December 16, 2021 - On Wednesday, December 15, 2021, the Croatian Parliament amended the Law on Protecting the Population from Infectious Diseases. It introduced 30 to 50 thousand kuna fines for refusing to present Covid certificates in Croatian public institutions.

On the same day, the Croatian Civil Protection Headquarters made seven new decisions valid from December 16 to 31 this year, when they will be considered again. The Headquarters extended the Decision on introducing a special security measure in the social welfare sector, reports Koronavirus.hr.

The decision implies “mandatory testing of all employees for the SARS-CoV-2 virus in social welfare, i.e., in social welfare institutions, associations, religious communities, other legal entities, craftspeople and natural persons who perform social care as a professional activity and the Center for Special Custody, who come to work at least twice in seven days. Exceptionally, testing is not mandatory for employees who "qualify for vaccination or recovery from COVID-19 unless they have signs of respiratory infection, other symptoms, or signs of COVID-19."

Recall, from mid-November this year, Covid certificates are mandatory for all employees of public and state services and users of their services.

The same decision applies to all parties who come there, all service providers who provide services in those premises, or other persons who come there on any grounds. Those who refuse to present a certificate cannot enter the premises.

The EU digital Covid certificate system has been developed at the European Union level, with 42 countries participating.

Issuing certificates

The easiest way to get you Covid confirmation is through the e-Citizens platform. However, some citizens who do not use e-Citizens can physically obtain a certificate. Certificates can also be obtained from pharmacies.

All test sites can issue a certificate, HZZO counters do the same, and family medicine practices, pediatric and dental practices.

Each test and vaccination is immediately recorded in the system. Any change in the status of the vaccinated person requires the person to obtain a new Covid certificate.

The third vaccine dose does not mean that the Covid certificate is automatically extended. These people need a new certificate because an extra dose does not mean an automatic extension. The new permit will be valid for one year from the date of vaccination.

Covid certificate control

Controlling certificates is done with the help of the covidGo mobile application, and it is available to everyone for free. Furthermore, the application does not require internet and works offline.

The public key list is updated once a week. The control itself does not require costs; it can be easily done with free tools.

When certificates in public institutions do not apply

Certificates do not apply to students, pupils, persons under the age of 16, persons who bring a child or pupil to school in kindergarten, persons who accompany a person who cannot take care of themselves, persons who come to the HZZO area to pick up their Covid certificate, to users of postal services who have to pick up shipments whose non-acceptance would have legal consequences and to persons who have a contraindication to the vaccine.

A doctor's certificate can also be used to come to work, which is issued based on a rapid antigen test to confirm that the person has recovered from the virus for the past 12 months. Also, those who had the infection within 12 months and proved it by PCR test must show medical documentation.

The testing obligation does not apply to public transport. The headquarters extended the decisions related to the operation of shops, public transportation, the decision on masks, and on crossing the border.

People who go to trial do not have to have a Covid certificate, but they must adhere to all other epidemiological measures.

Members of the Croatian Civil Protection Headquarters invited other private employers (who do not participate in social welfare) to introduce the mandatory Covid certificate measure because it is not compulsory for them but in the form of a recommendation.

Assembly decision modified

On Wednesday (December 15, 2021), the Headquarters amended the Decision on Restricting Assemblies, i.e., introduced the permission that more than 100 people can attend a public event or assembly, if approved by the County Public Health Institute in whose area the assembly is held. 

Due to the new strain of the virus, the Headquarters extended the temporary ban on entry into Croatia of persons coming from South Africa, Botswana, the Kingdom of Eswatini, Lesotho, Namibia, Zimbabwe, and the Republic of Mozambique, or who have stayed in those countries for the past 14 days. The amended decision allowed persons from Hong Kong to re-enter.

Exceptionally, citizens of the Republic of Croatia (RH) and members of their families who are long-term residents, who have the right to reside under other EU directives or national law in the Republic of Croatia or who have long-term national visas for the Republic of Croatia are exempted from the decision. However, they are subject to a mandatory quarantine of 14 days upon entry and compulsory testing on the last day of quarantine.

