ZAGREB, 22 Oct 2021 - Five members of the government's Scientific Council on Friday distanced themselves from all statements made by Council member Gordan Lauc about the coronavirus pandemic, notably his latest messages that the pandemic is over and that only elderly people should get vaccinated. 

"We fully distance ourselves from all statements about the pandemic made by Gordan Lauc since the summer of 2020," says the declaration signed by Andreja Ambriović Ristov, Petra Klepac, Branko Kolarić and academicians Nenad Ban and Igor Rudan.

They in particular distanced themselves from Lauc's messages in which he declared the pandemic over or claimed that there are circumstances in which it is better to get infected. Lauc downplays the effectiveness of the epidemiological measures and the need for their application, recommends vaccination only for persons above a certain age and insinuates a connection between the increased mortality rate in Croatia and vaccination, they said.

"Anyone who says that any one of us could agree with Gordan Lauc's statements about the pandemic is not telling the truth," the signatories said.

The five members of the Scientific Council said that "their views on the pandemic are based on the existing knowledge from relevant professions and constantly evolving scientific knowledge, which often requires changes and adjustments of the COVID-19 response strategy, which then need to be explained to the public."

"That is why a responsible interpretation of scientifically accepted knowledge is essential at any time during the pandemic in order to keep the public properly informed and to protect human lives and maintain the economic activity of Croatian citizens as much as possible," the declaration says.

Speaking in an interview with N1 television of his statement that the existing vaccines poorly protect against COVID-19, Lauc said that vaccination is not a mechanism to stop the spread of the virus, but that the vaccine provides excellent protection against serious forms of the virus. He said that he is a scientist whom the government has asked for an opinion, but that he is not a government employee and need not obey the government.

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ZAGREB, 21 Oct 2021 - In the last 24 hours, 3,053 new coronavirus cases have been registered in Croatia, which is an increase of 56 percent compared with last Wednesday, Health Minister Vili Beroš told a cabinet meeting on Thursday.

"The share of infections in the number of people tested is 28.24 percent. 938 persons are receiving hospital treatment and 131 of them are on ventilators," the health minister said.

"The rise in the number of new cases of 56 percent compared with last Wednesday is a call for much-needed caution. The too large a pool of unvaccinated people gives the coronavirus a considerable space to spread," he added.

Beroš noted that of the total number of COVID-infected people hospitalized in the past week, 70.8 percent were not vaccinated. During that time, 100 persons were placed on ventilators and as many as 86 percent of them were not vaccinated.

Beroš, however, said that the number of hospitalized people in the fourth wave of the pandemic was lower than in the second and third waves thanks to vaccination.

The largest number of new cases was reported among young people, aged 9-19, and those aged 40-49, while the median age was 36.

By Wednesday, 55.38 percent of the adult population had been vaccinated and 1,489 people had received the third dose.

Beroš said that 73 percent of health workers had been vaccinated, including nearly 80 percent of doctors. The percentage of vaccinated doctors is close to 90 percent if those immunized by the infection are included, he added

No new epidemiological measures were put in place in the past week, and the present ones are in force until 31 October.

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ZAGREB, 21 Oct 2021 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenković on Thursday warned of the growing number of coronavirus cases in Croatia, saying that the death toll would soon exceed 9,000 and stressing the importance of vaccination and compliance with epidemiological measures.

"We must comply with the basic protection measures - wearing a face mask, keeping a distance, airing the premises, and maintaining hand hygiene," Plenković said at the start of a cabinet meeting.

He stressed the importance and necessity of vaccination, especially for elderly people, noting that the elderly are at greater risk if they contract COVID-19. "One in four elderly persons aged 65 and over have not been vaccinated yet, and we are talking about 238,000 persons or about 25-27 percent."

Plenković warned that the COVID-19 death toll will soon exceed 9,000. "This is a high price we are paying as a nation and society. But now we have vaccines, and there is no reason for this number to be so high," the prime minister said, adding that the vaccines also effectively protect against serious forms of the disease.

He appealed to people who have still not been vaccinated to get vaccinated, citing the views of medical professionals and the government's Scientific Council as well as statistics.

74 percent of hospitalized COVID patients not vaccinated

Plenković said that 74 percent of infected people who have been hospitalized this month were not vaccinated, which is three in four patients, while 80 percent of patients who were or still are on ventilators were not vaccinated, which is four in five.

"These are very clear and convincing figures," Plenković said, noting that 93 percent of the people who died from coronavirus were above the age of 60 and 98 percent were above the age of 50.

He said that the Scientific Council, which met two days ago, stressed the importance of vaccination, especially for the elderly.

