ZAGREB, 7 Dec, 2021 - Croatia has registered 3,262 new coronavirus cases and 60 COVID-related deaths in the last 24 hours, the national coronavirus response team said on Tuesday,

The number of active cases in the country currently stands at 25,107 and among them are 2,436 infected people who are receiving hospital treatment, including 319 who are on ventilators. A total of 20,937 persons are self-isolating.

To date, 3,522,521 people have tested for the SARS-CoV-2 virus, including 10,244 in the last 24 hours.

Since 25 February 2020, when the first COVID-19 case was confirmed in Croatia, 635,027 people have been registered as having contracted the new virus, of whom 11,329 have died and 598,591 have recovered, including 3,662 in the last 24 hours.

As of Monday, 4,266,743 COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered, with 54.47 per cent of the total population, or 64.97 per cent of the adult population, having been vaccinated. A total of 2,210,635 persons have received at least one dose and 1,989,027 of them have been fully vaccinated, which is 58.69 per cent of the adult population.

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ZAGREB, 6 Dec 2021 - The head of the Croatian Institute of Public Health (HZJZ), Krunoslav Capak, said on Monday that two people in the country had been found to be infected with the new Covid variant, Omicron.

The two patients have not developed any serious symptoms of the infection and all their contacts are under surveillance, Capak told a news conference.

The patients had been at a business meeting, and there are possibilities that other participants could have caught it, too, said epidemiologist Bernard Kaić.

According to Capak, Croatia has taken all the necessary measures to slow down the spread of the new variant.

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ZAGREB, 6 Dec 2021 - In the past 24 hours Croatia has registered 728 new COVID cases while 51 people died of this infection, the national COVID response team reported on Monday.

There are currently 25,567 active cases in the country including 2,444 hospitalized patients with 326 patients on ventilators. As many as 23,453 people are self-isolating.

Since 25 February 2020 when the first case of the novel coronavirus was registered in Croatia, there have been a total of 631,756 cases of contagion and 11,269 people have died as a consequence while 594,929 have recovered, including 4,588 in the past 24 hours.

To date, there have been 3,512,277 tests conducted, including 2,732 in the past 24 hours.

As of Sunday, a total of 4,249,704 doses of a vaccine have been administered under the vaccine rollout. Thus, 54.40% of the total population or 64.89% of the adult population have received at least one dose.

A total of 2,207,786 people has received at least one dose of a vaccine while 1,981,397 are fully vaccinated, which is 58.74% of the adult population.

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ZAGREB, 5 Dec, 2021 - Croatia has registered 2,796 new coronavirus cases and 68 COVID-related deaths in the last 24 hours, the national coronavirus crisis management team reported on Sunday.

Currently, there are 29,478 active cases in the country. Among them are 2,381 people being treated for COVID-19 in hospitals, including 310 who are on ventilators. A total of 25,841 people are self-isolating.

Since 25 February 2020, when the first case was confirmed in Croatia, 631,037 people have been registered as having contracted the SARS-CoV-2 virus, of whom 11,218 have died and 590,341 have recovered, including 4,598 in the last 24 hours.

To date, 3,509,545 people have been tested for the new virus, including 8,277 in the last 24 hours.

As of 4 December, 4,245,741 vaccine doses have been administered, with 54.38 per cent of the total population, or 64.87 per cent of the adult population, having been vaccinated. A total of 2,206,995 persons have received at least one dose and 1,979,003 of them have been fully vaccinated, which is 58.40 per cent of the adult population.

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ZAGREB, 2 Dec 2021 - The idea of compulsory vaccination against coronavirus is not yet on the government's agenda, however, anti-epidemic measures will depend on the epidemiological situation, Croatian Health Minister Vili Beroš said on Thursday.

The minister did not rule out the possibility of the fifth wave of the pandemic hitting Croatia if the country failed to reach the necessary vaccination rate.

"We have been emphasizing all along that vaccination is voluntary, and we have not considered the vaccination mandate. Since the onset of the pandemic we have been saying that all the measures are on the table and that epidemiological developments shape our choice of the measures," Beroš told a news conference after the government's meeting today.

He recalled that in Europe there are warnings that if a certain vaccination rate is not achieved, the fifth wave of the pandemic is possible in February.

"No one can know what awaits us so I cannot completely rule out the introduction of mandatory vaccination," Beroš said, admitting that mandatory vaccination could deepen the divisions in society and provoke resistance.

"Therefore, let us get vaccinated to deter a possible fifth wave and the emergence of new variants (of the virus)."

Croatia has seen a decline in new coronavirus numbers over recent days, which the minister associated with more and more people getting inoculated and with the introduction of the COVID certificate mandate.

Although he expressed hope for a more serene Christmas season, the minister called for exercising caution.

As for the inclusion of his name on the "Croatian Traitors" website, Beroš said that he felt extremely bad about it.

"Every single move and decision we make... is aimed at protecting the health of Croatian citizens. Anything else is bad stories that will be judged by history," the minister said.

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ZAGREB, 2 Dec 2021 - Changes to the Act on the Protection of the Population from Infectious Diseases, sent on Thursday by the government to the parliament for consideration under a fast-track procedure, envisage fines for responsible persons not complying with the COVID-19 certificate mandate in bodies governed by public law. 

