ZAGREB, Nov 24, 2020 - Experts demand that stricter epidemiological measures be introduced right away and that the restrictions in force in Varazdin County be introduced countrywide, the Vecernji List daily issue of Tuesday reports.

Many of the prominent scientists sitting on the government's scientific advisory council are in favour of urgently introducing stricter epidemiological measures than those in force, the daily says.

"Among other things, once should try to limit family gatherings because at this stage of the epidemic, such gatherings are sufficient for the uncontrolled spreading of the virus. I can understand why one is not opting for a complete closure, not only of businesses but also of schools, notably lower grades, but some activities that include gatherings as the main source of the spreading of the virus must simply be banned and breaches must be penalised," said one of Croatia's leading viral immunologists, Stipan Jonjic.

Epidemiologist Branko Kolaric says that over the past 14 days Croatia has been fourth in the EU in terms of the number of new infections, with an incidence of 894.7 infections per 100,000 inhabitants, and that only Austria, Slovenia and Luxembourg are worse in that regard.

Some EU countries were right to introduce stricter measures before the surge in the number of new infections and they did so exactly to prevent it, says Kolaric.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 24th of November, 2020, at the proposal of the Civil Protection Headquarters of Zagreb County, the necessary epidemiological measures for this area are now being introduced. These measures will be in force in Zagreb County from today until December the 31st, 2020.

Here is the list of measures now in full force across Zagreb County:

A maximum of 50 persons may be present at professional and amateur artistic performances, programmes and cinema screenings in strict compliance with all prescribed epidemiological measures and special recommendations and instructions of the Croatian Institute of Public Health.

The organisers of all public events and gatherings that have been permitted in Zagreb County, as well as the owners of catering/hospitality facilities, are obliged to carry out the intensified supervision of compliance with the newly introduced epidemiological measures.

There is the mandatory requirement to use face masks or medical masks in all enclosed/indoor spaces where public or economic activities are being carried out, as well as at events, cultural, religious programmes or other social gatherings if it isn't possible to maintain a physical distance of at least 2 metres between individuals.

Visits to users of accommodation services in social care institutions for the elderly and infirm are prohibited.

Those using the aforementioned services are forbidden to leave such premises unless it is for medical reasons or other justified reasons when that decision is made by the director or another authorised person.

The users of such accommodation services within the social welfare system are allowed outside to backyards, terraces etc with the obligatory wearing of face masks or medical masks and the maintaining of social distancing of at least 1.5 metres.

The implementation of additional precautionary measures when returning such users of the aforementioned accommodation services from undergoing hospital treatment is necessary (avoiding contact with other users for 14 days, etc.)

It has been recommended to the providers of auch accommodation services within the social welfare system to enable users to make longer and more frequent telephone calls and, if they have such possibilities, to enable video calls.

It has been recommended that the employees of healthcare institutions, kindergartens and schools, as well as the employees of social service providers don't participate in organised gatherings of a larger number of people.

It has been recommended that self-government units in Zagreb County prohibit the rental and other use of rooms and other facilities owned by them for all gatherings.

It has been recommended that the residents of Zagreb County don't travel outside of the borders of the Republic of Croatia unless there are urgent business, personal or other reasons for that.

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ZAGREB, November 23, 2020 - Croatian Institute of Public Health (HZJZ) head Krunoslav Capak on Monday called for patience before the completion of trials of the coronavirus vaccine developed by the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca.

Earlier in the day, media outlets reported that the coronavirus vaccine developed by the University of Oxford stops 70% of people from developing Covid symptoms, according to a large-scale trial.

"This information is too serious. A few hours ago, reports said that the efficiency of the vaccine was estimated at 70%, and later AstraZeneca insisted on the rebuttal of that information, claiming that it could increase protection up to 90%," Capak told a news conference, adding that he would rahter wait for the completion of the vaccination trials.

KB Dubrava hospital has enough room and ventilators 

Assistant Health Minister Vera Katalinic Jankovic told the news conference that the situation in Zagreb's KB Dubrava hospital, which was converted into an institution for treating COVID-19 patients, was stable.

Currently, the hospital is providing for 420 patients and there is enough room in six intensive care units. There are enough ventilators, and we will procure new ones if necessary, the assistant minister said.

