ZAGREB, 4 Jan 2022 - The homeless will be able to get tested for coronavirus for free in Zagreb as of 5 January, which will enable them to get a COVID certificate and thus access social and healthcare services, the city department for social welfare, health, and persons with disabilities said on Tuesday.

"The goal is to provide the homeless with access to social and healthcare services, as well as to services of other institutions in which they can exercise their rights. As of 5 January, testing will take place every Wednesday from 12 to 3 p.m. at 64-66 Heinzelova Street," the city department said.

The campaign is carried out in cooperation with the "Dr. Andrija Štampar" Public Health Institute, the Croatian Red Cross, and the City Red Cross Society Zagreb.

Users will be able to get their certificate at the same location where they got tested.

In case they test positive, the "Dr. Andrija Štampar" Public Health Institute will give them all the necessary instructions on what to do next.

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.

November the 16th, 2021 - A list of Zagreb rapid antigen test locations, as well as the prices of the tests, has been published now that the use of covid certificates has been widened.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, organised by the City of Zagreb, rapid antigen testing (Croatian: BAT/English: RAT) can be performed at seven locations and the price of each test is 100 kuna.

According to the decision of the National Civil Protection Directorate, Croatian covid certificates are mandatory for people and employees in public and state institutions as of today. There is a great need for testing in the country, and the City of Zagreb has announced that for testing in health centres, a previous order on the rapid test/brzi test page is required, while for testing in the Zagreb Polyclinic, no previous order or announcement is required.

The seven Zagreb rapid antigen test sites:

Testing is available at the Health Centre in Central Zagreb (Dom zdravlja centar), at the Covid clinic in Siget (Avenija Veceslava Holjevca 22), every working day, weekend and holiday from 12:00 to 16:00, then at the Covid clinic in Kruge (Kruge 44), on Mondays, on Wednesdays and Fridays, where a rapid antigen test can be done from 09:00 to 14:00, and on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 14:00 to 20:00.

At the Zagreb East (Istok) Health Centre, it is possible to be tested at the special Covid practice at Grizanska (Grizanska 4), from 12:00 to 16:00 every day, including on weekends and on public holidays. A Zagreb rapid antigen test is possible to obtain at Prilaz baruna Filipovica 11 also from 12:00 to 16:00 every day. People can also be tested at Park Stara Tresnjevka 3 on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 09:00 to 15:00, and on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 07:00 to 12:00.

At the Zagreb Polyclinic, rapid antigen testing can be done in Borovje (Zdeslava Turica 1) on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 13:15 to 19:15 and on Tuesdays and Fridays from 7:15 to 14:00. Testing is also taking place in Gajnice (Argentinska 2), on Mondays from 09:00 to 13:00, on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays from 7:15 13:15 and on Wednesdays from 09:00 to 18:00. Prior notice is not required for individual tests, as has been pointed out on the website of the Zagreb Polyclinic.

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.

April the 11th, 2021 - Coronavirus testing for foreign tourists in Zagreb has been enabled.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, all foreign tourists in Zagreb or other visitors who have spent at least one night in the Croatian capital will be able to be tested for the novel coronavirus on Saturdays and Sundays (with prior notice), and more detailed information about this service has been made available here.

On that same page, you can find out about the possibilities of testing foreign tourists in Zagreb in the wider Zagreb area in hotels, public and private institutions, with data on working hours, the types of COVID-19 tests and of course - test prices.

The Minister of Tourism and Sport of the Republic of Croatia, Nikolina Brnjac stated: ''In order to make our tourists' stay in Croatia as pleasant and safe as possible, the Ministry of Tourism and Sport has launched an initiative and cooperation with the tourist board system on the project of tourist safety in Croatia. As such, the Zagreb Tourist Board recognised this initiative and enabled coronavirus testing on weekends through its Visitor Centre. I want to emphasise that safety is the future of tourism, so this initiative is extremely important for the perception of Croatia as a safe destination. I see this as a big upgrade to the already launched activities related to the Safe Stay in Croatia project.''

"Given the demanding times we're living in, we decided to make it even easier for foreign tourists in Zagreb by introducing the necessary tests for coronavirus, and thus, once again send out a message about our city as a safe and responsible destination. Throughout the pandemic, we've paid special attention to safety because tourists are looking for high safety standards, quality and risk-free travel above all. As testing in Zagreb is more difficult to conduct on weekends, we want to provide this opportunity to Zagreb's visitors, so testing will take place on Saturdays, Sundays, holidays and non-working days from 10:00 to 18:00,'' stated the director of the Zagreb Tourist Board, Martina Bienenfeld.