"We all agree with the view of the Croatian Public Health Institute on a third dose, that it should be administered to immunocompromised persons and to health and welfare workers because it will help in the fight against the epidemic," the prime minister said.

He said that the situation in Croatia is similar to the rest of the world. "The unvaccinated people represent a pool where the virus spreads the most and where mutations occur the most. It's a fact that vaccinated people can also transmit the virus, but that is less likely than among the unvaccinated, and in the case of infection the disease is much milder."

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ZAGREB, 18 Oct 2021- The head of the national COVID-19 crisis management team, Davor Božinović, said on Monday, ahead of the start of the administration of the third vaccine dose, that vaccination was the best prevention against serious illness and hospitalization.

"We can protect ourselves from the most serious illness, individually and as a community, if we accept the fact that science, not just in this epidemic but in previous ones too, has helped humankind to survive," he told the press in Našice.

He added that "those who don't trust science first of all harm themselves, and then the community."

He said the recent rise in new cases meant a rise in hospitalizations and that vaccination was the proper defense against that.

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ZAGREB, 18 Oct 2021 - In the past 24 hours, 319 coronavirus cases and 11 related deaths have been registered in Croatia, the national COVID-19 crisis management team said on Monday.

There are 9,299 active cases, including 945 hospitalized patients, 119 of whom are on ventilators, while 18,660 persons are self-isolating.

Croatia has registered 428,233 coronavirus cases to date, including 8,907 deaths and 410,027 recoveries. 1,293 people have recovered in the past 24 hours.

To date, 2,974,167 persons have been tested for the virus, including 2,815 in the past 24 hours, and 46.09% of the population has been vaccinated against COVID, including 55.25% of adults, of whom 51.93% have been fully vaccinated.

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ZAGREB, 15 Oct 2021 - Croatia has registered 1,758 new coronavirus cases and 15 COVID-19-related deaths in the last 24 hours, the national coronavirus response team reported on Friday.

The number of active cases currently stands at 9,811. This includes 873 infected persons who are receiving hospital treatment, of whom 118 are placed on ventilators. 19,501 people are self-isolating.

Since 25 February 2020, when the first case of coronavirus infection was confirmed in the country, 424,666 people have been registered as having contracted the novel virus, of whom 8,862 have died and 405,993 have recovered, including 1,552 in the last 24 hours.

A total of 2,953,888 people have been tested for coronavirus to date, including 9,228 in the last 24 hours.

As of Thursday, 3,510,623 doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered, with 45.97 percent of the total population, or 55.12 percent of adults, having been vaccinated. To date, 1,865,665 people have received at least one dose of a vaccine, of whom 1,749,058 have been fully inoculated, which makes up 51.76 percent of the adult population.

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ZAGREB, 14 Oct 2021 - Health Minister Vili Beroš said in Parliament on Thursday that HRK 2.31 billion had been paid from contributions for compulsory health insurance for COVID-19 testing and treatment in the period from the start of the coronavirus pandemic to the end of August 2021.

HRK 2.31 billion was paid by the Croatian Health Insurance Institute, Beroš said while presenting a quarterly report on measures taken to fight the coronavirus pandemic.

Commenting on concern about the nation's state of health, the minister said that contacts between citizens and their general practitioners had dropped by only 1.9% and that the number of phone contacts and e-mail messages had increased while prevention measures, notably for cancer patients, were largely proceeding normally considering the circumstances.

As for the number of ordered COVID-19 vaccines, he explained that it refers not just to this year but also to 2022 and 2023.

Vaccine effective in 75 to 80% of cases involving new virus variants

Speaking of the correlation between vaccination and mortality, Beroš said that the vaccine was effective against new variants of the virus.

"We have to be grateful to science and the medical profession for producing a vaccine that is effective against new variants in 75 to 80% of cases. This vaccine, just as any other vaccine, does not protect 100%," Beroš said.

Speaking of the June-August period, he said that the epidemic was much less intense, which contributed to the excellent tourism results.

In the period covered by the report, the health system adjusted, reduced the number of COVID wards, and increased the provision of medical services to other patients, continuing to intensively implement testing and monitoring of infected patients as well as vaccination, he said.

1.5 million vaccine doses administered over three months

The minister said that since early June, 249 venues had been set up across the country, mostly in the coastal areas, for rapid antigen testing and issuing of COVID-19 certificates, and that in the June-August period 1.5 million vaccine doses were administered.

"Despite a large number of tourists and domestic residents, we managed to maintain a calm and stable epidemiological situation in the country, securing for ourselves the status of the safest Mediterranean destination," he said, adding that in the three-month period 18,622 cases of infection were recorded.