The head of the Zagreb-based Dr. Fran Mihaljevic hospital for infectious diseases, Alemka Markotic, said that currently 26 patients in that hospital were placed on ventilators.

"All over the world, there is a marked rise in the number of COVID patients, their clinical picture is graver than the situation in the spring, much more people have developed pneumonia. The situation is under control, but all are following the developments with concern," Markotic said.

Two to three winter months are ahead of us, it will be more and more difficult to keep the situation under control. We must be aware that all this will not be over in a few weeks' time. We are going to face an increasing pressure to care for patients who fall ill from the coronavirus infection, she said.

1,973 new coronavirus infections, 45 deaths in last 24 hours

Croatia has registered 1,973 new cases of the coronavirus infection over the past 24 hours, as well as 45 related deaths, the national COVID-19 crisis management team said today.

The number of active cases in Croatia stands at 19,275. There are 2,060 COVID patients in hospitals, including 235 on ventilators.

Since 25 February 2020, when Croatia registered its first case, a total of 105,691 people have contracted coronavirus, 1,398 of them have died, and 85,018 have recovered, including 2,638 in the last 24 hours.

There are currently 40,083 people in self-isolation.

To date, 683,104 people have been tested for coronavirus, including 6,139 in the last 24 hours.

November 23, 2020 - Croatia hopes for pre-pandemic tourism revenues by 2023, and to reach the EU average of gross value added generated from tourism by 2026.

Turizam 24 reports that while we face the worst crisis since World War II, Europe and the world are already looking heavily at the 2021 tourist year. As the pandemic rages and more and more countries are re-entering lockdowns, few can even predict what the new tourist season will bring, but announcements of the vaccine’s arrival generally restore optimism and hope that the sector’s recovery will begin as soon as possible.

We should not forget the lesson of this summer - the fact is that people still have the need to travel, and it is only a matter of time before they decide to do it again. This year, many travel companies have survived on domestic tourists, and most analysts predict that will not change so soon.

First of all, there is the issue of security, which is the basis for any return of tourism, and secondly, it is clear to everyone that it will take a long time for air traffic to return to its old positions, and thus prices. Until then, airline tickets will certainly not be available as they were before the pandemic, and air destinations will be increasingly difficult to find.

Many changes have happened faster than could have been imagined, from digitalization to choosing an isolated holiday. Many recent analyzes suggest that tourism will not return to pre-corona levels until 2024.

Thus, the European Travel Commission ETC (European Travel Commission) in a new report entitled "European Tourism 2020 - Trends and Prospects" overlooked that the volume of travel to the level of 2019 will return only in 2024. ETC predicts that domestic travel will recover sooner, by 2022 or 2023. It is also Croatia's goal to restore pre-pandemic revenues by 2023.

"Our priority is to ensure that the tourism sector in Croatia returns to pre-pandemic levels by 2023, when it comes to revenues, and to reach the EU average in terms of gross value added from tourism by 2026," says Minister of Tourism and Sports Nikolina Brnjac.

The minister once again pointed out that the pandemic had a strong impact on the travel industry and changed the paradigm of tourism this year, but also for next year.

"Following the trends, we focused on online promotion and services adapted to current circumstances that have enabled greater health safety of tourists. Croatia has shown that it can be a leader in innovation and the development of offers that represent the future of tourism.

Thus, for example, through the Enter Croatia website, we enabled tourists to enter the country faster and safer, and through digital platforms and social networks, we changed the way we communicate with tourists and presented the destination to the world in a different way. We can already say that next year one of the main motives or even travel conditions will be safety, so we will focus on quality and targeted information campaigns, which will ensure our visibility in the most important markets.

Until now, safety has been our brand, which we will continue to build and adapt to new conditions," said Brnjac.

She also reminded that Croatia will have twice as many funds available in the next seven years compared to the 2014-2020 budget - a total of at least 22 billion euros, of which the European Union (MFF) budget accounts for 12.7 billion euro. From the next generation EU Fund, Croatia can count on 9.4 billion euro, with most of that amount related to grants, while part of the funds will be through favorable credit lines.

"This is a great opportunity for us to recover and develop Croatian tourism, and the goal is to negotiate with the European Commission the best possible position for the tourism sector, whose current sensitivity may adversely affect the recovery of the entire economy,"  concluded the Minister of Tourism and Sports.

