ZAGREB, 5 January, 2022 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said on Wednesday at a government session that there was a record-high number of new coronavirus infections, as many as 8,587, which, he said, was also due to the Omicron variant.
The number of new infections in the last 24 hours is around 50% higher than last week and twice the number of two weeks ago.
"The figures are as expected and prove that the new variant, Omicron, is probably very much present in Croatia as well. It will not spare anyone, we know that it is a much more transmissible variant of the coronavirus," Plenković said while opening the session.
The rise in new infections is particularly evident in Split-Dalmatia County, which today has the largest number of new infections, more than Zagreb, and where the number of new cases is three times higher than two weeks ago.
One in five new infections was identified either in Split-Dalmatia County or Zagreb, he said.
One in four citizens above 65 still not vaccinated
Underlining again the importance of compliance with epidemiological rules and vaccination, Plenković called on all citizens who still have not been vaccinated to get immunised, and those who have been vaccinated to get a third, booster dose, noting that there is a sufficient number of doses for all citizens.
Sixty-six percent of adults have received one vaccine dose, and 63% two doses while 543,000 citizens have received a booster dose, he said.
One in four citizens above 65 is still not vaccinated, including as many as 180,000 who have not received a single dose, while 37,000 have received only one.
"They are at risk of developing more serious symptoms, something that should be prevented with vaccination," the PM said, noting that the Omicron variant is infectious two days before the appearance of the first symptoms.
