ZAGREB, 3 Feb 2022 - In the last 24 hours, there have been 13,186 new cases of infection with coronavirus in Croatia, identified with both PCR and rapid antigen tests, while 42 patients have died, the national COVID-19 crisis management team said on Thursday.

A total of 2,108 patients are receiving hospital treatment, including 194 who are on ventilators.

The number of active cases stands at 59,927 while 26,731 people are self-isolating.

Since the start of the epidemic in March 2020, 963,370 people have become infected with the novel coronavirus and 13,989 have died.

To date, 4,285,836 persons have been tested, including 18,142 in the past 24 hours.

A total of 56.58% of the total population has been vaccinated with at least one dose or 67.33% of adults. A total of 64.92% of adults have been fully vaccinated.

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ZAGREB, 3 Feb 2022 - Health Minister Vili Beroš said in the parliament on Thursday the battle against coronavirus could be won only with unity and a science-based approach, vaccination, and compliance with epidemiological rules.

Submitting a report on the effects of epidemiological measures taken to fight coronavirus between 1 September and the end of December 2021, the minister defended the introduction of the EU digital certificate, which he said had proven to be "a universal tool in the fight against the epidemic in all EU members", noting that ample research confirmed its efficacy.

As for figures related to the pandemic, since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, the Croatian Health Insurance Institute has paid close to five billion kuna from mandatory health insurance, and around HRK 122 million for special bonuses to health workers.

In the period from 1 September to the end of December 2021, 1.4 million vaccine doses were administered, putting the total number of vaccine doses used at 4.7 million. By the end of December 2021, 55.58% of the total population was vaccinated, or 66.33% of the adult population, with the vaccination rate being the highest in Zagreb.

Number of fatalities due to low vaccination rate, population age, risk factors

Responding to opposition criticism regarding the high COVID-19 mortality rate, Beroš said that Croatia had a low vaccination rate, an old population and that there were many risk factors, such as obesity, smoking and alcohol consumption.

Also, high mortality was reported also before the epidemic, and as regards lethality - the number of deaths in relation to the number of infections, is lower than in many other countries in the world and around the lethality rate in Europe, he said.

Beroš also noted that hospitals did not deal exclusively with COVID patients and that the latest information showed that hospitals provided for cancer patients without any problems and that no problems had been identified in the implementation of preventive cancer programmes either.

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ZAGREB, 3 Feb 2022 - Ahead of a parliamentary debate on a government report on the effects of epidemiological measures taken to fight coronavirus between 1 September and the end of December 2021, the issue of COVID certificates divided the parliamentary majority and opposition deputies.

Opposition deputies stressed that the introduction of those certificates was the worst decision in the two years of the pandemic and that they should be abolished while the ruling HDZ insisted the certificates had to be kept.

Abolishing the certificates would leave us within our borders, and we want to be European citizens and travel, said HDZ MP Maja Grba Bujević.

Let us abolish the certificates, a discriminatory measure that we cannot afford anyway, and that has proven ineffective and costs the economy too much. Money for testing could be used in a much better way, said Bridge MP Marija Selak Raspudić.

Marijan Pavliček of the Croatian Sovereignists said that a number of contradictory and futile decisions had been made in the past two years, with the one on the introduction of certificates being the worst.

Pavliček as well as Stephen Nikola Bartulica (Homeland Movement) criticized plans to test school children.

"By introducing testing you are putting pressure on children and parents, the more so as children get infected less and have milder symptoms," Pavliček said.

SDP: We need clear leadership, clear measures

Social Democratic Party (SDP) MP Peđa Grbin expressed hope the Omicron variant was the light at the end of the tunnel.

Now that we see the light at the end of the tunnel, we need clear leadership and clear measures so that we do not make a mistake on the path on which we have often wondered, he said.

Ivana Kekin of the Green-Left Bloc said that since the end of October Croatia had lost more than 5,000 people to COVID, describing that as tragic.

We are ninth in the world in terms of the number of COVID fatalities, we have the highest death rate when it comes to deaths caused by the Omicron variant, in January we lost 1,800 people and 80% of them were not vaccinated, she said, wondering who would assume responsibility - the COVID-19 response team, the health minister or the prime minister.

Answering to opposition criticisms, HDZ MP Grba Bujević said wise and well-thought-out measures were taken.

One should not just look at the figures but at a number of other elements as well. The government and the state invested a lot of effort to procure the vaccine, which is free, the health system did not collapse even though some said it would, and free testing is available, she said.

For more, check out our politics section.

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ZAGREB, 2 Feb 2022 - In the past 24 hours, there have been 15,287 new cases of coronavirus infections in Croatia, the national COVID-19 crisis management team reported on Wednesday.

The COVID-related death toll has risen by 54, to a total of 13,947.

Currently, there are 60,264 active cases of those infected with SARS-CoV-2. 2,067 COVID patients are receiving hospital treatment, of which 190 are placed on ventilators.

As many as 64.89% of adults have fully been vaccinated.

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ZAGREB, 30 Jan 2022 - In the past 24 hours, 6,220 new coronavirus infections were detected out of 13,062 PCR tests, while 46 related deaths have been confirmed in Croatia, the national COVID-19 crisis management team said on Sunday.

There are 2,008 hospitalized patients, including 185 on ventilators, while 38,731 persons are self-isolating.

To date, 56.53% of the population has been vaccinated. This includes 67.72% of all adults, of which 64.82% are fully vaccinated.

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ZAGREB, 29 Jan 2022 - In the last 24 hours, PCR tests have detected 9,904 new cases of the infection with coronavirus plus 5,512 cases detected by rapid antigene tests, Croatia's COVID-19 crisis management team reported on Saturday.

