January the 12th, 2021 - The Croatian healthcare system is underfunded and on the brink of some sort of crisis at the best of times, but the coronavirus pandemic has thrown it from the frying pan into the fire. The pressure on the system has been enormous, but Professor Markotic has stated that it is now significantly less than it was.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, the director of Zagreb’s “Dr Fran Mihaljevic” Clinic for Infectious Diseases, Professor Markotic, has pointed out that there has been significantly less pressure on the enfeebled Croatian healthcare system over the last week, which is very encouraging indeed. She appealed for continued adherence to the current measures in order to maintain this positive trend.

"It’s very encouraging that in other centres who have coronavirus patients there has been a drop in the number of patients in general, and a drop in those needing to be on respirators, so we expect a drop in mortality, too. The good news is that as early as Friday, the University of Texas Galveston showed that the Pfizer vaccine works on new mutated strains of the virus too, and the other good news came from Moderna and their research. 

After four months following infection by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, the antibodies built up as an immune response in a person’s blood are still at a high level. Here in Croatia, information among people who have recovered from the infection speaks of around eight months of immunity. 

Returning to vaccines, such research is expected to be relevant in regard to both vaccines. According to AstraZeneca, immunity should be maintained for up to a year, maybe for even longer after having received their vaccine. We’re remaining patient while it’s winter and the weather is cold, so that we can return to a more normal life in the spring and summer,’’ concluded Professor Markotic, who has become a household name since the pandemic broke through Croatia’s first line of defense back in the spring of 2020.

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January the 11th, 2021 - Croatia’s epidemiological measures are improving, but Minister Beros isn’t about to relax anything yet, including the current border measures.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, Krunoslav Capak stated that as far as the data for last Monday is concerned, when looked at on a weekly basis, there has been a 14.5 percent drop in Croatia’s infection rate. The current incidence is 366.4, the lowest is in Dubrovnik, and the highest is in Medjmurska.

Croatia’s 14 day incidence rate when compared to the EU puts the country in 14th place out of 27 EU countries. 1502.1 is the highest incidence and is in the Czech Republic.

Croatia is also in 20th place in terms of coronavirus related mortality in the European Union. 20.7 percent is the Croatian share of positives in terms of total testing, and 29,746 people were vaccinated before 19:00 yesterday.

Minister Beros said that Croatia is doing really well in recording positive epidemiological trends, the number of newly infected and hospitalised is now much smaller. These lower figures indicate the level of responsibility of Croatia’s residents, but they also speak of the scope of the country’s current anti-epidemic measures.

"By no means should we reverse this trend and realise the third wave that is now being talked about a lot and that is happening in the surrounding countries, which is the result of increased socialising. There is no way we can relax anything, there will be no measure loosening. An example that describes this very well is the American research which showed that over 50 percent of new coronavirus infections are in people who have been infected by asymptomatic carriers, that is why masks continue to be very important,’’ said Minister Beros.

When asked about the measures at the Croatian borders, Minister Davor Bozinovic said that the decision he will make on January the 15th, will be based on the situation in Croatia’s immediate region and environment, which is still not good.

"At the moment, we aren’t considering any relaxation of the currently valid border procedures," Bozinovic said briefly.

 For the latest on coronavirus in Croatia, follow the dedicated TCN section. 

ZAGREB, 11 January, 2021 - Over the past 24 hours, Croatia has registered 230 new cases of the coronavirus infection, there have been 35 deaths, and the number of active cases is 4,976.

There are 2,140 patients in hospitals, 191 of whom are on ventilators.

There are currently 17,679 people in self-isolation.

Since 25 February, when Croatia registered its first case, a total of 220,223 people have contracted the novel coronavirus, 4,403 of them have died, while 210,844 have recovered, 718 of whom in the last 24 hours.

To date 1,080,918 people have been tested, including 3,141 in the last 24 hours.

January the 11th, 2021 - Professor Alemka Markotic, the director of Zagreb’s ‘’Dr. Fran Mihaljevic’’ Clinic for Infectious Diseases, has discussed the good news surrounding both of the approved coronavirus vaccines for Croatia.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, Professor Alemka Markotic has stated that one piece of good news lies in a study undertaken by Moderna where they showed that even after four months after complete coronavirus vaccination, people still have high levels of antibodies that don’t diminish quite so quickly or easily, which means that protection could very likely be longer-term than previously assumed.

“Another bit of good news is Pfizer’s research, where they showed their vaccine also protects people against these newer mutant strains of these viruses which are spreading up to 70 percent faster and have caused problems in the UK and Africa. The first research done on it indicates that,’’ she stated.

