ZAGREB, Dec 10, 2020 - The Arena Zagreb sports hall, which has been serving as an inpatient COVID clinic since November 28, has treated more than 100 patients suffering from coronavirus, the clinic's operating staff said on Thursday.

There are currently 41 patients in Arena and they are being provided with quality health care until full recovery and discharge. These patients have mild to medium grave symptoms that still require treatment.

So far 62 patients have been discharged from Arena. One COVID related fatality has occurred, a patient in the terminal phase of a tumour who had been transferred to Arena to make room for the surgery ward in one of Zagreb's hospitals. He did not have any COVID symptoms and did not die as a result of COVID.

All the patients at the Arena clinic had previously been admitted to one of Zagreb's hospitals.

There are currently 18 doctors and 60 nurses stationed at Arena working in 12-hour shifts so that all patients are monitored and provided with health care 24/7.

ZAGREB, Dec 10, 2020 - Croatia has registered 4,620 new coronavirus cases and 53 related deaths in the last 24 hours, the national coronavirus response team said on Thursday morning.

The number of active cases now stands at 24,851 and among them are 2,754 infected people who are receiving hospital treatment, including 296 who are on ventilators. A total of 62,270 people are currently self-isolating.

Since February 25, when the first case was confirmed in the country, 163,992 people have been infected with the novel virus, of whom 2,420 have died and 136,721 have recovered, including 3,466 in the last 24 hours.

To date, a total of 849,714 people have been tested for coronavirus, including 12,095 in the last 24 hours.

December 9, 2020 – It's been a funny old year. Funny as in unusual. Not so much funny haha. The extraordinary nature of the year is reflected in the most-popular Croatia Google search list for 2020, which has just been published. This year's searches hold a stark contrast to last year's.

In 2019, the end-of-year list for Croatia Google search was dominated by results for sporting fixtures, celebrities and entertainment. Although the EU election results and the long-running teacher's strike in Croatia also scored highly in 2019, this year has been dominated by searches of an even more serious and pressing nature.

It will come as no surprise to anyone that the number one Croatia Google search for 2020 was Coronavirus. The global pandemic is likely to top lists all over the world. In this country, its ramifications also created several other high-ranking inclusions on the Croatia Google search list 2020.

Software Google Classroom and Office 365 za škole also feature in the top 10 Croatia Google search list 2020, as parents and students coped with the closure of teaching institutions and prepared to learn and receive lectures online. Another piece of online tech that features in the top 10 was ePropusnica, the travel pass required for inter-regional travel and international travel by car during the various stages of lockdown. If these results are anything to go by, Coronavirus has dominated the lives of Croatians in 2020.

Another big Croatia Google search term in 2020 was Zagreb earthquake. For anyone in Zagreb at the time of the first large tremor, this will also come as little surprise – it was the biggest earthquake experienced for 100 years in Croatia, and it came without warning. Though lasting just a few seconds, there was no reaction more immediate than that of city residents, who ran out into the streets partially clothed. Thousands must have searched the term to find out what was happening, and also after many of the hundreds of aftershocks that have followed.

Here's the list of biggest Croatia Google search terms in 2020

The most-popular Croatia Google search terms in 2020

1. Koronavirus
2. Google Classroom
3. Office 365 za škole
4. Potres Zagreb (Earthquake Zagreb)
5. Kobe Bryant
6. ePropusnica
7. Izbori SAD (US elections)
8. DIP
9. Joe Biden
10. Masoni (Masons)

The most-popular Croatia Google search apps in 2020

1. ePropusnice
2. Zoom
3. Andrija

The most-popular Croatia Google search events in 2020

1. Potres (Earthquake)
2. Izbori SAD (US elections)
3. Izbori (elections) 

Aside from the inclusion of the Masons (freemasons), the list is understandable on an international level. It perhaps tells us something about how Croatians use the search engine and how well they respect it as a source for delivering credible information. With Coronavirus vaccines now announced and, all hope, the biggest potential earthquake out of the way, for now, it's understandable for most Croatians to be looking forward to the return of more trivial matters dominating their Google searches in 2021.

ZAGREB, Dec 9, 2020 - Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Jansa will represent Croatia at Thursday's EU summit, Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said on Wednesday.

Plenkovic will not attend the summit as his isolation has been extended due to a cough caused by COVID-19.

Speaking at a virtual cabinet meeting, he said he first suggested to President Zoran Milanovic to attend.