The director also gave special thanks to the Dr. Andrija Stampar Institute and the Ministry of Tourism and Sport of the Republic of Croatia for their support in regard to this project and for sending out a reassuring message to foreign tourists in Zagreb.

For all you need to know about coronavirus specific to Croatia, including travel, border and quarantine rules, as well as the locations of testing centres across the country, make sure to bookmark this page.

For all you need to know about the bustling Croatian capital in 2021, check out Total Croatia's dedicated Zagreb in a Page.

November the 16th, 2020 - As new measures are proposed for us in the Croatian capital of Zagreb and mass coronavirus testing is prepared for, what can we expect? A lockdown isn't on the horizon despite the concerning rise in the number of new lab confirmed infections, so what might be?

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, a meeting was held recently here in the Croatian capital to discuss possible new measures. One of the main proposals of the members of the Zagreb civil protection headquarters was mass coronavirus testing of the citizens of Zagreb with the use of rapid tests in order to detect as many infected people as possible in a short period of time. This is one of the more optimal ways to bring the spiralling epidemic under control, because in this way, without closing the economy and causing further damage in that sense, all infected people and all their contacts can be isolated and the probability of the further spread of the novel coronavirus can be minimised, Jutarnji list writes.

''Based on the analyses we have, we're assessing the situation. We considered the possibility of more mass coronavirus testing. Validations of antigen tests have been made and procurement has been initiated. The situation is not good,'' confirmed the head of the City Health Office, Vjekoslav Jelec. Just how many of Zagreb's citizens will be tested and in what period that will occur is still being discussed. Since the beginning of October, rapid coronavirus tests have been being used at the Zagreb Clinic for Children's Diseases (Klaiceva), and so far they have performed 256 tests on 83 patients who had symptoms, as well as 173 asymptomatic people.

Among 83 patients who had at least one symptom of SARS-CoV-2, 13 of them returned a positive result on the rapid test. All of those tested were also sent for testing by the usual, PCR test: in 12 of the 13 positives, an infection was confirmed, and in one tested person, otherwise a clinic employee, the PCR test result was negative.

All negative results returned by the rapid test were also negative when a PCR test was done after. In other words, the rapid test failed on one in 83 people, giving an efficiency of nearly 99 percent in people presenting with coronavirus symptoms.

For the latest travel info, bookmark our main travel info article, which is updated daily. 

Read the Croatian Travel Update in your language - now available in 24 languages

Join the Total Croatia Travel INFO Viber community.

November the 4th, 2020 - We recently wrote about the introduction of rapid coronavirus testing which has become available at three separate Zagreb locations. Now that things have officially ''kicked off'' with this rapid coronavirus testing process, let's take a look at the Croatian prices, regulations and procedures involved.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, the assistant Director of the Croatian Institute of Public Health, Marija Bubas, PhD, was recently a guest of the show "Good Morning Croatia/Dobro Jutro Hrvatska" on HRT, during which she commented on how things were going with the new rapid coronavirus tests which are now available to the public. She explained that antigen testing is fast, but that the people who will be tested in this way will not see any difference in the process themselves. She added that they will be sampled as before by conducting a PCR test and the testee will receive their result by e-mail.

Bubas said that for testing at the Rockefellerova 2 location, ie in the Croatian Institute of Public Health, people must book in advance online. She stressed that doctors will decide based on the presented symptoms of the new coronavirus who will get to have a rapid test, and which people will get the classic PCR test. She added that all negative results from antigen testing will be repeated by taking a sample with the classic PCR test.

What about Croatian prices for this new rapid testing for SARS-CoV-2?

The assistant director of the CNIPH said that the price for a quick test is around one hundred kuna. "I don't know the exact amount at the moment, but it will be found out during the day," she said.

Testing with a quick antigen test will be possible in Rockefellerova, and in a few days at the Andrija Stampar Institute. In certain health systems and in certain circumstances, these tests aren't new, as they've already been being used in the Sveti Duh Hospital and at the Clinic for Children's Diseases in Klaiceva, as well as at the Dr. Fran Mihaljevic Clinic for Infectious Diseases.

Bubas said that all people who come for testing should adhere to the prescribed epidemiological measures and should answer questions responsibly and honestly. "If we adhere to the measures, in three to four weeks we will have lower numbers than we've had over recent days,'' she concluded.

For the latest travel info, bookmark our main travel info article, which is updated daily. 

Read the Croatian Travel Update in your language - now available in 24 languages

Join the Total Croatia Travel INFO Viber community.