ZAGREB, 13 Jan 2022 - Health Minister Vili Beroš told the cabinet on Thursday that in the past 24 hours, 46.28% of those tested proved positive to the novel coronavirus and that areas with low levels of immunisation showed a higher number of hospitalised COVID patients.
The number of hospitalised patients has increased along the entire coast and KBC Split is experiencing the biggest pressure. The Križine hospital has opened yet another COVID ward and 18 nurses from other institutions have been assigned to the hospital, said Beroš.
The situation in the Zadar General Hospital has also deteriorated. The highest number of COVID patients is present in Split, Zagreb and Rijeka.
To date, 4.9 million doses of COVID vaccine have been administered and 642,406 people have received an additional shot.
District nurse services have contacted 1,611 elderly citizens this week and 643, or 40% have agreed to get vaccinated.
Fourth and fifth waves have overlapped
Beroš said that testing in health institutions is being stepped up, adding that the only logical modus operandi was for the primary health care services to take on testing and a decision in that regard would be made today.
"The fourth and fifth waves have overlapped, as have the Delta and Omicron variants. It is expected that the highest pressure in the days to come will be where the inoculation rate is lower," he said.
Currently, there are 53,051 active cases of the novel coronavirus in Croatia, plus 22,000 citizens who are self-isolating.
Epidemiologists expect the Omicron variant will infect the majority of the population, but those who have been vaccinated will experience only mild symptoms while those who haven't are more likely to develop grave symptoms and possibly fatal outcomes, the health minister said.
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