Professor Alemka Markotic also stated that it is good that both vaccines were created using the same concept, so that this research should be very much valid for both of them. However, it is not yet possible to estimate exactly how well the vaccine should protect people against the disease.

"It's hard to say because we don't have enough long-term research to look at. Moderna is now planning thirteen months of monitoring it and looking at the possible long-term side effects and protection, but we expect, according to preliminary research, that this could last for more than a year. Some people, who are more optimistic, expect it to last for several years,’’ said the director of Zagreb’s Clinic for Infectious Diseases.

Reports of people contracting the novel coronavirus more than once should be looked more deeply into. 

"These are individual cases that aren’t that common. We’ve declared every positive finding to be an infection, and we’re aware that some of these findings are just the presence of the virus in the nose,’’ said Professor Alemka Markotic, adding that in such cases, additional research should be conducted.

The new strain of coronavirus

The new British strain has not yet been recorded in Croatia. If it does come, it will spread faster, as it has done everywhere else. Here is what Markotic said about it:

"In Ireland, there’s been a sudden jump in new infections. All countries have recently detected these strains and as a result, caution has been further increased. Either measures are being introduced by those who have relaxed them previously or some are tightening things up, such as what’s happening Germany. It's still early. We’re in the winter months, we have to endure two more months of this cold weather and spending much more time inside.’’

She also commented on the decline in the rate of infection that Croatia has been experiencing and is thankfully continuing to record:

"Croatia is, once again, among the European countries that are doing better now. Fortunately, there are fewer deaths, there’s less pressure on hospitals, which is very good. But it isn’t the time to relax any measures now, looking at other countries… There is a possibility of new strains beginning to spread. We’re monitoring the situation and we will react to it with concessions when the time comes," concluded Professor Alemka Markotic.

 For the latest on coronavirus in Croatia, follow the dedicated TCN section. 

ZAGREB, 10 January, 2021 - Over the past 24 hours, Croatia has registered 646 new cases of coronavirus infection and 26 deaths, the national COVID-19 crisis response team said on Sunday.

The number of active cases in Croatia today stands at 5,499. There are 2,131 COVID patients in hospitals, including 193 on ventilators.

Since 25 February 2020, when Croatia registered its first case of the infection, a total of 219,993 people have contracted the novel coronavirus, 4,368 have died and 210,126 have recovered, including, 919 in the last 24 hours. There are currently 18,147 people in self-isolation.

To date, 1,077,777 people have been tested, including 7,215 in the last 24 hours.

January the 10th, 2021 - One question which has been on the lips of many who have recovered from the novel coronavirus is whether or not they should have the new coronavirus vaccination. Some recommendations which might help answer that question have arrived.

Data from clinical trials to date indicate that mRNA vaccines against COVID-19 are safe for use in people who have had a proven previous infection of SARS-CoV-2, reports the Croatian Institute of Public Health.

Therefore, coronavirus vaccination should be recommended to people who have suffered from COVID-19, regardless of whether they had an asymptomatic or symptomatic disease, writes Ordinacija.hr.

The vaccination of a person currently infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus should be delayed until the person has naturally recovered from the acute infection, i.e. until the symptoms of the disease have resolved themselves or the conditions for the termination of isolation have been met. It is recommended that such individuals wait at least a month for their immune response to the vaccine to be better than it would be if the vaccine was administered earlier than that.

The currently available data suggests that reinfection rarely occurs within 90 days of the first (initial) infection. Therefore, if desired, the vaccination of individuals who can prove they had an acute SARS-CoV-2 infection in the previous 90 days may be delayed until the approximate expiration time of that period.

For the latest news on COVID-19 in Croatia, follow the dedicated TCN section. 

January 10, 2021 - Small renters in Split are especially struggling from the effects of COVID-19, and many are deregistering their accommodations as tourist facilities. 

It's no surprise that 2020 was uneventful when it comes to the number of tourists, resulting in an increased number of deregistered private accommodations, reports Slobodna Dalmacija.

Namely, many private accommodation owners have recorded fewer or no guests due to the coronavirus pandemic. Some are deregistering as tourist accommodation, while others are trying to get tenants for a limited period of stay in the facility, no later than June 1.

"In 2020, in the area of Split-Dalmatia County, 3266 citizens requested to cancel the provision of catering services in the household," says Stjepanka Marčić, head of the Department of Tourism in Split-Dalmatia County, which currently has 26,523 active landlords. Their total number decreased by 11 percent compared to the period before the pandemic.