"I offered (Milanovic) to go on Croatia's behalf. He appreciated the gesture, thanked me, but given the topics, he assessed that he would not go to Brussels," Plenkovic said, adding that Milanovic agreed with Jansa being authorized to represent Croatia.

The two-day in-person summit will focus on Hungary and Poland's veto on the EU budget and recovery plan, relations with the United States, and the pandemic.

Plenkovic will isolate a few more days at doctors' orders due to a cough. The government said earlier today that he was feeling well and did not have a temperature and that he would continue to work from home. He tested positive for coronavirus on November 30.

At the cabinet meeting, he said it was very important for the decreasing trend of new infections to continue, calling this a still "very demanding task."

"It's important that we all together comply with the measures so that we reduce the dynamic of the epidemic before Christmas."

ZAGREB, Dec 9, 2020 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic will self-isolate a few more days due to milder respiratory problems caused by COVID-19 and will not participate in Thursday's EU summit, the government said on Wednesday.

"The prime minister is feeling well and does not have a temperature. During the entire isolation, which began on Saturday, November 28, the prime minister has been working continuously and every day from home, performing all his activities and duties," the government said, adding that self-isolation was extended for a few more days "at doctors' advice."

Plenkovic began to self-isolate after his wife tested positive for coronavirus. He tested positive two days later.

According to available information, he will not take part in the EU summit even via video link.

ZAGREB, Dec 9, 2020 - The City of Zagreb has obtained 17,850 rapid antigen tests for its 60 social welfare institutions, the head of the Zagreb department for social policy, Romana Galic, said on Tuesday.

Of those 60 institutions, 41 are old age homes, and the remaining 19 are institutions for providing care to people with disabilities and other vulnerable groups of citizens, Galic said.

She explained that this had been the first batch of the rapid coronavirus tests which should be used in a period of one month, and the Zagreb authorities hope that they will be provided with additional quantities of those tests.

Testing of staff working in retirement homes and beneficiaries is a manner to prevent the spread of this virus in those institutions, she added.

Currently, there are 196 beneficiaries from 11 old-care homes in Zagreb who are positive for coronavirus. Of them, 22 are receiving hospital treatment, about 50 beneficiaries, who have contracted the virus, are without symptoms and others are with mild symptoms of the COVID-19 disease.

Also, currently, 75 employees from Zagreb's old-age homes are positive for the virus, and an additional 38 are self-isolating.

Galic said that about 75% of beneficiaries in Zagreb's social welfare institutions have said that they are willing to undergo testing, while 36% of the staff have expressed readiness. Also, a marked portion of the staff have recovered from the infection, she said.

ZAGREB, Dec 9, 2020 - In the last 24 hours, out of 12,596 tests performed for coronavirus, 4,520 (36%) have returned positive in Croatia, and 69 people have died of the complications linked to the COVID-19 disease, the national COVID-19 crisis management team reported on Wednesday.

There are now 23,750 active cases, and of the 2,703 are receiving hospital treatment, including 280 patients placed on ventilators, or 23 more than on Tuesday, according to a tally kept by the crisis management team.

Croatia's COVID-related death toll stands at 2,367.

Since February 25, when the first case was confirmed in the country, 159,372 people have been infected with the novel virus. A total of  837,619 people have been tested to date. More than 131,000 have recovered.

Currently, 57835 people are in self-isolation.

December 9, 2020 - The National Civil Protection Headquarters held a press conference at 11 am on Wednesday. Interior Minister and Head of the Headquarters Davor Bozinovic announced new COVID-19 measures for shops in Croatia.

"Today is the 289th day since the virus appeared in Croatia. In the last 24 hours, we have 4520 new cases. The number of positive cases to date is 159,372. Since the beginning of the epidemic, 837,619 people have been tested. In the last 24 hours, we have 12,596 tests, which gives a positive percentage of 29.96. 2703 were hospitalized, and 377 were admitted. There are 277 patients on ventilators, which is 23 additional compared to yesterday. 268 people were released from hospitals. In the past 24 hours, we have 69 new fatalities, which gives a figure of 2367 deceased from the beginning," said the Headquarters, as reported by Index.hr.

Capak added: "Our weekly average has risen by 3.7% in the last week while we had a 17.4% increase last week, so this week our increase is less. Our incidence is still high; I'm talking about a 7-day incidence per 100 thousand people. At the moment, it is 582.1; the worst is in Međimurje and Varaždin with more than 1000," said Capak.

