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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ZAGREB, 13 Jan 2022 - In the past seven days, there have been over 48,600 new cases of infection with coronavirus in Croatia, which is the highest weekly caseload since the outbreak of the pandemic, Prime Minister Andrej Plenković told his cabinet on Thursday.

This is twice as high as two weeks ago, he added.

The COVID-related death toll exceeds 13,000.

"This fact is important to highlight against the backdrop of the slowing daily rate of inoculation. From early March to the end of May 2021, 1.14 million persons were given a shot. Since then, less than a million have been given the first dose," the premier said.

Commenting on vaccine hesitancy, Plenković said that it was detrimental to unvaccinated people, particularly those who had caught the virus and died of the infection.

Better protection against the virus can be ensured provided there is a combination of higher vaccination rates, booster doses, and compliance with COVID protocols, he said, adding that the government had made sure that there were enough amounts of vaccines for all.

He reiterated the importance of immunization in light of the fast spread of the highly contagious Omicron variant of coronavirus.

Croatia has logged 9,157 new COVID cases and 23 related deaths in the past 24 hours, with the latest infections putting the number of active cases at 55,500, the national COVID-19 response team said earlier today.

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ZAGREB, 28 Oct 2021 - Health Minister Vili Beroš said on Thursday 33.77% of coronavirus tests were positive and that hospitals would be additionally mobilized, including the reopening of the Arena Zagreb center for the treatment of COVID-19 patients.

Speaking at a cabinet meeting, Beroš said 74.5% of those infected and 75% of those hospitalized over the past week had not been vaccinated, and that among today's new cases 27% were under 20 and 60% were aged 20-40.

"The health system is preparing for new, additional burdens," he said, adding that experts of the Health Ministry's crisis management team concluded yesterday that it was necessary to increase the number of beds and intensive care units in Zagreb.

The ministry has instructed county civil protection teams and health centers to reopen COVID departments to relieve the pressure on hospitals.

Beroš said there was increased interest in vaccination, with 3,790 more people receiving the first dose in the first three days of this week than last week.

He said 56% of adults and over 88% of doctors have been vaccinated and urged everyone, notably the elderly, to get vaccinated. More than 14,000 persons have received a booster shot, he added.

The head of the national COVID-19 crisis management team, Interior Minister Davor Božinović, said the increase in new cases showed that people did not comply with COVID rules as much as they should.

That is why police, civil protection, and state inspectors will step up the monitoring of compliance in public transport, hospitality establishments, shopping centers, and at public gatherings, including weddings, he added.

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ZAGREB, 24 Sept 2021 - In the past 24 hours 1,291 coronavirus cases and 12 related deaths have been confirmed in Croatia, the national COVID-19 crisis management team said on Friday.

There are 8,517 active cases, including 678 hospitalised patients, 92 of whom are on ventilators, while 23,749 persons are self-isolating.

Croatia has registered 397,761 coronavirus cases to date, including 8,566 deaths and 380,678 recoveries, of which 1,377 in the past 24 hours.

To date 2,772,055 persons have been tested for the virus, including 10,201 in the past 24 hours, and 44.34% of the population has been vaccinated, including 53.21% of adults, of whom 49.96% fully.

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ZAGREB, 23 Sept 2021 - In the last 24 hours, Croatia has conducted 10,106 coronavirus tests, and 13.6% of them, or 1,373, have turned out to be positive, and ten more COVID patients have died, raising the COVID-related death toll to 8,554, the country's COVID-19 crisis management team reported on Thursday.

There are now 8,615 active cases, and 694 of them are receiving hospital treatment, including 89 placed on ventilators.

Since the first registered case of the infection with the novel virus in Croatia on 25 February 2020, the country has conducted over 2.76 million tests which have shown that 396,470 people have caught the virus, and of them, 379,301 have recovered, including 1,132 recoveries in the last 24 hours.

To date, 3,388,015 vaccines have been administered. As many as 1,793,806 people have received at least one shot, and of them, 1,682,093 have fully been vaccinated (49.82% of the adult population).

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