The highest number of deregistrations was recorded in Split, where 1,200 landlords requested deregistration, i.e., 15 percent of the total number of registered. The least are on the islands of Hvar and Vis, five percent of them," said Stjepanka Marčić.

Citizens submitted requests to deregister throughout the year, most intensively during December 2020.

The most common reason for deregistering is that in 2020, they did not have a single guest, while at the same time, they had to pay taxes, tourist tax, and tourist membership fees. Many decided that it is not worth bearing the cost with no income.

This is confirmed by one landlord, who decided to deregister his apartment in the wider center of Split last fall.

"I paid half the sojourn tax, half was waived. And a membership fee to the Tourist Board, and two lump sum installments, and not a single guest. Not a guest, not even an inquiry. If I hadn't deregistered the apartment in October, I would have paid the last installment of the lump sum. It doesn't make sense," said the Split landlord. At the moment, he is not even thinking about whether to reactivate his apartment for tourist purposes.

"Who knows what will happen in a month? Who can be smart here? They will say that a new strain of corona has come again, and everything will close everything again. Vaccines and masks, and who has been vaccinated twice or thrice.

Of course, in June everything will reopen due to the tourist season and nothing will matter anymore nor will they control who enters the country. And then the locals will shut us down again in October," he added.

The Split-Dalmatia County Tourism Department is reluctant to predict whether and to what extent they will see renters return. 

"Citizens who have deregistered will follow the development of the market situation and, accordingly, will decide how to proceed. Some real estate owners in the city of Split have already decided on long-term rentals or renting to students, while others, depending on the situation in the countries of major markets, the interest of foreign and domestic guests, epidemiological rules, flight schedule and calming the pandemic, will consider reactivating their capacities," says Stjepanka Marčić.

Anyone who has deregistered their private accommodation from the Register of Landlords will have to submit a new request, accompanied by the legally prescribed evidence if they change their minds and want to re-host tourists. In the conducted procedure, an inspection will be carried out and a new decision will be made to provide catering services in the household.

By amending the Law on Catering Activity, the deadline for obtaining a permanent solution instead of a temporary one has been extended by one year. Renters who have a temporary solution with a deadline of 31 December 2020 may continue to provide services until 31 December 2021 on the basis of that solution and have no obligation to obtain a new one.

The same deadline applies to caterers who have obtained an interim decision on determining the minimum conditions or an interim decision on the categorization of catering facilities with a deadline of 31 December 2020. They can continue to perform catering activities until 31 December 2021 without obtaining a new decision.

Last year's weak tourist season forced many Dubrovnik renters to turn to long-term rentals, too.

Due to new tax solutions passed in the record 2019, according to which the maximum city taxes per tourist bed and also the maximum high tourist tax for 2021 in Dubrovnik were calculated, many renters canceled the categorization of their apartments.

According to the data of the State Administration Office of the Department of Tourism, as of December 15, 8,397 landlords were registered in Dubrovnik-Neretva County, while last year there were 8,725.

By mid-December, there were 328 fewer private renters or 2,071 fewer beds than last year. Of that, there is a reduction of 141 landlords or 843 beds in the city of Dubrovnik. 

Last year, private accommodation in Zadar was 7.34 percent full. This data best illustrates how much the epidemic had an impact on the occupancy of private apartments.

Although the Zadar Tourist Board registered 31 percent occupancy in July and 38 percent in August, it could not save the season. This also had an impact on the interest of renters, whose number is declining.

According to the current data in the eVisitor system, compared to the same period last year, there is four percent less capacity in basic beds and seven percent fewer renters in Zadar.

However, the city's Tourist Board points out that canceling the decision on temporary approval for the provision of catering services in the household is carried out by the Administrative Department for entrusted affairs of the Zadar County State Administration, so the exact number of deregistered capacities will be known in January. 

Finally, the number of deregistered accommodations in Šibenik-Knin County in 2020 is 9 percent, and in the city of Šibenik, it has risen to as much as 14 percent, which puts it alongside Split.

"Before the pandemic, there were 8670 landlords in the county, and today there are 7889 of them," said the authorities in the Šibenik-Knin County Department of Tourism. Most deregistered accommodations were recorded in the city of Šibenik, suburbs, and towns, especially in September.

"The most common explanations were uncertainty due to the situation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The problem is the payment of obligations, and the landlords do not have announcements of reservations and guests," said Šibenik-Knin County.

A large number of renters who have deregisterd accommodation have announced that they will report them again when the pandemic calms down. 

To read more about lifestyle in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

January 9, 2021 - Students in Croatia should return to classrooms on January 18, said the Ministry of Science and the City Education Office. 