The COVID-related death toll has increased by 41 to 13,731.

There are currently 66,152 active cases of infection with SARS-CoV-2 in the country. Of them, 1,936 are hospitalized patients, including 183 placed on ventilators.

Since the first registered case of the infection with the novel virus in late February 2020, so far, 929,502 cases of the infection have been detected, and of them, 849,619 people have recovered, including 10,462 recoveries in the last 24 hours.

To date, 64.79% of adult Croatians have fully been vaccinated against this infectious disease.

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ZAGREB, 28 Jan 2022 - Croatia's COVID-19 vaccination rate is lower than the EU average, and the vaccination campaign should have involved more health professionals and fewer footballers, a conference on the future of health care in Croatia was told in Zagreb on Friday.

Professor Stjepan Orešković from the Zagreb School of Medicine said that Croatia has nearly 3,500 COVID deaths per million, while in Finland this number is nearly ten times lower. He said that Croatia should look up to countries like that and their strategies.

"If you ask nurses why they don't want to get vaccinated, you will get some very rational answers, such as fear for a future pregnancy. At the start of the pandemic, we should have answered their questions and led the vaccination campaign through them rather than through, for example, footballers," Orešković said.

He said it was important not to take people who refuse to get vaccinated for fools because such an attitude would only diminish trust in the medical and pharmaceutical professions.

What nearly all European countries did at the start of the pandemic was close their borders, said Professor Iris Goldner Lang from the Zagreb School of Law, adding that several things should be considered when imposing restrictions.

"If we invoke health care, we should examine whether it can be achieved with less restrictive measures and ensure that such measures do not discriminate against anyone on the ground of nationality," she said.

Tomislav Sokol, a member of the European People's Party group in the European Parliament, supported the idea of joint purchases of expensive medicines. "Currently we have a situation where different member states pay different prices for the same medicines. However, we can certainly expect great opposition from the pharmaceutical industry."

Sokol said that Croatia should use all available EU funding to improve the equipment of its hospitals and create better working conditions for its doctors so that they would no longer emigrate to western countries.

Student Mateja Lisjak said that based on what she had learned from other panelists, the situation in most of the health care systems of EU member states was bad. She concurred with Professor Orešković that a solution should be sought in learning from the countries that have been more successful in containing the pandemic.

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ZAGREB, 28 Jan 2022 - Minister of the Interior Davor Božinović, who heads the national COVID-19 response team, said on Friday that the team was considering shortening the period of self-isolation but that the current wave of the epidemic had still not reached its peak.

"Considering the still high numbers of new infections, we cannot say that the epidemic has reached its climax, especially when compared to other countries," Božinović told reporters at an event at which 28 vehicles for traffic police were handed over at the Police Academy.

Božinović said that one should be optimistic regarding the spring and hope that a new variant of the coronavirus would not emerge.

Commenting on the recommendation by the European Commission on shortening the validity of COVID certificates for citizens vaccinated with two doses, he said that the certificates could be issued under rules applicable to all 27 EU members.

"We must issue certificates as regulated by the EU, otherwise you are not able to cross the border. That also means shorter validity for two doses and recovery," he said, adding that a solution would be sought not to change anything for Croatian citizens.

A number of countries have shortened self-isolation to five days

Commenting on the possibility of shortening the period of quarantine, Božinović said that an important meeting would be held on Saturday between the national COVID-19 response team and representatives of the "Dr Andrija Štampar" public health institute.

"There is room for arranging things differently at the national level. Intensive talks are underway and confirmation is expected on Saturday," he said.

He added that one was considering shortening the period of self-isolation because research increasingly justifies it.

A number of countries have shortened the period of isolation to five days so as not to jeopardise their public services and the functioning of the state, he said, adding that his department did not have problems with labour shortages due to self-isolation and sick leave.

"We are not at risk but we have been thinking about it," he said.

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ZAGREB, 28 Jan 2022 - In the past 24 hours, 65 people have died as a consequence of the coronavirus infection and 15,629 new cases of infection have been identified in Croatia, the national COVID-19 response team said on Friday.

There are currently 66,751 active cases in the country, including 1,943 hospitalized COVID patients, of whom 187 are on ventilators.

A total of 43,268 people are self-isolating.

Since the start of the pandemic, a total of 4,195,015 people have been tested, including 19,161 in the past 24 hours.

By 27 January 2022, a total of 5,080,835 doses of a vaccine were administered, with 56.49% of the total population or 67.23% of the adult population having been vaccinated.

A total of 2,292,446 people have received at least one dose of a vaccine while 2,202,555 have been fully vaccinated, which is 64.75% of the adult population.

The death toll now stands at 13,690.

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ZAGREB, 27 Jan 2022 - Interior Minister Davor Božinović, who is at the helm of Croatia's COVID-19 crisis management team, said on Thursday that current COVID protocols would remain effective until the end of February if no changes happened in connection with the coronavirus pandemic.

"In the next few days, the crisis management team will consider the protocols on public gatherings, public transport, shopping, protective mask mandate, and cross-border protocols, and they are likely to remain in force until the end of February," Božinović told the government.

Health Minister Vili Beroš said that the PCR tests conducted in the last 24 hours had detected 10,500 new cases, plus 6,375 cases detected by rapid antigen tests, however, the daily caseload is 3.5% smaller than seven days ago.

There are 2,006 hospitalized patients today, 30 more than yesterday, and 185 are on ventilators, seven fewer than yesterday, he said.

Hospital admission numbers are rising mildly but not in proportion to the number of new infections, he said.

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