November 27, 2020 - Chief of the Civil Protection Headquarters Davor Bozinovic announced that they are currently discussing penalties for violating COVID-19 measures in Croatia.

Index.hr reports that the National Civil Protection Headquarters held a regular press conference on the coronavirus in Croatia. In the last 24 hours, 4,080 new cases of SARS-CoV-2 virus infection were recorded, and the number of active cases in Croatia today is a total of 22,408. Forty-eight people died.

Since February 25, 2020, when the first case was recorded in Croatia, a total of 119,706 people infected with the coronavirus have been recorded to date, 1,600 have died and a total of 95,698 have recovered, of which 3,349 in the last 24 hours. There are currently 51,514 people in self-isolation. To date, a total of 724,820 people have been tested, of which 11,091 in the last 24 hours.

"Today we have 4080 cases. We calculate weekly averages. In the last week, the increase is 15 percent. Our incidence is in the 24th place on the list of European countries, only three countries have a higher incidence," said Krunoslav Capak. "Only Bulgaria has a higher share of positives among those tested than us. We are somewhere in the middle in terms of mortality," adds Capak.

"The trend is important. If we have a downward trend, we can talk about easing the measures," he added.

Markotic says that it is possible for the coronavirus to become a seasonal disease.

"Now we see a much more difficult clinical picture, we have a lot of deaths. We will see what the vaccine will do. The problem is how many people will be vaccinated. If people get vaccinated and are responsible, we will eradicate the virus. Otherwise, it could occur seasonally," said Alemka Markotić.

Minister Bozinovic commented on the measures.

"The decision on sports centers was made based on talks with all departments. We must reduce the number of people in contact for longer. Private gatherings can only remain at the level of recommendations, although it would be best not to have private contacts at all," Bozinovic said. "Measures are adopted so that where people stay indoors longer, they socialize less and are less in close contact, except for what is necessary for the functioning of the economy," Bozinovic added.

"I am asking you to point out the risk of socializing indoors, talking, singing and other activities of that kind, where the virus spreads much faster than in summer," Bozinovic added. “The main problem is family gatherings, and we can only solve that problem by appealing,” he says.

Penalties are introduced for anyone that violates measures

"We have been addressing the public for 9 months so that everyone accepts these simple measures - masks, hygiene and distance. Inspections and police will be much more visible than before; we meet daily, they can't act on new measures until midnight. After midnight, the emphasis will be on facilities where more people are expected - shopping malls and centers. I'm sure this phase will be marked by a little stricter actions of inspectors and police," Bozinovic said.

"Today we are holding a working group to amend the Law on the Spread of Infectious Diseases. The topic is penalties for violating measures. We will soon change part of the Law and introduce penalties," Bozinovic said.

"These would be penalties which, in my opinion, should be mandatory, to be imposed on the spot. It will also concern wearing masks. There will be sanctions. I cannot be exact now and have the working group correct me tomorrow. The proposal will be made and will be sent to the government for urgent consideration. It is certain that there will be more serious penalties," Bozinovic explained.

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ZAGREB, November 26, 2020 - Croatian Public Health Institute director Krunoslav Capak said on Thursday that the latest restrictions imposed to contain the coronavirus outbreak would be combined with the wide use of rapid antigen tests and that this was expected to result in a fall in new coronavirus cases over the next four weeks.

"Right now our epidemiological situation is concerning. Epidemiologists have made their suggestions about individual measures and their effectiveness. The most important thing is to reduce the intensity of social contacts and keep the mobility of people as low as possible," Capak said at the presentation of the latest package of measures.

Croatia's incidence rate among highest in Europe

Capak said he believed the latest measures, combined with rapid antigen tests and self-isolation, would help reverse the present trend over the next four weeks and ensure that the number of new infections started falling.

"Our incidence rate is currently among the highest in Europe, above 900 cases per 100,000 people over the last 14 days. We have the 13th highest mortality rate in the European Union. The number of hospitalisations and the number of people on ventilators are also rising, and we also have a large number of deaths," Capak said.

Asked why the number of new cases detected by rapid antigen tests was not included in daily statistics, he said that the World Health Organisation and the European Centre for Disease Control and Prevention did not recognise the antigen test but only the PCR test. He added that Slovakia had not reported the results of its massive antigen testing campaign to the WHO. 

"At this point, we are not including these figures. We are tracking them separately and will release them separately," Capak said.

No exemptions from measures

Capak said it was not possible for individual counties to be exempt from the latest restrictions because they were all colour-coded red.

"The incidence rate is so high that there is no need to consider any exemptions. In certain area the measures can only be tightened and not eased," he said.