Jutarnji List reports that classes in Croatia, except those affected by the earthquake-affected Sisak-Moslavina County, should likely resume in schools on January 18, and the first day of classes in Zagreb schools should begin with evacuation exercises, revealed the Ministry of Science and City Education Office.

Over the next week, all counties should make decisions on teaching, and citing the favorable epidemiological situation related to COVID-19, Radovan Fuchs' ministry expects that the counties will mostly adhere to the A model of teaching. Namely, according to the MZO database of infected students, in the week before the holidays, from December 14 to 20, there were 2657 infected, and from January 1 to 7, the number dropped to 507 0.11 percent of students.

In the last week, Primorje-Gorski Kotar County recorded 76 COVID-positive schoolchildren (0.27 percent), Split-Dalmatia County 0.17 percent (93), Zagreb County 0.10 percent (31 students), and the City of Zagreb, if the data is to be believed, dropped to 108 positives, or 0.11 percent of students.

“We sincerely hope that the trend with small numbers of infected students will continue so that we can start the second semester with as many children in schools as possible,” said the advisor to the Minister of Education Božo Pavičin.

According to the confirmation of the head of the Zagreb Education Office, Ivica Lovrić, consultations with the Ministry on teaching began yesterday and will continue on Monday. In Zagreb, the earthquake is a priority, i.e., the safety of students in school buildings, which is why COVID fell into the background.

Parent associations and individuals ask questions about children's safety in old buildings, advocating for online teaching. Some school principals say the smaller cracks in buildings from the March earthquake have now widened and need to be repaired, even if such damage does not affect the facility’s functionality.

“Our school is certainly in better condition than before the earthquake in March because reinforcements were placed during the reconstruction. Therefore, the building is fortified, and whether it is safe, I really cannot claim. It is important to carry out evacuation exercises with students, adapted to each school building,” says Tihomir Engelsfeld, director of a Zagreb grammar school, whose building was badly damaged in March. The Petrinja earthquake on December 28 also caused a slight crack in the plaster.

The City Education Office says parents' fear is understandable but reiterates that most of the school buildings damaged in the March earthquake were well repaired.

In the event of a final decision to start teaching according to the A model, the City Office will appeal to teachers and school professional services to continue thematically on the first day.

“All schools will have an obligation to conduct evacuation exercises for all students on the first day of school,” says the head of the Zagreb Education Office, Ivica Lovrić.

In Sisak-Moslavina County, the online model is the most promising, combined with a mixed form of teaching.

Yesterday, the Ministry of Education sent an online questionnaire to the county education office for school principals in Banija to find out how many students do not currently live in their home, how many intend to return, the needs for textbooks and tablets, and how many students and teachers are without access to electricity and internet.

The president of the Association of Principals of Croatian Secondary Schools, Suzana Hitrec, hopes that the second semester will start with normal classes, except, of course, in schools affected by the earthquake.

“Now, it is important for us to conduct quality evacuation exercises in schools and to organize professional services for providing psychological assistance. The students have been stressed by COVID so far, and now by the earthquake. It is necessary to make them aware of what to do in case of an earthquake and not panic. Now we are all more sensitive than we have ever been before,” says Suzana Hitrec.

To read more about COVID-19 in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

ZAGREB, 9 January, 2021 - Of 8,609 coronavirus tests performed in the last 24 hours, 1,401 have returned positive (16.2%), and there have been another 38 related deaths bringing the death toll to 4,342, Croatia's national COVID-19 response team said on Saturday.

There are currently 5,798 active cases, including 2,084 COVID patients in hospitals, of whom 191 are placed on ventilators. 

There are 18,747 people in self-isolation.

To date, 1.07 million people have been tested. Since the start of the epidemic in Croatia in late February 2020, a total of 219,347 people have contracted the novel coronavirus and 209,207 have recovered, including 1,359 in the last 24 hours.

ZAGREB,  7 January 2021 - The Luksic Group, which participates in the tourism industry of Croatia, has donated 15  state-of-the-art ventilators and 15 vital signs monitors to the Croatian Health Ministry, as the group's contribution to Croatia's struggle against the COVID-19 pandemic.

The donation, worth HRK 3.7 million (€500,000), will be distributed to intensive care wards within the country's hospital system, the group said in a press release.

The group's director, Davor Luksic, was quoted as thanking Croatia's medical professionals who are on the frontline of the battle against the coronavirus infection.

The group also donated HRK 750,000 (€100,000) as a relief to victims of the devastating earthquakes in central Croatia.

 Health Minister Vili Beros said that the donated equipment would be delivered to the COVID-19 Dubrava hospital in Zagreb.