The fines range between HRK 30,000 and 50,000.

The changes specify the bodies governed by public law in charge of implementing measures from the said law as well as responsible persons in those bodies - leader of a body of state authority, leader of a body of state administration and other state body, county head, the mayor as well as the legal representative of the legal entity, in line with special regulations.

"The bill introduces a new safety measure, the obligation to present proof of testing, vaccination or recovery from an infectious disease before entering offices of bodies governed by public law, as well as the obligation of responsible persons in those bodies to enable its implementation," said Health Minister Vili Beroš.

To ensure the implementation of the new measure, the powers of health inspectors will be enhanced to enable them to supervise compliance with the COVID-19 certificate mandate, while failure to ensure its implementation carries a fine of between HRK 30,000 and 50,000.

Speaking to reporters ahead of a session of the government, Justice and Public Administration Minister Ivan Malenica said that he was not afraid that the fines would prompt protests, reiterating that the government was not considering making vaccination mandatory.

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ZAGREB, 2 Dec 2021 - Health Minister Vili Beroš said at a government session on Thursday that the number of new coronavirus infections was down 14.5% from the previous week and that the number of hospitalizations was also slightly smaller even though pressure on the health system was still significant.

The test positivity rate in the past 24 hours was 38.35%, a drop of 14.5% compared to last week and 26.5% compared to two weeks ago.

A total of 2,391 people are hospitalized, which is a slight decrease in the number of hospitalizations. In the past 24 hours, 30 people were put on ventilators and 24 of them are unvaccinated, said Beroš.

Despite the decline in the number of infections, hospitals are still under strain and the situation is most difficult in the northwest of Croatia, in the hospitals in Zabok, Varaždin, Čakovec and Koprivnica, where nurses and ventilators from other health institutions are being sent.

"The capacity for the admission of COVID-19 patients keeps increasing, and over the past month, the number of beds for those patients was increased from 2,253 to 3,580, which is currently insufficient. The number of hospitalizations in that period grew by 85%, from 1,330 to 2,545," he said.

As for the new coronavirus variant Omicron, the minister said that it was considered more dangerous because it had twice as many mutations as the Delta variant. However, experts note that vaccines continue to provide a high degree of protection from severe clinical symptoms and hospitalization, he said.

A total of 209,000 people have received the third vaccine dose so far.

As for vaccination with the first and second doses, one should strive to achieve the vaccination rate of Zagreb (75%), with the 70-74 age group having the highest vaccination rate, with 90% having received at least one shot.

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ZAGREB, 2 Dec 2021 - The Bridge party's parliamentary deputy, Marija Selak Raspudić, on Thursday called on Prime Minister Andrej Plenković and Education Minister Radovan Fuchs to ensure that undergraduates can undergo free testing for coronavirus so that they can attend university classes without additional costs.

The decision that it is up to faculties to decide on their own whether students are required to have COVID certificates to enter the premises of the faculties has caused chaos on the ground, the MP said.

She explained that in the event of the COVID-19 certificate mandate, unvaccinated students would have to pay for their coronavirus tests, which would be an additional cost to them.

"I call on Prime Minister Plenković and Minister Fuchs to take responsibility for the anti-epidemic measures adopted by the para-political body -- the COVID-19 crisis management team -- and to pay for coronavirus tests for students who have not been vaccinated so that they can attend classes without additional costs, which they can't afford and which puts them at a disadvantage in relation to other citizens," Selak Raspudić told a news conference.

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ZAGREB, 2 Dec 2021 - In the last 24 hours, 13,928 coronavirus tests have been conducted in Croatia and of them, 38.3% (5,341) have returned positive, whereas another 76 COVID patients have died, bringing the COVID-related death toll to 11,043, the national COVID-19 crisis management team reported on Thursday.

In the last 15 days, the coronavirus infection has claimed roughly 1,000 lives in the country.

Currently, there are 32,603 active cases, and of them 2,391 are receiving hospital treatment, including 311 patients on ventilators.

Since the first registered case of infection with the novel virus in Croatia on 25 February 2020, 619,255 persons have caught the virus and 575,609 of them have recovered from the infection, including 4,676 in the last 24 hours.

So far, 54% of the total population have been vaccinated, and 57.63% of adults have been fully vaccinated.

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ZAGREB, 29 Nov 2021 - In the past 24 hours, Croatia has registered 1,031 new cases of coronavirus and 67 COVID-related deaths, the national COVID response team reported on Monday.

There are currently 29,891 active cases, including 2,598 hospitalized patients, 308 of whom are on ventilators, while 21,971 people are self-isolating.

Since the outbreak of the pandemic, a total of 604,347 cases of coronavirus have been registered and the death toll has climbed to 10,826, while a total of 563,630 people have recovered, including 5,399 over the past 24 hours.

A total of 3,437,227 tests have been conducted to date, including 3,466 in the past 24 hours.

As of 28 November, a total of 4,115,040 doses of a vaccine has been administered, with 53.62% of the total population or 63.99% of the adult population having been vaccinated.

A total of 2,176,068 people have received at least one dose, while 1,931,878 have been fully vaccinated, which is 57.06% of the adult population.

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