Asked why the government had not at the same time presented a plan for easing the measures so that people could better organise their lives and work obligations, Capak said that Croatia had opted for a strategy of monitoring the epidemic on a daily basis.

"Some countries plan in advance the steps they will take when new cases reach a certain number, but Croatia is not among them. We are monitoring the situation on a daily basis, and we will discuss the easing of the measures in due course," Capak said.

ZAGREB, November 26, 2020 - More than half of Croatia's population is at risk of developing a severe form of COVID-19, that risk is high for more than a million people while more than 1.5 million are in the category of at-risk people, the Vecernji List daily says on Thursday.

The daily says the data comes from a COVID-19 vaccination plan which has already been prepared and which defines, among other things, vaccination priorities.

According to the plan, current priority groups are health workers, residents of retirement and nursing homes and their staff, as well as employees of other welfare institutions.

These groups are followed by people above the age of 80, followed by people aged 75-79, people aged 70-74, and people aged 65-69. They are followed by adults under the age of 60 with high or moderate risk and others. The others category covers, for example, education workers.

The plan also provides for the vaccination of vulnerable groups, namely people who are at risk of developing a severe form of the disease or complications or are at risk of dying, the daily says.

First vaccines could be available in Croatia by New Year

The Jutarnji List daily reports today that the first doses of the coronavirus vaccine made by Pfizer and BioNTech could be made available to US and European citizens by the end of December.

The vaccine is expected to be registered by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) around December 10, and the first vaccinations could start in the US the next day.

As for the EU, the registration of the vaccine with the European Medicines Agency could be completed a few days later and EU countries could obtain the first, modest quantities of the vaccine already by December 20, depending on their population size.

According to some reports, Croatia could obtain between 20,000 and a maximum of 50,000 vaccines by the New Year, which would be used primarily to vaccinate medical workers and staff at retirement homes.

Since the vaccine, which is up to 95% efficient, is applied twice, within a space of 14 days, this means that the quantity will be sufficient for the vaccination of 10,000-25,000 people.

ZAGREB, November 26, 2020 - Croatia has registered a record 4,009 new coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours and 51 people have died, the national coronavirus response team reported on Thursday morning.

The number of active cases is now 21,725. Of them, 2,171 are being treated in hospitals, including 252 who are on ventilators.

The previous record was set on Wednesday when 3,603 new infections were reported.

Since February 25, when the first case was confirmed in Croatia, 115,626 people have contracted the novel virus, 1,552 of them have died and 92,349 have recovered, including 2,924 in the last 24 hours.

Currently, 50,165 people are in self-isolation.

To date, 713,729 people have been tested, including 11,487 in the last 24 hours.

November 25, 2020 - New measures for bars and restaurants in Croatia are likely to come into force from midnight on Saturday, November 28, and should last until Christmas Eve.

UPDATE: Index.hr confirmed on Thursday evening that these measures are final and will be announced by the Headquarters on Thursday. 

A meeting of the Chief of the National Headquarters and Interior Minister Davor Božinovic was held with the prefects.

As Index.hr finds out, the final decision has been made to close all cafes and restaurants. The new strict measures should take effect at midnight, the beginning of November 28, and should last until Christmas Eve.

“The argument is that they are turning into disco clubs,” one of the meeting participants told Index.

According to Index, wedding ceremonies are temporarily suspended, and fitness centers, according to the latest information, remain open, but they must provide 10 square meters per user.

It was also confirmed that shops and shopping centers will continue to operate, but supervision will be intensified to ensure that the number of customers in them is in line with the prescribed number per square meter.

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A meeting of ministers on the new measures lasted through Wednesday afternoon, and while nothing is finalized yet, Index.hr gave us a closer look at what we can expect. 

Thus, there could be a complete closure of cafes, while restaurants and bakeries will remain open for delivery only.

Food delivery would be possible, until 10 pm, and the ban on the sale of alcohol from 10 pm to 6 am will not change.

Hotels should remain open, and their restaurants will be able to work, but only for hotel guests.

If the number of new cases begins to drop and the measures prove successful, then bars, cafes, and restaurants would reopen on Christmas Eve. 

Shops would work as before, but there would be a stronger control over whether their capacity follows the prescribed measure per square meter. Craftspeople would continue to work, so hairdressing salons and other beauty salons and shopping centers would remain open, while cinemas would close.

The new set of measures would also reduce the number of passengers in public transport, and epidemiologists advocate that it be about 25 percent of the total capacity of public transport. 

Although epidemiologists are advocating the closure of gyms, it is not yet certain that this will happen, since gyms have been mostly empty.

