PM Says There's an Encouraging Downward Epidemic Curve Trend
ZAGREB, 18 January, 2021 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said on Monday that there was an encouraging downward epidemic curve trend and that if it continued, it would give reason to hope that possible relaxation of anti-epidemic measures could be considered in consultation with experts.
"It is good that the weekly average of confirmed infections has dropped to the level of mid-October," Plenković said at a government session.
Croatia currently has the third biggest 14-day drop in new infections in the EU. The number of fatalities has been on the decline as well, the number of people on ventilators and hospitalisations has been halved compared to the peak a month ago and is now at the level of two months ago, in the first half of November. The number of hospitalisations has dropped twice compared to a month ago, he said.
"These are good indicators and mean that the measures introduced at the end of November and responsible behaviour by citizens have reversed trends. We should now keep them up. The responsibility of all is very important," the PM said.
He stressed that the change in statistics had been achieved without a curfew or a strict lockdown and that if the current trend continued, a possible easing of restrictions would be considered in consultation with experts.
The PM said one of the first signals was the start of the second school term and the return to school of primary school pupils from Grades 1 to 4 and final-year secondary school students.
The others will have to wait but I hope they, too, will return to school if the current situation continues, he said.
So far, 46,000 people have been vaccinated against coronavirus. Today a new shipment of the Pfizer vaccine arrived and a decision by the European Medicines Agency is being awaited on the approval of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, which would increase the number of doses, Plenković said.
"This would make it possible for us to vaccinate the groups that are most at risk as well as those most exposed to infection and thus protect them before the start of the tourist season," he said.
He noted that this week a parliamentary debate would be held on the government-sponsored amendments to the Act on the Post-Earthquake Reconstruction and that today the government would adopt a number of decisions designed to facilitate life for people in the quake-hit areas.
In that context, he singled out a conclusion on the write-off of utility bills for households. "The conclusion refers to electricity and gas," said Plenković.
Government Financially Supports Independent Artists
ZAGREB, 18 January, 2021 - The government decided on Monday to financially support independent artists, self-employed and independent culture professionals, tasking the finance and culture ministries to set aside an additional HRK 20 million this year as direct support to the culture sector.
Speaking at a cabinet meeting, Culture Minister Nina Obuljen Koržinek said the support was envisaged for an activity that was not covered by Croatian Employment Service coronavirus relief measures and that it would come from a special culture ministry fund.
Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said the decision sent the message that culture was important also in times of a pandemic and earthquakes.
Government sends parliament report on COVID measures
The government sent to parliament a report on the effects of COVID-19 measures adopted in line with the law protecting the population from infectious diseases. Parliament tasked the government to submit such reports three times a year for as long as a decision on the COVID-19 epidemic, adopted on 11 March 2020, remains in force.
Health Minister Vili Beroš said the report presented the effects of the measures in healthcare, social welfare, the economy, social activities, science and education, and home affairs.
Minister Says Housing Reconstruction Could Start in Early Summer
ZAGREB, 18 January, 2021 - Regional Development and EU Funds Minister Nataša Tramišak said on Monday that the reconstruction of the quake-struck Sisak-Moslavina County could start in the second half of the year, in early summer.
"We will primarily seek funding available under EU programmes. We are speaking about €111 million to be used for housing reconstruction, that is, construction or renovation of the housing stock... to provide for the elderly, the feeble, the disabled, marginalised groups, members of ethnic minorities, etc," the minister told reporters before a government session.
She explained that the Operational Programme Competitiveness and Cohesion was being amended and that measures were being awaited that would define reconstruction models.
"The funds are already available, we are now waiting for the programme to be finalised," Tramišak said, adding that an informal dialogue with the European Commission had already started.
The EC is willing to change operational programmes and implementation could start this year, she said.
Asked when the first houses could be rebuilt, she said that their construction could start in the second half of the year, possibly in spring or summer.
"It all depends on how quickly we will design the model house and interview people interested in that type of housing construction. We are talking about the construction of new sections of settlements and about state-owned flats and houses, similar to how the Central State Office for Housing has done so far, giving every year a certain number of state-owned houses and flats for use to families in need," she explained.
Asked how much of an obstacle unclear property-rights relations could be, she said that she was talking about the construction of entire sections of settlements or the renovation of existing state-owned housing units, where there were no unclear property-rights relations.
