October the 30th, 2021 - An updated list of Zagreb coronavirus testing centres and locations has been published by the City of Zagreb recently. Here's all you need to know.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, Zagreb's Dr. Andrija Stampar Institute released the concerning information on Wednesday that in the 24 hour period before that, almost 50 percent of those who came to be tested were positive, meaning that every other Zagreb resident who came to be tested was infected with the novel coronavirus.

That's why new Zagreb coronavirus testing centres are being opened across the city, and a new referral system is being introduced at Vinogradska, where there were huge queues and very long waits recently.

The City of Zagreb's press release on the new testing locations is as follows:

In Zagreb, rapid antigent tests (RAT) can be performed within the COVID-19 clinic at the following Health Centres:

The Zagreb-Centre Health Centre - Avenija Veceslava Holjevca 22
The Zagreb-East Health Centre - Grizanska 4
The Zagreb-West Health Centre - Prilaz baruna Filipovica 11

In order to secure a rapid antigen test at a health centre (dom zdravlja), people should make an order through the application (app), while without needing to provide any special notice, people can be tested at the following locations:

Polyclinic Zagreb, Borovje, Zdeslava Turica 1
Polyclinic Zagreb, Gajnice, Argentinska 2

PCR testing can be performed at the COVID-19 clinics at the following locations:

The Zagreb-Centre Health Centre - Avenija Veceslava Holjevca 22
The Zagreb-East Health Centre - Grizanska 4
The Zagreb-West Health Centre - Prilaz baruna Filipovica 11

Testing in health centres is carried out on the basis of a referral from a family doctor (GP) and with a prior order having been made.

Drive-in coronavirus testing will be performed at the following locations:

The Dr. Andrija Stampar Teaching Institute - Mirogojska 16. You can book a test at this location online by clicking this link.

Another drive-in testing point for the Dr. Andrija Stampar Institute will open next week at the Zagreb Fair (Velesajam), at the West (Zapad) entrance 2 and the public will be informed in a timely manner about when that location will be working.

For all you need to know about coronavirus specific to Croatia, make sure to bookmark our dedicated COVID-19 section and select your preferred language.

May the 27th, 2021 - Zagreb's Andrija Stampar Institute has been a very popular destination of late, more so since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic at the start of 2020. While popular, it wasn't for the right reasons and lines and lines of cars full of people waiting to get PCR tests there were a common sight during the pandemic. Just how much did the Institute earn as a result?

PCR tests aren't cheap and that has been an understandable bone of contention for the public not only in Croatia but abroad. The fact that a swab up the nose could possibly cost up to 700 kuna and even more was unthinkable for many, especially in a dire economic situation which seemingly had no end in sight. The Andrija Stampar Institute in Zagreb was performing PCR tests repeatedly throughout pandemic-dominated 2020, and is still doing so. A report revealed just how much money those many, many PCR tests translated into.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, if one was to look at the "Statement of income and expenditure, receipts and expenditures" for the period from the 1st of January to the 31st of December 2020, one would notice very high growth indeed in operating income of Andrija Stampar Institute, otherwise the instutition that performed the most PCR tests in all of Croatia, writes Jutarnji list.

Back in 2019, more precisely back when things were normal, the Institute had reported revenues of 96.17 million kuna, while last year they earned a massive 204.6 million kuna, or 2.1 times more. In 2020, the Institute's accountants recorded a total "Surplus operating income" of 49.5 million kuna, which is about 17 times more than was recorded back in 2019. How is it possible that in the midst of an unprecedented crisis and a global pandemic, a public health institution is 17 times more profitable than it was during a normal business year?

Multiple articles came to light last year which warned that the price of PCR tests in the Republic of Croatia is very high when compared to other EU member states. Here in Croatia, the price of PCR tests ranged from 500 to 1500 kuna, while in Germany the prices stood at 460 kuna. Last year, the Andrija Stampar Institute kept their price of a PCR test at around 700 kuna, and they justified that price with the fact that there are high input costs, ie that they purchase extremely high quality PCR tests.

For all you need to know about coronavirus specific to Croatia, including travel, border and quarantine rules, as well as the locations of vaccination points and testing centres across the country, make sure to bookmark our dedicated COVID-19 section and choose your preferred language.