As far as schools are concerned, for now, teaching would not be completely switched to online but will continue to be done in schools. High schools could partially transition to online teaching, and colleges are mostly already working that way.

The Headquarters would not introduce travel restrictions from county to county as they did during the first lockdown.

Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic addressed the media on Wednesday, as reported by Jutarnji List.

"We'll talk about measures tomorrow. Minister Božinović is currently consulting with the counties," he said when asked about the details of the new epidemiological measures that will be introduced.

"The measures will last until before Christmas. It's not that far. If epidemiologists ask, they could take longer," he said.

"We have shown throughout the crisis that we care about entrepreneurship. We will find and strive to find solutions," he added.

When asked if the state has the money for that, he answered: "It will."

Plenkovic did not want to explain the details, and only repeated that everything would be discussed on Thursday.

He commented on the fact that the measures are being introduced, although less than a week has passed since the new measures were introduced.

"We are considering the situation all the time. I said then that we should introduce measures and monitor the situation and consider the introduction of new measures," Plenkovic concluded.

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ZAGREB, November 25, 2020 - In the past 24 hours a record 3,603 coronavirus infections have been registered in Croatia and 56 COVID-19 patients have died, the national COVID response team said on Wednesday.

There are 20,691 active cases, including 2,136 hospitalised patients, 240 of whom are on ventilators.

Since February 25, when the first case was registered in Croatia, 111,617 persons have been positive for the novel coronavirus, 1,501 have died, and 89,425 have recovered, including 2,017 in the past 24 hours.

Currently 45,518 persons are self-isolating. To date, 702,242 persons have been tested for the virus, including 10,194 in the past 24 hours.

ZAGREB, November 23, 2020 - Croatia has registered 1,973 new cases of the coronavirus infection over the past 24 hours, as well as 45 related deaths, the national COVID-19 crisis management team said on Monday.

The number of active cases in Croatia stands at 19,275. There are 2,060 COVID patients in hospitals, including 235 on ventilators.

Since 25 February 2020, when Croatia registered its first case, a total of 105,691 people have contracted coronavirus, 1,398 of them have died, and 85,018 have recovered, including 2,638 in the last 24 hours.

There are currently 40,083 people in self-isolation.

To date, 683,104 people have been tested for coronavirus, including 6,139 in the last 24 hours.

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ZAGREB, November 22, 2020 - Medjimurje has 129 new coronavirus infections and one new related fatality and according to the World Health Organisation, since Saturday that northern Croatian county has had the second highest seven-day incidence in Europe, right after Varazdin County, local authorities have said.

The WHO has reported that Varazdin County, with 1,541 cases of the infection, has a seven-day incidence rate of 925 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, while Medjimurje, with 944 cases, has a seven-day incidence of 862 infections per 100,000 inhabitants, which makes it the European region with the second-highest coronavirus incidence.

It is followed by the Slovenian region of Koruska, with 817 cases per 100,000 inhabitants in the last seven days.

ZAGREB, November 22, 2020 - Health Minister Vili Beros, who is isolating at home because he has coronavirus, said on Saturday the situation with the number of infections and related deaths was alarming and announced that he would talk with county heads on Tuesday.

Speaking for RTL television via video link, he again called for people to be more responsible.

"Tuesday is an important day, when all of us at national level will once again talk with prefects, which will be an opportunity for the national, local and regional governments to hold constructive talks and assess all problems."

Asked if that meant they would discuss new restrictions, Beros said every opportunity was good for talks.

He said many were criticising the national COVID response team's measures, but added that many in the world claimed that milder restrictions would be effective if people complied with them.

"We can impose stricter measures, but if people won't wear masks and (if they) socialise at private gatherings... Everything is an opportunity to show responsibility."

Asked if it was realistic for a vaccine to be in Croatia by Christmas, Beros said, "We joined early enough all European initiatives for procuring vaccines from various manufacturers. As a state, we have done everything. Now it's all up to the manufacturers."

ZAGREB, November 22, 2020 - A total of 3,308 new coronavirus infections have been confirmed in Croatia in the last 24 hours, and the number of active cases stands at 19,985, the national coronavirus response team said on Sunday.

Of the active cases, 2,031 are hospitalised, including 223 patients who are on ventilators.

In the last 24 hours, 49 people have died as a consequence of infection with coronavirus.

A total of 2,353 patients have recovered over the past 24 hours, and 9,216 have been tested, while 43,023 people are in self-isolation.

Since February 25, when the first case was confirmed in Croatia, 103,718 people have been infected with the novel virus and 82,380 have recovered.

To date, 676,965 people have been tested for coronavirus, and 1,353 have died.