As for the EU Solidarity Fund, she said that a full appraisal of the damage caused by the 29 December 2020 earthquake was being awaited, after which it would be sent to the Fund.
She explained that money from the Solidarity Fund, unlike the funding the state already has for family houses, was intended for the reconstruction of public infrastructure and buildings.
The Solidarity Fund is notified about the amount of total direct damage caused to public buildings, business facilities and family houses, and that amount must exceed HRK 2.3 billion, which is already turning out to be the case, the minister said, adding that the EC then approved aid in the amount of six percent at the most.
Aid in the amount of between 2 to 3% of the estimated damage will be used for public infrastructure, she said.
Significant budget funds will be required as well, and significant funding can also be sought under the new programming period 2021-2027 that is being worked on, Tramišak said.
Quake-Affected Households Won't Pay Electricity, Heating Bills, TV Licence Fee
ZAGREB, 18 January, 2021 - The government on Monday decided to exempt households in Sisak-Moslavina County, hit by a devastating earthquake on 29 December, from paying electricity and heating bills for January, February and March as well as from paying the TV licence fee.
Economy and Sustainable Development Minister Tomislav Ćorić said that in January, February and March the state-owned HEP power company would not charge for electricity people whose houses were damaged by the quake and that it would also not charge them for connecting their temporary housing units and later reconnecting their rebuilt homes to the power grid.
As for people who use the services of a power supplier other than HEP, they will not be charged for distribution and transmission costs, said the minister.
The same measure will apply to households in the case of heating bills.
In a Twitter post after the government session, Ćorić said that he had called on other companies to join in the write-off of utility bills since a part of the households in the quake-hit area use their services.
Answering a reporter's question, he said that four companies provided power in Sisak-Moslavina County, including HEP, and that three operated in the quake-hit areas.
Quake-affected households exempt from paying TV licence fee
The government also decided that in order to help alleviate the consequences of the 29 December earthquake, the HRT public broadcaster should not collect the TV licence fee from quake-hit households for the first three months of this year.
HRK 25m in emergency aid for repair of county and local roads
The government also decided to allocate HRK 25 million in emergency aid for the repair of county and local roads in Sisak-Moslavina County, and the amount will be secured by the HC road operator.
According to preliminary estimates, damage caused to state, county and local roads in Sisak-Moslavina County totals HRK 57 million, without VAT, said Sea, Transport and Infrastructure Minister Oleg Butković.
HRK 1.5 mn for fodder
Agriculture Minister Marija Vučković said that her ministry would allocate emergency aid in the amount of HRK 1.5 million for the purchase of fodder for the next 30 days in order to enable the continuation of animal husbandry in the quake-hit areas.
She said the biggest problem at present was the lack of concentrate and compound feed.
Ministry: Seventeen Schools in Quake-Hit Area Postpone Start of 2nd Term
ZAGREB, 18 January, 2021 - At the start of the second school term in Croatian schools, slightly fewer than 180,000 pupils are attending face-to-face classes according to model A, while 17 schools in Sisak-Moslavina County have been given approval to postpone the start of classes.
According to the data from the Science and Education Ministry, a total of 150,636 pupils in lower grades of primary school and about 29,000 students in the fourth grade of secondary school are attending classes in schools.
Students in higher grades of primary school and in the first, second and third grade of secondary school have online classes.
The start of the second term has been postponed for sixteen primary schools in Sisak-Moslavina County and the Glina Secondary School.
There are 53 schools in Sisak-Moslavina County -- 37 primary schools, 13 secondary schools and three music schools, there are 14,704 pupils and 2,754 school workers. There are also 21 kindergartens attended by 3,489 children.
Following the devastating earthquake that struck the county on December 29, nine of those buildings are unusable, 12 are temporarily unusable, 12 are usable with certain parts of buildings still posing a risk, and 23 are usable without limitations.
Božinović: Figures Are Good But We Don't Want to Risk Third Wave of Epidemic
ZAGREB, 18 January, 2021 - The head of the national COVID-19 crisis management team, Davor Božinović, said on Monday that the despite the fact that the current epidemiological situation was good, they did not want to risk a third wave occurring and that the impact of each measure on the decrease of infections would be assessed.
He stressed he could not specify whether the current measures would be relaxed after 31 January, but until then each existing measure would be evaluated.