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ZAGREB, 14 Oct 2021 - The parliamentary Opposition on Thursday reiterated that Croatia does not have a clear strategy to fight the coronavirus pandemic, expressing dissatisfaction with the way the crisis is being managed and calling for changing it.

"The attitude to COVID-19 has to change drastically. If the current situation continues, we will all end up on sedatives," said Marijan Pavliček of the Croatian Sovereignists ahead of a debate on the government's report on the impact of epidemiological measures taken in the period from June to the end of August.

Pavliček believes that over the past year and a half Croatians have been living in a paranormal system and "are going collectively insane."

The national coronavirus crisis management team has made a number of political instead of epidemiologically justified decisions, people are bombarded with the number of fatalities and new infections on a daily basis, he said.

"Do we have an exit strategy for this crisis and is it time we changed our attitude to COVID-19?" he asked.

Davor Dretar (Homeland Movement) claims that the crisis is being managed irresponsibly and irrationally, mentioning a case of a hospital cleaner from Zabok who was dismissed from work because she did not have a COVID-19 certificate and refused to get tested.

HDZ MP: What would have happened if doctors had cited human rights when there was no vaccine?

HDZ MP Željko Reiner confirmed that many people were refusing to get vaccinated and tested free of charge citing human rights and the alleged harmfulness of the vaccine as well as face masks.

"What would society have done if tens of thousands of doctors and nurses had invoked their human rights, fear from disease and death, while there was still no vaccine, and refused to treat patients?" he asked.

He called on Health Minister Vili Beroš, a neurosurgeon, to say what he would do if his colleagues performing operations refused to wear masks, gloves, caps, in the context of claims that it was not proven that they protected patients.

"How would society and the profession react?" he said.

Social Democratic Party (SDP) leader Peđa Grbin said he had a different message for Beroš.

"I believe that you want the situation to get better but what you have been doing is not contributing to it. Because of your inconsistency, the figures are as they are," he told Beroš, recalling that on Wednesday Croatia recorded, after a longer time, more than 2,000 new infections.

"That is horrible but so is the minister's statement that he and the prime minister were surprised by those figures. Why the surprise when it is clear that Croatia lacks a clear strategy to fight the pandemic and increase the vaccination rate," Grbin said, adding that 85% of Portugal's adult population were vaccinated because people were not sent confusing messages.

Marija Selak Raspudić of the Bridge party said that the government's report lacked crucial information such as how many citizens suffer from the post-COVID syndrome, what were the criteria for the procurement of vaccines, why exactly 18 million doses were procured and not more or less, etc.

ZAGREB, 14 Oct 2021 - Croatia has registered 1,851 new coronavirus cases and 18 COVID-19-related deaths in the last 24 hours, the national coronavirus response team said on Thursday morning.

Currently, there are 9,620 active cases in the country. These include 871 infected people who are receiving hospital treatment, of whom 122 are placed on ventilators.

Since 25 February 2020, when the first case was confirmed in Croatia, 422,908 people have been registered as having contracted the novel virus, of whom 8,847 have died and 404,441 have recovered, including 1,305 in the last 24 hours. 18,890 people are currently self-isolating.

 A total of 2,944,660 people have been tested for coronavirus to date, including 9,484 in the last 24 hours.

As of 13 October, 3,503,116 doses of vaccines have been administered, with 45.88 percent of the total population, or 55 percent of adults, having been vaccinated. A total of 1,861,783 persons have received at least one dose and 1,744,717 have been fully inoculated (1,641,333 persons have received two doses and 103,384 have received the single-dose Jannsen vaccine), which makes up 51.64 percent of the adult population.

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ZAGREB, 11 Oct 2021 - Croatia has registered 170 new coronavirus infections and six related deaths over the past 24 hours, and the number of active cases stands at 8,285, the national COVID-19 crisis management team said on Monday.

There are 868 COVID patients in hospitals, and 131 are on ventilators.

Since 25 February 2020, when Croatia recorded its first case, a total of 418,028 people have been registered as having contracted coronavirus, 8,778 of them have died, and 400,965 have recovered, including 1,302 in the last 24 hours.

There are currently 17,029 people in self-isolation.

To date, a total of 2,916,030 people have been tested, 2,854 of whom over the past 24 hours, when the share of positive tests was 6%.

As of Sunday, 3,486,793 vaccine doses against this novel virus were administered, and 45.66% of the total population or 54.75% of the adult population was vaccinated.

The share of the adult population fully vaccinated stood at 51.37% on Sunday.

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