Until the end of the year, the current measures concerning border crossings, public transport, the mandatory use of face masks, and organizing the work of shops will be extended.

For all you need to know about coronavirus specific to Croatia, make sure to bookmark our dedicated section and select your preferred language if it isn't English.

ZAGREB, 15 Dec 2021 - So far, eight cases of the infection with the omicron variant of coronavirus have been confirmed in Croatia, and four have been in Zagreb and another four in Split, Health Minister Vili Beroš said on Wednesday.

Roughly 200 samples have been sent to the  European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) for sequencing, and we will soon get information whether there are more and more cases of the infection with the latest variant of the virus, Beroš said.

He said that since 16 November, when the COVID certificate mandate was introduced in the public sector, 681,309 tests have been conducted for that purpose and have revealed that 9,814 asymptomatic persons have caught coronavirus. Placing them in self-isolation has prevented the further spread of the virus, Beroš explained.

Interior Minister Davor Božinović said that he had not been informed whether today's protest of opponents of COVID certificates and vaccines in St. Mark's Square had been organized in line with the relevant legislation.

Our position is that protests against strict rules in Croatia miss the point as Croatia has balanced and less restrictive anti-epidemic rules in comparison to other EU member-states, Božinović said.

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ZAGREB, 15 Dec 2021 - The decline in the coronavirus numbers in Croatia has been at a slower pace this week, and the country's COVID-19 crisis management team on Wednesday decided to extend the existing anti-epidemic rules until 31 December.

Health Minister Vili Beroš informed the government today that in the last 24 hours there had been 4,671 new cases of the infection with coronavirus, only 80 cases fewer than a week ago, and that hospitals continued to run at full capacity.

In the last 24 hours, the share of positive tests has reached 38.86%, or 1.7 percentage points less than a week before.

Hospitals are treating 2,253 persons infected with the novel virus, down by 7.51% compared to the figures presented last Wednesday.

Currently, 315 patients are placed on ventilators.

The minister said that the authorities were monitoring the situation concerning the appearance of the omicron variant of the virus.

Croatia is included in the European Commission's plans for the procurement of antivirus drugs, the minister said adding that 1,800 doses of medicines based on monoclonal antibodies for hospital treatment of severe symptoms of COVID-19 should be delivered to Croatia until 20 December.

For more, check out our dedicated politics section.

For all you need to know about coronavirus specific to Croatia, make sure to bookmark our dedicated section and select your preferred language if it isn't English.

ZAGREB, 15 Dec 2021 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenković on Wednesday condemned in the strongest terms attacks and the invective against healthcare workers, underscoring that COVID certificates were not anything special or any kind of restriction, but a tool used across Europe.

"Insulting healthcare workers is inappropriate and unacceptable... instead of expressing gratitude to them for their commitment, we can see insults that deserve to be strongly condemned."

On Tuesday evening, Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandroković also deplored the aggressive behavior of some demonstrators at rallies against COVID certificates and vaccines.

Commenting on the latest COVID numbers in Croatia, PM Plenković said at the cabinet's meeting that although those numbers were falling, they were still high.

He reiterated his appeal for vaccination against coronavirus.

Pleković recalled that in the last two years, Croatia had implemented some of the easiest epidemiological restrictions in Europe, without long and strict lockdowns and curfews.

We conduct the struggle against the pandemic in the way we consider to be appropriate. Of course, we do not want to encroach on the human rights framework. The precondition for the protection of human rights is that citizens are well and alive, he said.

For more, check out our dedicated politics section.

For all you need to know about coronavirus specific to Croatia, make sure to bookmark our dedicated section and select your preferred language if it isn't English.

ZAGREB, 15 Dec 2021 - Several dozens gathered in St. Mark's Square in Zagreb on Wednesday morning to rally against COVID vaccines and the draft amendments of the Contagious Diseases Act, which the Croatian parliament is supposed to adopt later in the day.

The protesters rallied outside the government and the parliament to express their opposition against the vaccines against coronavirus.