Commenting on claims about the introduction of vaccination certificates which could enable citizens to travel, Božinović said there were no formal discussions on them.
"We are currently not considering those options," he said, adding that some countries are thinking about it.
"If there is a joint approach at the EU level, we are going to actively join those talks. At the moment, the quantities of vaccine in the EU and Croatia, and more or less in the entire world, are too small for such decisions to be made. At this moment I think it is too soon," Božinović said.
Capak: 29% fewer new infections compared to previous week
The head of the Croatian Public Health Institute, Krunoslav Capak, said that from 12 to 18 January there had been 29% fewer new infections than in the preceding week, from 5 to 11 January.
The 14-day incidence of 288.9 new cases places Croatia in the 7th place of countries with lowest incidence in the European Union. However, the mortality rate remains high, with Croatia ranking 8th among the EU countries with the highest mortality rate.
Capak said that a new tranche of 17,550 doses of the Pfizer vaccine had been delivered to Croatia today. Part of it will be used to administer the second shot to people who have been vaccinated.
He said that 122 suspected side effects had been reported to date, most of which had been mild side effects but there had also been several more severe allergic reactions.
Capak announced that the next tranche of Moderna's vaccine would be delivered on 25 January - 4,800 doses. He did not agree with reporters' claims that the delivery in the EU was slower than in countries who had negotiated with manufacturers by themselves.
"I hope we will receive sufficient quantities of the vaccine to vaccinate all those interested in our population, which is most important," Capak said.
Capak confirmed claims that Pfizer was reducing the delivery of vaccine doses but that the reason for that was the reconstruction of the vaccine production plant, the goal of which was to increase production and reach the agreed vaccine quotas.
As for Croatia, there is no official confirmation that the delivery of the vaccine will be reduced, he said, adding that as of 15 February the deliveries will be significantly increased.
Markotić: We must remain prudent to avoid third wave of epidemic
The head of the Zagreb Dr Fran Mihaljević Infectious Diseases Hospital, Alemka Markotić, said that the lower number of new infections was reducing the pressure on the hospital system, and that the number of discharged patients had been exceeding the number of admitted patients in recent days.
She underscored that despite that one must not ignore the situation in Europe.
"Some countries are registering a spike that occurred in a short period of time, probably due to the mutated version of the virus," Markotić said, adding that one must be careful to avoid a third wave of the epidemic.
She said that a decision to close the Arena sports hall in Zagreb as a tertiary centre for coronavirus patients had not been made yet, although it was being considered.
Communication Management Forum 2021: How Will Post-Pandemic World Look?
Zagreb, January 18, 2021 – At the international scientific conference Communication Management Forum 2021, which will be held online on March 19 and 20, 2021, scientists and experts in the fields of communications, management, tourism, sociology, and psychology will try to answer the question of what the world will look like after the coronavirus pandemic.
Almost all aspects of life have undergone significant changes due to the coronavirus pandemic, so the question arises – what will the world look like after the pandemic? The scientific and multidisciplinary answer will be provided by the international scientific conference Communication Management Forum 2021 with the topic "Post-pandemic world: bad image or good opportunity?" held on March 19 and 20, 2021, in a virtual environment.
The fourth edition of the conference, organized by Edward Bernays University College, was joined by the Institute for Social Research in Zagreb and the Institute for Tourism. The Communication Management Forum 2021 (CMF) organizers will gather eminent scientists and experts who will try to answer what kind of world awaits us when the pandemic ends.
Doc. dr. sc. Damir Jugo, an expert in strategic and crisis communication, Dean of Edward Bernays University College, and Co-Chair of the CMF Program Committee, points out that the pandemic has proven that organizations must follow current society trends or their existence is threatened.
"The situation with the pandemic has proven that all organizations must be ready for change. The pandemic imposed new circumstances of work, learning, and action, and only those who resolutely and willingly tackled the crisis got the best out of it," says Jugo.
Photo: Promo
How the Croatian public reacted to the pandemic was tested with the research project "Resilience of Croatian society due to the COVID-19 pandemic," implemented by the Institute for Social Research Zagreb, co-organizer of this year's CMF. Behind this research project is one of the 15 Croatian scientists investigating this virus's impact, doc. dr. sc. Branko Ančić, a research associate at the Institute for Social Research and co-chair of the CMF Program Committee.