"When we look at the EU incidence scale, then we see that Croatia is in 26th place and only Luxembourg has a higher incidence. As for mortality, we are now 15th out of 27, and the rate is 547.8 per million people," Capak said. "As for the share of positives in testing, only two countries are worse than us."

"As we discussed on Monday in institutions dealing with COVID patients, today, we will emphasize the importance of caring for health professionals, whose experiences surpass all previous experiences badly. At KB Dubrava, there is permanent psychological and psychiatric care for all health professionals," said Health Minister Vili Beros.

"We are also trying to prevent the so-called burn out syndrome, and workshops and webinars with the idea of psychological help are organized. An active form of intervention has also been developed, where target groups are being helped in various ways, primarily by health professionals. I would not like to omit the efforts of the Croatian Psychological Chamber; they have established a network of emergency telephones and hired more than 150 psychologists who assist citizens," said Beros.

Questions from journalists followed

We still have week-to-week growth. What is the plan for further introducing measures? What are the new rules for shopping centers, and if this continues, what are the next steps?

"We discussed, in general, the criteria for strengthening or reducing measures. The direct answer is that on the 21st, we will consider which measures are appropriate; on the 21st, we will consider the situation. In case we get worse, of course, we will consider strengthening the measures. In all the measures we adopted about 10 days ago, there is a possibility that we further limit the number of gatherings and economic and social activities. Still, the 21st is the date when these measures cease to apply, and we amend the situation or the need to tighten measures," Capak said.

"As for the organization of shops and shopping centers, we have prepared a decision that is likely to be signed during the day and relates to the special organization of shops from this Saturday to January 10. In terms of this decision, stores and shopping malls are grouped according to the retail space's net area. The number of customers who can be in the store at the same time will be limited in such a way that in stores that have up to 10 square meters of retail space, there can be only one customer.

From 11 to 100 square meters, the maximum number of customers that can be in the store at the same time is determined so that there must be at least 10 square meters per customer. In spaces up to 200 square meters, there must be at least 12 square meters per customer. In shops up to 2000 square meters, there must be at least 16 square meters per customer, and for those larger than that, there must be at least 20 square meters per customer.

For shopping malls, the maximum number of customers will be determined to be at least 16 square meters for each customer. Stores and malls will need to make this clear at the entrance and strictly adhere to it. All stores are to take additional measures during the expected arrival of a larger number of customers so that more customers do not stay in the premises than allowed. For stores with more than 2,000 square meters and shopping measures, new measures are being introduced that include organized transportation of customers and the introduction of stewards who will prevent the entry of too many customers, obligations to remove or disable seating in common areas of shopping centers and remove or disable entertainment devices. The obligation to warn customers is also being introduced, and the competent civil protection service will have to be given information on the ventilation system," said Bozinovic.

"Representatives of stores will certainly do everything to ensure that these measures are respected, because if not, then there is the part concerning sanctions, which we are trying to avoid. It is in everyone’s interest here to engage to the maximum. And that figure determined by the size of the space is appropriate to the situation, not only epidemiological but also the average number of store entries during the epidemic. If citizens see that the queues are large, they may give up or go to another store. We cannot prescribe all life situations. This is a rational decision to keep such an important activity open," Bozinovic added.

"We will make this decision during the day; it will be valid until January 10, so we plan to keep stores and shopping centers open until then. This is now a special decision for stores, and we anticipate that they will work safely until January 10. No one can say whether there will be any sudden deterioration or improvement, but keeping in mind all the elements and assessments, we made this decision," Bozinovic concluded.

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

December the 9th, 2020 - Croatian travel agencies are struggling in a way that has never been experienced before as a result of the economic woes caused by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. As a result of that, they are urgently seeking state measures to help them keep their heads above water during this unprecedented and difficult time.

As Novac/Jozo Vrdoljak writes, Croatian travel agencies that have actually managed to do something, engage in some work and as such finally make some money since September now don't have any income whatsoever.

The Association of Croatian Travel Agencies is currently conducting a survey among its members on how their business operations looked during the first eleven months of this extremely challenging pandemic-dominated year. According to the estimates of Tomislav Fain, the president of UHPA, the drop in income for these hard-hit agencies could be between 88 and 92 percent when compared to the same period last year.