One of the protesters shouted that she had not got vaccinated against that COVID disease and that she would not allow the immunization of her child with that experimental vaccine.

She also told media outlets and reporters not to label them anti-vaxxers.

"We are not rabbits and we do not want an experimental vaccine. We are here to protest against that," the protester shouted and her message was applauded by other demonstrators.

One in the crowd accused media outlets of twisting their messages.

During the peaceful protest, some of the demonstrators held hands and started praying.

They also had posters with messages appealing to the president to request the constitutionality of the amended law.

For more, check out our dedicated politics section.

For all you need to know about coronavirus specific to Croatia, make sure to bookmark our dedicated section and select your preferred language if it isn't English.

ZAGREB, 15 Dec 2021 - In the last 24 hours, the COVID disease has taken 57 lives in Croatia, raising the death toll to 11,779, and there have been 4,671 new cases of the infection, Croatia's authorities reported on Wednesday.

Currently, there are 23,709 infected people throughout Croatia, and of them 2,256 are receiving hospital treatment, including 306 placed on ventilators.

Since the first registered case of the infection with the novel virus in the country on 25 February 2020, 662,397 people have been diagnosed with this infectious disease, and of them, 626,909 have recovered, including 2,301 recoveries in the last 24 hours.

Under the vaccine rollout plan, 55.01% of the total population have tog vaccinated to date, and 60.58% of adults have fully been vaccinated.

8 omicron cases so far

So far, eight cases of the infection with the omicron variant of coronavirus have been confirmed in Croatia, and four have been in Zagreb and another four in Split, Health Minister Vili Beroš said on Wednesday.

Roughly 200 samples have been sent to the  European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) for sequencing, and we will soon get information whether there are more and more cases of the infection with the latest variant of the virus, Beroš said.

For all you need to know about coronavirus specific to Croatia, make sure to bookmark our dedicated section and select your preferred language if it isn't English.

ZAGREB, 14 Dec 2021 - Sandra Benčić of the Green-Left Bloc (ZLB) on Tuesday said that they had collected 34 lawmakers' signatures to file an appeal to the Constitutional Court to test the constitutionality of COVID-certificates.

"As we announced before, we are sending the request to the Constitutional Court to assess the constitutionality of the decision on COVID certificates, not because of its contents, or COVID certificates as such, but rather the way the decision was made," Benčić said in Parliament House.

She believes that all decisions that restrict human rights during the pandemic, which is deemed to be an emergency situation, have to be adopted by a two-thirds majority in the national parliament and in accordance with Article 17 of the Constitution.

"Had we acted in that way from the start, we would have succeeded in creating a better way to strengthen social cohesion concerning vaccination," said Bančić and added that the Constitutional Court is expected to be a guardian of the Constitution.

A constitutional request requires the signatures of one-fifth of lawmakers. ZLB has collected 34 signatures from the SDP, Social Democrats, IDS, Centre, and GLAS parties as well as the HSS and RF, said Benčić.

She announced that they are prepared to request a test of the constitutionality of the procedure to adopt amendments to the Law on the Protection of the Population against Infectious Diseases which regulates penalties of up to HRK 50,000 for breaches of COVID certificates which will be put to the vote in the Sabor on Wednesday.

"We want penalties related to COVID certificates to be decided by a two-thirds majority and if that won't pass easily we are prepared to request a test on its constitutionality because the bill will not have been accepted with the necessary majority," she said.

For more, check out our dedicated politics section.

ZAGREB, 14 Dec 2021 - Croatia has registered 3,071 new coronavirus cases and 56 COVID-related deaths in the last 24 hours, the national coronavirus response team said on Tuesday.

Currently, there are 21,396 active cases in the country. Among them are 2,253 infected persons receiving hospital treatment, 315 of whom are on ventilators, and 18,937 people are self-isolating.

Compared with last Tuesday, the number of new cases decreased by 191 and the number of deaths fell by four cases.

To date, 657,726 people have been registered as having contracted the SARS CoV-2 virus, of whom 11,722 have died and 624,608 have recovered, including 3,200 in the last 24 hours.

