November 22, 2020 - At midnight, new COVID-19 measures in Croatia came into force. A list of what's changed starting today. 

The National Civil Protection Headquarters adopted new measures against the coronavirus on Friday after the previous measures did not reduce the number of infected. All measures are applied from the beginning of November 22 (midnight) to December 15, announced the head of the National Headquarters and Interior Minister Davor Bozinovic a few days ago.

Restrictive measures for weddings and private gatherings

The measures relate to limiting public events and gatherings to 25 people instead of 50, as has been the case so far, limiting wedding ceremonies to 15 instead of 30 people, while a maximum of 25 people instead of 30 can be present at funerals, and condolences must not be expressed in close contact. 

Private festivities are limited to 10 people instead of 15, and sports competitions are to be held without spectators and with adherence to measures as before.

Catering facilities can be open until 10 pm

Nightclubs, casinos, and slot machine clubs cannot work, and other catering facilities can be open until 10 pm, with a prominent notice regarding the largest number of guests that can be in the facility following the recommendations of the CNIPH.

The notice must be displayed by stores and shops, and it is mandatory that all stores and shopping centers take additional measures when more customers are expected, such as during discounts and pre-holiday shopping.

Additional restrictions have been introduced for gatherings that are not limited to 25 people, such as professional art programs, cinema screenings, religious ceremonies, and sessions of representative bodies. The number of persons present is limited to the size of the space, and four square meters of space must be provided for each person in compliance with the measures.

Ban on selling alcohol after 10 pm

A ban on the sale of alcoholic beverages from 10 pm to 6 am is also being introduced. The implementation of the measures will be controlled by members of the Civil Protection Directorate, police officers, and the State Inspectorate.

Thus, the necessary epidemiological measures imposed on the whole of Croatia are:

- ban on holding all public events and gatherings attended by more than 25 people in one place;
- a maximum of 15 people may be present at wedding ceremonies;
- a maximum of 25 people may be present at funerals, final farewells, and placing urns, and condolences must not be expressed through close contact;
- a maximum of 10 people may be present at other private ceremonies;
- it is mandatory that all stores and shops clearly display at the entrance the highest capacity of customers that can be in the store at the same time following the recommendations and instructions of the Croatian Institute of Public Health and strictly adhere to the permitted number of customers;

- it is mandatory for all stores, shops, and shopping centers to take additional measures during the expected arrival of more customers (discounts, rebates, pre-holiday purchases, etc.) so that more customers do not stay on their premises at the same time; they must ensure compliance with epidemiological measures;
- suspension of catering facilities such as night clubs, night bars, and disco clubs;
- suspension of casinos and slot machine clubs;
- it is mandatory for all catering facilities that have not been suspended to clearly display at the entrance a notice of the largest number of guests who can be inside the catering facility at the same time following the recommendations and instructions of the Croatian Institute of Public Health; they must strictly adhere to the limit;
- sports competitions can be held only without spectators and with strict adherence to all prescribed epidemiological measures and special recommendations and instructions of the Croatian Institute of Public Health, and the organizers are obliged to ensure that all competitors and necessary technical staff adhere to prescribed epidemiological measures;
- public events and gatherings and ceremonies of all kinds can last until 22:00;
- ban on the sale of alcoholic beverages between 22:00 and 6:00;
- mandatory use of face masks or medical masks outdoors when it is not possible to maintain a physical distance of at least 1.5 meters.

Anti-epidemic measures do not apply to:

- professional artistic performances and programs;
- cinema screenings;
- religious rites;
- exhibitions in museum, gallery and other exhibition spaces;
- sessions of representative bodies.

In places that include gatherings that are not subject to a strict number of measures, some other restrictions apply.

At such gatherings and ceremonies, the number of persons present is limited due to the size of the space, so that at least 4 square meters of distance must be provided for each person, in strict compliance with all prescribed epidemiological measures and special recommendations and instructions of the Croatian Institute of Public Health. It is mandatory to have a clear notice at the entrance to the facility where the gathering or ceremony is held regarding the largest possible number of people that can be present in the facility at the same time.

Organizers are obliged to ensure that the premises where the gatherings are held are regularly ventilated, that no more than the allowed number are present at the gathering or ceremony, and that all present adhere to all prescribed epidemiological measures and special recommendations and instructions of the Croatian Institute of Public Health.

The decision on shortening working hours for catering facilities

A special decision was made for the operation of catering facilities, which can now operate until 10 pm, except for nightclubs and bars, which are banned, and catering facilities in Varaždin County, which are also not allowed to work.

Catering facilities that have not been suspended by a decision of the Civil Protection Headquarters of the Republic of Croatia may operate from 6:00 to 22:00.

The stated working hours also apply to providers of catering services in the household and family farms, except for accommodation services.

