ZAGREB, 23 Jan 2022 - Over the last week, the number of primary and secondary school students infected with coronavirus increased by 67.5%, and it consequently made the number of students self-isolating skyrocket by 118%.

Last Monday, there were 7,095 positive children, while the numbers increased to 11,885 on last Friday, and this rise is ascribed to the fast-spreading Omicron variant.

This past Friday, 184 schools out of a total of 1,313 schools in Croatia, had online classes.

Share of positive pupils in daily caseloads continues to be 15%

The Education Ministry explains that the more daily caseloads of the infection in the general population, the more pupils get infected, however, all the time a share of the positive students in the caseloads continues to be roughly 15%.

Over the last week, the number of positive primary school children jumped 88.5% to 4,118 positive cases registered on Friday.

The ministry said that there would be no state-level online classes because there were schools without any case of the infection, and therefore, it is up to local authorities to assess the situation in their communities and to decide on whether children can go to school or whether they should switch to virtual learning.

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.

ZAGREB, 21 Jan 2022 - A survey of COVID-19 testing in hospitals shows that tests came back positive almost three times more among the unvaccinated staff and that booster shots provide special protection, the Croatian Institute of Public Health said on Friday.

The survey was aimed at establishing the difference in positive PCR and rapid antigen tests between fully vaccinated healthcare workers and those not vaccinated.

The survey covered 1,371 workers in 12 hospitals, of whom 831 were vaccinated (60.61%) and 540  were unvaccinated, and 3.95 tests were done per worker on average.

Among those vaccinated, 57 were positive (6.86%), while among those not vaccinated, 101 were positive (18.7%).

Out of 475 workers who received a booster shot at least two weeks before being tested, 24 were positive (5.77%), while out of 265 who did not receive it, 30 were positive (11.32%).

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.

ZAGREB, 21 Jan 2022 - A total of 11,114 new COVID cases have been detected by PCR tests in Croatia in the past 24 hours while a further 5,556 cases have been detected with Rapid Antigen Tests (RAT) bringing the total daily caseload to 16,670, and 35 people have died from COVID, the Croatian COVID response team reported on Friday.

There are currently 61,671 active cases of the infection with coronavirus in Croatia, including 1,799 hospitalized patients, 193 of whom are on ventilators.

Since the outbreak of the pandemic in Croatia in late February 2020, a total of 859,264 cases of the novel coronavirus have been registered and 13,335 people have died from the infection, while 784,258 have recovered including 8,601 in the past 24 hours.

A total of 41,682 people are now self-isolating.

To date, a total of 4,074,484 tests have been conducted, including 21,253 in the past 24 hours.

As of Thursday, a total of 5,021,663 doses of a vaccine had been administered with the vaccination rate being 56.34% of the total population or 67.06% of the adult population.

A total of 2,286,291 people have received at least one dose of a vaccine while 2,193,513 are fully vaccinated which is 64.50% of the adult population.

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.

ZAGREB, 20 Jan 2022 - The Omicron variant of the coronavirus has been present in Croatia for several weeks now, but it "seems slightly less dangerous than was previously the case," Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said in his opening remarks at a regular cabinet meeting on Thursday.

"The number of new infections is not proportionately reflected in the number of hospitalizations and those placed on ventilators," Plenković said, adding that this was why the Omicron variant seemed less dangerous.

He, however, noted that the COVID-19 pandemic was continuing to spread and that Omicron was spreading faster and was more infectious.

"I call on the people who have not been vaccinated yet to get vaccinated, and those who have to take a booster dose. Over 700,000 people have so far received a booster dose," the prime minister said.

Stressing the importance of trust in science and medicine, he said that the only way to protect oneself from getting infected with the novel coronavirus was a combination of vaccination and compliance with epidemiological measures.

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.

ZAGREB, 20 Jan 2022 - In Croatia, 11,343 persons have tested positive in PCR tests and an additional 6,146 have been positive in rapid antigen tests in the last 24 hours, the national COVID-19 crisis management team reported on Thursday.

Thus, 17,489 cases set a new record after there were 16,017 new COVID-19 cases in the country on Wednesday.

Currently, there are 59,193 active cases, including 1,792 hospitalized COVID patients, of whom 195 are placed on ventilators.

Since the first registered case of infection with the novel virus on 25 February 2020, there have been 848,150 cases of infection so far. Of them, 775,657 patients have recovered, including 8,315 in the last 24 hours.

The death toll has climbed by another 43 fatalities in the last 24 hours to 13,300.

To date, 64.43% of adults have fully been vaccinated.

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.

ZAGREB, 13 Jan 2022 - 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 on Thursday.

Among those infected are 1,755 people who are hospitalized, including 216 on ventilators.

Currently, 22,292 persons are self-isolating.