The coronavirus pandemic has undoubtedly had a strong impact on the tourism industry. At the virtual edition of the CMF, scientists and experts will present the latest research results, seeking steps and potential solutions to help the tourism sector recovery. Among the mentioned scientists will be the Institute of Tourism Director, doc. dr. sc. Damir Krešić, also co-chair of the Conference Program Committee.
Answers to crucial economic, tourism, and social recovery questions, thoughts of scientists and researchers, and the best peer-reviewed scientific papers will be available in special editions of highly recognized scientific journals Turizam (Tourism), Sociologija i prostor (Sociology and space), Medijska istraživanja (Media research), and Communication Management Review.
In the past three editions, CMF has brought together more than 500 domestic and foreign scientists and experts from communications, tourism, management, and related fields.
Applications for abstracts of scientific papers last until January 31, and all papers should be the result of current and original research by the author.
You can follow the news about the conference on their website.
To read more news about lifestyle in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.
Paolo Tramezzani Named New Coach of Hajduk Split
January 18, 2021 - Paolo Tramezzani is the new coach of Hajduk!
Hajduk.hr announced on Monday that the 50-year-old Italian expert signed a contract until the summer of 2022 and will take over the management of the first team immediately.
The new Hajduk coach was born on July 30, 1970 in the city of Castelnovo ne ’Monti, and began his playing career at Inter Milan. In addition to Inter, he played for Prato, Cosezna, Lucchese, Venezia, Cesena, Piacenza, Tottenham, Pistoiese, Atalanta, Empoli and Pro Patria.
He began his coaching career as the assistant coach of Gianni de Biasi in the national team of Albania, which then qualified for the European Championship for the first time in history. He continued on his own in 2016 as the coach of the Swiss first league side Lugano, and under his leadership, the club qualified the group stage of the Europa League for the first time in history. Lugano was at the bottom of the league table and eventually finished third with an average of 1.94 points scored that season, which is why he was named coach of the year in Switzerland.
In 2017, Tramezzani took over the leadership of Swiss first league team Sion and later left for personal reasons. In 2018, he took over APOEL in Cyprus, with which he became the champion, and in Cyprus, he was named the best coach of the first league with an average of 2.16 points. After APOEL, in 2019, he took over the Italian second division team Livorno, and his last coaching job was in 2020 in Sion.
Tramezzani's coaching staff will also include his first assistant Attila Malfatti and assistant coach Valerio Zuddas, and the rest of the professional staff will be filled by two fitness coaches who have already participated in the work of the first team, Toni Modrić and Šime Veršić, assistant coach Toni Golem and goalkeeper coach Hrvoje Sunara.
To read more about sport in Croatia, follow TCN’s dedicated page.
Homeland Movement: Government Living in a Parallel World
ZAGREB, 18 January, 2021 - The chairman of the parliamentary group of the opposition Homeland Movement party, Stephen Nikola Bartulica, said on Monday that the government was living in a parallel world, the government's earthquake response was late and coronavirus vaccination was going too slow.
"The public administration, headed by the government, is living in a parallel world, as shown by the response to the earthquake in Petrinja and Sisak. Everyone could see that citizens privately organised themselves faster and better than many of the state services," Bartulica told a press conference in the parliament building.
"The services were late and the entire response by the government was lame, while reproaching volunteers was insane," he added.
Substantiating his claim that the government was detached from reality, he cited the case of Zagreb where owners of properties damaged in the 22 March 2020 earthquake were required to submit over 90 documents.
Bartulica went on to say that vaccination against coronavirus was going too slow and that MPs should not be given a priority during the vaccination process.
"We do not think that the MPs are a vulnerable group compared, for example, to health workers," he said, adding that the Homeland Movement lawmakers would not undergo vaccination today.
Magnitude 2.6 Tremor Recorded at Markuševec, Outside Zagreb
ZAGREB, 18 January, 2021 - A weak earthquake, measuring 2.6 on the Richter scale, was recorded just north-east of Zagreb early on Monday morning, the seismological service said.
The tremor was recorded at 3.49 am and its epicentre was near Markuševec, about eight kilometres northeast of the capital. The intensity at the epicentre was III degrees on the EMS scale.
A 5.5 earthquake rocked Zagreb on 22 March 2020, causing extensive property damage and killing a 12-year-old girl.