The stated working hours do not refer to catering facilities from the groups "Hotels", "Camps" and "Other catering facilities for accommodation", except for catering facilities of other groups that work in their composition.

At the proposal of the County Headquarters, the working hours of catering facilities and other providers of catering services may be additionally limited for the area of an individual unit of local and regional self-government.

The control of the implementation of this Decision will be carried out by inspectors of the Directorate of Civil Protection, inspectors of the State Inspectorate, police officers, and members of civil protection.

Source: Index.hr

To read more about coronavirus in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

ZAGREB, November 21, 2020 - Krapina-Zagorje County head Zeljko Kolar said on Saturday that the epidemiological situation in the county was very serious, with 104 new coronavirus cases and four fatalities in the last 24 hours.

The county head told a news conference that the county health system was functioning only owing to extreme efforts by medical workers.

"Forty-nine people have died since October 23. If that is not reason enough for people to get serious and start complying with epidemiological measures, I don't know what is. We do not want the scenario that is happening in Varazdin County to happen here," Kolar said in reference to Varazdin County being among the European regions with the highest seven-day incidence of coronavirus, with 944 cases per 100,000 inhabitants.

There are currently 1,043 active cases in Krapina-Zagorje County and 1,453 people are self-isolating, the local COVID-19 response team said.

ZAGREB, November 21, 2020 - A record-high 3,573 new coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Croatia in the last 24 hours and there have been 47 related fatalities, the national coronavirus response team said on Saturday.

Currently, there are 19,079 active cases in the country, of whom 1,981 are receiving hospital treatment, including 213 who are on ventilators.

Since February 25, when the first case was confirmed in Croatia, 100,410 people have been infected with the novel virus, of whom 1,304 have died.

A total of 80,027 people have recovered, including 2,640 in the last 24 hours.

A total of 45,150 people are currently in self-isolation.

To date, 667,749 people have been tested for coronavirus, including 9,877 in the last 24 hours.

ZAGREB, November 20, 2020 - A total of 2,958 new coronavirus cases and 57 related deaths have been confirmed in Croatia in the last 24 hours, the national coronavirus response team said on Friday morning.

Currently, there are 18,193 active cases in the country, of whom 1,992 are receiving hospital treatment, including 217 who are on ventilators.

Since February 25, when the first case was confirmed in Croatia, 96,837 people have been infected with the novel virus, of whom 1,257 have died and 77,387 have recovered, including 2,522 in the last 24 hours.

A total of 43,265 people are currently in self-isolation.

To date, 657,827 people have been tested for coronavirus, including 8,321 in the last 24 hours.

November 20, 2020 - Even stricter COVID-19 measures in Croatia will take effect from midnight on Sunday, November 22, and will last until December 15.

UPDATE: The measures are in effect from midnight on Sunday, November 22. The initial information Davor Bozinovic stated in the press release was incorrect.

"Since the beginning of the epidemic, 657872 people have been tested, and in the last 24 hours, 8321 people have been tested. The average age of those tested is 43. We have 1992 people in hospital, 217 are on a ventilator. That's 29 new patients compared to yesterday. 279 people were admitted to the hospital, and 186 people were discharged.

We have 57 deaths, and a total of 1257 people have died since the beginning of the epidemic in Croatia.  >We can say that we have high numbers, but we do not have an increase. Croatia currently has a 14-day incidence rate of 837.7, which puts us in 22nd place on the list of EU countries," said the head of the Croatian Public Health Institute, Krunoslav Capak, at a press conference of the National Civil Protection Headquarters.

"Following this situation with a growth rate that has stabilized to some extent, we concluded that we did not decline, and recording a decline is important to relieve the hospital system within the entire health system," commented the Chief of the Headquarters, Interior Minister Davor Bozinovic.

"Public gatherings are now limited to 25 people instead of 50, wedding ceremonies to 50, private ceremonies to 10 instead of 15. At funerals, the number is also reduced to 25 people. Sports competitions will be held without spectators, and all public events will have to end at 10 pm. At 10 pm, all catering facilities will have to close," said Božinović.

"Like shops, catering establishments must write down how many people are inside the space," he explains. There is also ban on the sale of alcoholic beverages from 10 pm to 6 am.

"For art performances and cinemas, additional restrictions have been introduced, and at least 4 meters must be maintained for each person present," he added.

"These decisions come into force at midnight," concluded Božinović.

More soon...

Source: Slobodna Dalmacija

To read more about coronavirus in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

ZAGREB, November 18, 2020 - Over the past 24 hours, Croatia has registered a record number of 3,251 new cases of the coronavirus infection, and there have been 38 related deaths, the national COVID-19 crisis management team said on Wednesday.

The number of active cases in Croatia stands at 16,891, there are 1,878 COVID patients in hospitals, and 205 of them are on ventilators.

