name after a bit of Croatian coastline. The grapevine has, at this moment, not produced any news regarding Jay-Z's location.
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