Veljko Ostojić, the director of the Croatian Tourism Association (HUT), revealed what can be expected in 2021.

"For next year it is still unfair to give any estimates in these unpredictable times. It is to be expected that it has the characteristics of last-minute reservations, an increase in online reservations, increased interest in higher category facilities that guarantee greater isolation of guests, and that the key criterion for choosing a destination will be security in the broadest sense. It is a theme that will mark the next, but also the upcoming season. The advantage of Croatia is that it is an auto-destination and in comparison with other countries it has a significantly smaller population. That will definitely be a significant attribute in the next year," Ostojić said.

As for the announcement of vaccines, he added that they certainly inspire optimism that tourism could begin to recover, in the second quarter, and begin to approach the figures before the pandemic in the second half of next year.

"But we still have to be careful and continuously monitor the situation so that we can make appropriate decisions regarding the market, but also the organization of work in accommodation facilities and destinations," said the HUT director.

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ZAGREB, November 23, 2020 - Croatia has registered 1,973 new cases of the coronavirus infection over the past 24 hours, as well as 45 related deaths, the national COVID-19 crisis management team said on Monday.

The number of active cases in Croatia stands at 19,275. There are 2,060 COVID patients in hospitals, including 235 on ventilators.

Since 25 February 2020, when Croatia registered its first case, a total of 105,691 people have contracted coronavirus, 1,398 of them have died, and 85,018 have recovered, including 2,638 in the last 24 hours.

There are currently 40,083 people in self-isolation.

To date, 683,104 people have been tested for coronavirus, including 6,139 in the last 24 hours.

For the latest travel info, bookmark our main travel info article, which is updated daily. 

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November the 23rd, 2020 - No referral will be needed to go and get a rapid test as Zagreb's mass coronavirus testing begins as the fight against the spread of the virus continues.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, if you feel the symptoms of the new coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, visit brzitest.com.hr, order a test and wait for your appointment. When you get it, you go to the health centre prescribed for your test, sit back in your car for fifteen minutes and then your results will be ready.

If your test returns a positive result, the procedure with the epidemiologists and your contacts is the same as if a “standard” test was done at the Andrija Stampar Institute, and if it is negative, and there are still symptoms present, then the person is referred for testing in the same way that has been done so far.

In short, this is exactly what the mass coronavirus testing in Zagreb will look like from today onward, and potential patients will no longer need to obtain referrals for testing. This is all being done with the aim of preventing the spread of coronavirus, but also to partially relieve the healthcare professionals who have performed all of the testing so far and had to deal with their processing.

"Physically speaking, we just can't keep up with it like this anymore. We've got between a thousand and two thousand tests every day and it happens that sometimes we need two days to get the results of a single test. We want to avoid that, we want people to know right away, so we decided on these rapid antigen tests. The European Commission has already given a recommendation that this is the way to do it, and on November the 2nd, the Croatian Institute of Public Health gave the opinion that such tests can be good,'' explained the head of the city's health office, Vjekoslav Jelec, in conversation with Vecernji list.

As for the mass coronavirus testing locations themselves, as Jelec explains, there will be 12 of them for now, and the goal is that soon each of Zagreb's city districts, meaning all 17 of them, will have one testing point. "Covid points will be organised in the same way as before, like, for example, the one at the Zagreb Fair (Velesajam), and teams of 10-12 people will work at them," explained Jelec.

From sanitary engineers to medical technicians and nurses, all of those who want to help will be involved, and all of them have already undergone special training for the job. More than three hundred healthcare professionals turn out to be positive every day, and that's the situation as it stands. That's why we're glad that the Polytechnic jumped in to help us,'' added Jelec, noting that the price of the antigen test, which citizens will not need to pay for, is between eight and ten euros.

"Of course, we're paying attention to procurement so that the quality of the tests is better, but we've already managed to find some with a reduced price at between six and seven euros", he stated, adding the first 50 thousand tests will cost around three and a half million kuna in total.

"We have to take all this seriously and we hope that the people of Zagreb will do so too, we hope that they'll respond to any symptoms by organising a rapid test for themselves. It has never been easier to check your condition, and that's best shown by antigen tests in symptomatic people in the first five days of illness. So, whoever feels coronavirus symptoms should immediately register for their appointment,'' said Jelec in his address to those of us who live in Zagreb, who will be the first in all of Croatia to have the opportunity to test without referrals and standing in lines.