Since February 25, when Croatia registered its first case, a total of 90,715 people have contracted coronavirus, 1,151 of them have died, while 72,673 have recovered, incuding 1,693 in the last 24 hours.

There are currently 39,937 people in self-isolation.

To date, 640,781 people have been tested for coronavirus, including 9,126 in the last 24 hours.

November 16, 2020 - When the global COVID-19 pandemic reached Croatia, one of the things everyone wanted to know was: how many medical ventilators are there in Croatia to help those suffering from the worst damage to their lungs?

Several months later, one thing remains almost exactly the same: it’s almost impossible to tell what the exact answer to that question is. Unofficially, the number that has been floated around by many, including the Croatian President Zoran Milanović is that there are around 800 ventilators in Croatia. Back in March and April, I tried finding some confirmation for the number being thrown around, and the most official sources back then kept repeating the mantra “the information is not made public because of the security precautions, there are enough ventilators in Croatia, and they will be distributed as needed”. One other thing often mentioned by any official source was that Croatia was planning to procure more ventilators, to make sure we had enough if the second wave hit. A long time ago, way before this current pandemic, Croatia was ranked quite high in terms of the number of critical care beds, corrected for the population. The scientific paper published in intensive care Medicine scientific journal had Croatia on the seventh place in that metric in Europe. 

Well, the second wave did, in fact, hit and now it seems that the number of ventilators in Croatia might again be the question worth asking. And, recently, a report by the RTL seems to give a definitive answer:  there are 867 ventilators in Croatia. The report also provides the distribution of the ventilators within the Croatian hospitals, divided into stationary and mobile ventilators. At the same time, the article itself mentions the number of 1,168 ventilators, without even trying to address the discrepancy between the two figures! The report does not say anything about how they got their numbers, so it’s almost impossible to fact-check them. They do, however, acknowledge that the officials have said that the ventilators will be sent to where they will be needed the most, depending on what’s going on at any given moment with the epidemic in Croatia. And it would appear that no major procurement of additional resources took place during the summer in preparation for the second-wave (we knew was coming). 

Today, as I’m writing this article, there are around 16,000 active cases of COVID-19 in Croatia, with 191 patients on the ventilator. And while we might not know exactly how many ventilators there are in Croatia or where they are, for now, we can be certain that there are enough ventilators in Croatia for the current extent of the epidemic. It's important to keep in mind that it's impossible for all of those ventilators to be used to help COVID patients, as a ventilator is often needed for any type of major surgery, and there are still patients having medical emergencies and having surgery, COVID notwithstanding. At the same time, that doesn’t give us a free pass to behave irresponsibly, as each and every one of us and our behaviour is the key factor in how bad the epidemic is going to get, and how many people will end up needing the ventilator to survive.

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ZAGREB, November 16, 2020 - Over the past 24 hours, Croatia has registered 1,313 new cases of coronavirus infection and there have been 33 related deaths, the national COVID-19 response team said on Monday.

The number of active cases stands at 15,699. There are 1,816 COVID patients in hospitals and 191 of whom are on ventilators.

Since February 25, when Croatia registered its first case of the infection, a total of 85,519 people have contracted the novel coronavirus, 1,082 of them have died and 68,738 have recovered, including 2,507 in the last 24 hours.

There are currently 35,071 people in self-isolation.

To date, 624,393 people have been tested for coronavirus, 4,861 of whom in the last 24 hours.

ZAGREB, November 15, 2020 - Head of Zagreb's Fran Mihaljevic hospital for infectious diseases, Alemka Markotic, has reported on the first meeting of the EU scientific advice platform, which was held on Friday.

It was aggred that EU member states would exchange information on the pandemic and that the main focus would be on testing and reaching a consensus on the duration of quarantine and isolation, as well as on preparations for vaccination.

It was also agreed that they would exchange their experience with validating rapid antigen tests so that different EU countries would not validate the same tests.

"So far, there have been different experiences with those tests," Markotic said.

Next Friday, on November 20, another meeting of the EU platform will take place, and in the next two to three weeks a common position on testing should be established.

ZAGREB, November 15, 2020 - Of 8,175 tests conducted for coronavirus in the last 24 hours, 29% of them, that is 2,365 have returned positive, Croatia's COVID-19 crisis management team reported on Sunday.

There have been 43 COVID-related deaths in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of the fatalities to 1,049.

Currently, 1,710 patients are receiving hospital treatment, and of them, 194 are placed on ventilators. There are now 16,929 active cases. 

In the last 24 hours, 2,483 people have recovered from this disease.

Since February 25, when the first case was confirmed in the country, 84,209 people have been infected with the novel virus, and 66,231 have recovered.

To date, Croatia has conducted 619,532 tests for coronavirus.

Currently, 38,824 people are self-isolating.