As of Monday, 4,406,837 COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered, with 54.94 percent of the total population, or 65.51 percent of the adult population, having been vaccinated.  A total of 2,229,626 people have received at least one dose and 2,046,615 have been fully vaccinated, which is 60.33 percent of the adult population.

For all you need to know about coronavirus specific to Croatia, make sure to bookmark our dedicated section and select your preferred language if it isn't English.

ZAGREB, 13 Dec 2021 - Fake news is an increasing problem and challenge for society and democracy and people are more likely to believe information read on Facebook than those in positions of authority such as institutions, science, and the media, a zoom conference organized by the Gong NGO heard on Monday.

Techniques used to disseminate misinformation are being advanced by the day and that is why it is necessary to improve the quality of the media, media literacy and to build democratic political culture founded on well-argumented criticism. However, it is also essential to regulate digital platforms and responsible authorities, heard the conference on the dissemination of fake news during the COVID-19 pandemic".

Trust in social media is growing, trust in health staff declining

Croatian citizens don't trust the government, nor judiciary, nor media and avoid listening to the news. More and more trust is placed in social media, while healthcare staff is less and less trusted, said Professor Marijana Grbeša-Zenzerović of the Faculty of Political Sciences in Zagreb.

As much as half of the Croatian population believes that the virus emerged in a government laboratory whereas in Denmark only 6% believe in that. Grbeša-Zenzerović also underscored that citizens trust EU institutions more than national ones.

6 in 10 Croats say they come across misinformation at least once a week

Milica Vučković, a lecturer from the faculty, said that 62% of Croatian citizens assess that they come across misinformation at least once a week. They often mention the "effect of a third person," people are aware of misinformation and consider that they will not be duped by fake news or manipulative claims.

We are seeing more sophisticated models of disseminating misinformation which is more difficult to reveal. The fact that some people think they are immune to fake news is a big problem, she said.

"Science doesn't always have all the answers, which is then exploited by those who share misinformation and conspiracy theories. In addition to compromised media space and poor communication by politicians, it is a fact that it isn't easy to communicate about science in a comprehensible way," warned Vučković.

The postulates of news reporting envisage that media outlets ought to report in a well-balanced, unbiased, and fair manner and that all sides should be presented. This is why media outlets often give the same space to the arguments for COVID vaccination and to those against vaccination, despite the fact that there is a consensus in the scientific community that inoculation helps in the fight against disease, said Mato Brautović from the University of Dubrovnik. 

"The more citizens are exposed to traditional media reporting in line with that postulate, the more they will trust it. A balanced report does not necessarily mean 50:50, or those arguments of 'anti-vaxxers' and 'vaxers' should be presented in the same amount," he said. 

Speaking about why people trust fake news, Professor Andrea Vranić from the Zagreb Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Zagreb said that people had a limited capacity to process the information they receive.

"Based on one article, we will generalize and create an attitude while emotions will motivate us to act, as long as it primarily has to do with fear for oneself and one's loved ones," she said.

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ZAGREB, 13 Dec 2021 - A total of 48,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses arrived in Croatia on Monday for vaccination of children aged 5-11 and will be distributed to local public health institutions in the coming days.

"Children aged 5-11 will receive the vaccine in two doses, like adults, but the vaccine for children contains a third of the dose for adults," said the deputy director of the Croatian Public Health Institute (HZJZ), Ivana Pavić Šimetin.

Vaccination is recommended especially for immunocompromised children.

Local public health institutes will organize vaccination through pediatric clinics and schools and general medical practitioners.

About 6,400 children aged 12-14 (5.18%) and about 55,000 young people aged 15-19 have been vaccinated against COVID-19 to date.

The HZJZ says that vaccinated children do not need a booster dose, except those immunocompromised who are given an additional dose already a month after the first two doses.

The Pfizer vaccine has been approved for children aged 5-11.

Children infected with COVID-19 most often have mild clinical symptoms or have no symptoms at all. Serious cases that require hospitalization and intensive care are very rare.

No vaccine has been registered so far for children aged below 5, so children in that age group cannot be vaccinated.

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