UHPA members, of which there are more than 240, generated a total revenue of around three billion kuna last year and employed around 3,000 permanent and 2,800 seasonal workers.

''These are our first projections of the collapse in income and I think that these percentages are a realistic reflection of this situation. This year, we're the most affected activity of all. For some of our Croatian travel agencies, and especially those that specialise in distant markets, the lockdown has gone on ever since March the 1st, 2020. Croatian travel agencies which have managed to succeed in doing something this summer have been without revenue since September, despite being open. As of September the 1st,, we can say that 90 percent of our members have been left without any income, and utility fees, utilities and interest on loans on which a moratorium has been declared are now all due. Some employees, however, continue to receive the rest of their salaries, ie the difference of 4,000 kuna, which is provided by the state as a measure to preserve jobs. We're in negotiations with the Ministry of Tourism and Sport regarding compensation for Croatian travel agencies and travel organisers in order to survive until the beginning of the season,'' explained a concerned Tomislav Fain.

Speaking of bookings for the winter, Fain says there was a hint of optimism back in early October and it was a somewhat promising situation.

''There were inquiries about Advent and skiing, but now there is none or it's negligible at best. We're still optimistic and hope that the epidemiological situation will improve so that we can do something for the winter season. Admittedly, the snow season wasn't ever significant for us in terms of total revenues, but in this situation, anything is a step forward for us. In some surrounding countries, the opening of ski resorts has been announced, but, let's be honest, people from here who ski mostly book directly for those countries,'' noted Fain.

As for the Croatian Government's measures, Fain believes that the economic measures to preserve jobs will last until the beginning of the season.

''At the moment, we don't know whether our first guests will come on May the 1st or June the 1st, but until then we must somehow try to survive. In addition to job preservation measures, Croatian travel agencies need help to at least mitigate and compensate for their losses in the way that other European countries have made sure has happened. I'm thinking of similar measures given to caterers that cover rents and utilities when I say that,'' concluded the president of the Association of Travel Agencies.

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ZAGREB, Dec 8, 2020 - The Most party parliamentarian, Nikola Grmoja, claimed on Tuesday that the national COVID crisis response team has lost trust because of the disputes that have emerged in the government's scientific advisory council and that citizens no longer believe in the measures being introduced.

"The crisis response team has lost its trust and a dispute has erupted in the government's scientific council itself. How then can people have confidence in the decisions it adopts when they are squabbling between themselves and do not want to admit that some things were done poorly. We are not asking for saints or faultless people. There isn't a country that hasn't made mistakes and this is an extraordinary situation where errors are inevitable, however if you make a mistake you say so. People would then have much more faith," Grmoja told the press in the parliament commenting on the government's 'thanking' five members of the advisory council for their help after they signed an appeal to the government criticising it for its actions.

"Since the start, I have advocated a commonsensical approach to this crisis and that the council includes more experts from various fields, not only epidemiologists, and now we have the situation that only one epidemiologist has remained in the council and that is one that was chosen along party lines - Krunoslav Capak - and I think that is not good," added Grmoja.

"I think the government has to make political decisions, and this entire time it has been doing so even though its has been hiding behind the experts but it also needs to listen to as many people as possible. If there are more people involved then the government can make sounder decisions," Grmoja believes.

Skoro: Govt dismisses anyone with a dissenting opinion

The head of the Homeland Movement Miroslav Skoro said that the COVID crisis response team has been politicised and the message to the experts in the scientific council after their appeal, is that there is no sense in cooperation and the government has excluded all their opinions.

"I believe that is just the tip of the iceberg. They will dismiss anyone who has a dissenting opinion. That is Andrej Plenkovic and his government's modus operandi. When we said that the COVID crisis response team was politicised and that it was a political body, no one believed us then. Now you can be convinced yourselves that only those who are in line with what Plenkovic says mean anything, because he probably knows more about everything including how to manage the coronacrisis and the virus itself, so that all those epidemiologists can be removed. I think that it terrible," Skoro told reporters in the parliament.

The message is that if you do not think like I do, you will be excluded and that goes for all levels. That isn't anything new and the people are aware of that but it is interesting that even though they know and can see this they still vote for them, said Skoro.

Glas: PM and govt absolutely incapable and unwilling to listen to anyone in this crisis

The Glas party commented saying that ousting scientists from the government's scientific advisory council was a move in which Prime Minister Plenkovic showed that he is absolutely incapable and unwilling to listen to anyone else in this crisis.