Since 25 February 2020, when the first case was confirmed in the country, 794,190 people have been registered as having contracted the new virus, of whom 13,006 have died, while 725,684 people have recovered, including 6,685 in the last 24 hours.

A total of 3,941,654 people have been tested to date, including 19,786 in the last 24 hours.

A total of 4,901,094 vaccine doses have been administered, with 56.06% of the total population or 66.76% of adults having been vaccinated.

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.

ZAGREB, 10 Jan 2022 - The national COVID-19 crisis management team on Monday published tighter restrictions against COVID-19 on its website, and those tighter rules will be effective as of Tuesday.

The restrictions cap public gatherings at 50 in case of open-air events, and in the event that participants have COVID certificates the maximum number could be 200 if local response teams okay them.

Indoor private social gatherings are capped at 25. There can be a maximum of 50 persons at the site of private gatherings provided that all of them have COVID certificates.

Hospitality establishments can operate without any new restrictions, however, they can expect more frequent inspections and controls of the number of patrons. Checks will be stepped up to monitor compliance with the restriction on the number of guests, as well as with the requirements to maintain a physical distance of 1.5 meters, to use masks when not at the table, and to air and clean the establishment.

A limit on the number of spectators at sports events is imposed, so they will be allowed to fill up a maximum of 20% of an individual grandstand for an indoor event, that is 40% for an outdoor event.

It is mandatory to wear masks at religious and art events, film screenings and exhibitions, as well as sessions of representative bodies.

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.

ZAGREB, 10 Jan 2022 - Croatia has registered 1,578 new coronavirus cases and 40 COVID-related deaths in the last 24 hours, the national coronavirus response team reported on Monday.

The number of active cases in the country currently stands at 41,613. Among them are 1,893 infected persons receiving hospital treatment, including 244 who are on ventilators, and 18,624 persons are self-isolating.

A total of 3,882,163 people have been tested for the SARS-CoV-2 virus to date, including 4,344 in the last 24 hours.

Since 25 February 2020, when the first case was confirmed in the country, 767,183 people have been registered as having contracted the new virus, of whom 12,918 have died and 712,652 have recovered, including 4,558 in the last 24 hours.

As of 9 January, 4,836,465 COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered, with 55.91 percent of the total population, or 66.5 percent of the adult population, having been vaccinated. A total of 2,269,098 people have received at least one dose and 2,163,972 of them have received two doses, which is 63.66 percent of the adult population.

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.

January 7, 2022 - Minister of Science and Education Radovan Fuchs spoke at a press conference and reaffirmed the return to school classes in Croatia from this Monday. He also added that there will be mandatory masks in Croatian schools for those in fifth grade and up, among other considerations.

"You can see that, as the Government has insisted that school classes in Croatia be given in person, we have reduced online teaching to a minimum. Despite its necessity, virtual classes have their downsides, even if it was made with the highest standards for which we received a lot of recognition," he said. He added that this is not a happy solution for the education of children and young people, especially given the other negative consequences of online teaching, such as isolation, which affects the development of students.

“Based on this, and in an effort to provide proper education in this time and moment, we strive to keep it in person, which has proven to be good,” he said. “Decisions on an eventual transition to online teaching are made on a regional level in cooperation with the Ministry. At this moment, we do not have an announcement from any county to think about it, thus everything will start normally from Monday", he said.

He added that exceptions are only possible in some schools with unavailable staff due to the omicron variant. "At the moment we have information about a school in a small town, where they have a shortened staff due to the epidemiological situation", he said.

Speaking about the measures in schools, Fuchs said that the same measures from November remain in force: mandatory masks in Croatian schools for students from 5th grade onwards, regardless of the space and distance. "In earlier grades, the distance is two meters or one and a half meters, and therefore the use of masks has been abolished. Children from first to fourth grade are in this group.''

In the end, he said that the vaccination of teachers has significantly improved. "Our average is about 70.1 or 71 percent. Again, in scientific institutes, it is almost 90 percent of the higher education system, 84-85 percent in secondary schools and 70.3 or 70 percent in primary schools'', he concluded.

Source: Telegram.hr

For more, check out our dedicated politics section.

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.

ZAGREB, 6 Jan 2022 - On Thursday, for the second day in a row, Croatia recorded a record-high number of new coronavirus cases, 9,058, while another 33 COVID patients have died, the national COVID-19 crisis management team said.

In the past 24 hours, 19,975 persons were tested for the virus and almost half the tests came back positive.

There are 1,824 hospitalized COVID patients, including 244 on ventilators, and there are 39,853 active cases, while 20,633 persons are self-isolating.

Croatia has registered 745,544 coronavirus cases to date and the death toll is 12,764.

To date, 55.82% of the population has been vaccinated, including 66.49% of adults, of whom 63.44% fully.

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.