What Jelec is still begging his fellow citizens for is the same mantra that has been valid since the beginning of the spread of the epidemic, and that is to be responsible. "I know that young people think that nothing can happen to them, that for many this is a conspiracy theory and the like, but the virus is here and it is real, and the worst thing is that this is a fight with an invisible enemy we don't know much about," warned Jelec.

Those who book a rapid test must arrive for it on time, wear a protective mask and bring their insurance and ID cards with them. Their results will be issued to them on the spot and they'll also receive an email copy. Their results will also be sent to the Andrija Stampar Institute and the infected person will be reported to the central system for monitoring coronavirus-positive people, writes Vecernji list.

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ZAGREB, November 22, 2020 - Medjimurje has 129 new coronavirus infections and one new related fatality and according to the World Health Organisation, since Saturday that northern Croatian county has had the second highest seven-day incidence in Europe, right after Varazdin County, local authorities have said.

The WHO has reported that Varazdin County, with 1,541 cases of the infection, has a seven-day incidence rate of 925 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, while Medjimurje, with 944 cases, has a seven-day incidence of 862 infections per 100,000 inhabitants, which makes it the European region with the second-highest coronavirus incidence.

It is followed by the Slovenian region of Koruska, with 817 cases per 100,000 inhabitants in the last seven days.

ZAGREB, November 22, 2020 - The COVID-19 crisis is affecting consumers' incomes and habits of using financial services, it is responsible for lower incomes for 48% of respondents, and 41% of employees are afraid of being fired, Mastercard said this week after a survey conducted in Croatia.

The MasterIndex online survey was conducted by the Improve market research agency in September and October, covering 1,026 users of banking services aged 18-55.

Forty-eight percent of respondents said their monthly household income decreased during the COVID crisis, including 58% of respondents in the Dalmatia region, 52% in Istria and 40% in Slavonia.

Sixty-two percent said they refrained from major purchases during the crisis, including 74% of respondents in Dalmatia and 67% in the Lika region.

41% of workers fear being fired, 55% of business owners fear closure

Sixty-two percent of respondents said they worked for someone else and 10% were self-employed.

Of those in employment, 41% fear being laid off due to the economic consequences of the COVID crisis, mainly in Istria and Lika, while people in Zagreb and Slavonia are least afraid of getting fired.

Fifty-five percent of business owners said they might have to close because of the crisis, with the biggest fear expressed by those in Lika, Istria and Dalmatia, while those in Slavonia and Zagreb are somewhat less afraid.

Of the 29% of respondents who said they did not do a paying job during the crisis, 10% said they could not do their job because of COVID restrictions while 4% were fired.

Contactless payment increasingly in use

The survey shows that nearly all respondents are using smartphones and payment cards, and that they are increasingly in favour of contactless and mobile payment.

Twenty-six percent of respondents are worried about the possibility of getting infected while paying in cash, and 44% said that was the reason they paid by card more often.

Eighty-one percent said they preferred to pay by card, nine in ten have and use a contactless card, 31% do so everyday, and 18% said they were increasingly paying by mobile phone.

The survey also shows that 91% of respondents buy online and 45% do so at least once a month, mainly clothing, shoes, consumer electronics and household necessities, but also food.

The survey shows that 80% are satisfied with the level of digitalisation in Croatia, down six percentage points from the spring. A significant portion of respondents would like to see more innovation and digital services in healthcare, public administration, education and the judiciary.

ZAGREB, November 22, 2020 - Health Minister Vili Beros, who is isolating at home because he has coronavirus, said on Saturday the situation with the number of infections and related deaths was alarming and announced that he would talk with county heads on Tuesday.

Speaking for RTL television via video link, he again called for people to be more responsible.

"Tuesday is an important day, when all of us at national level will once again talk with prefects, which will be an opportunity for the national, local and regional governments to hold constructive talks and assess all problems."

Asked if that meant they would discuss new restrictions, Beros said every opportunity was good for talks.

He said many were criticising the national COVID response team's measures, but added that many in the world claimed that milder restrictions would be effective if people complied with them.

"We can impose stricter measures, but if people won't wear masks and (if they) socialise at private gatherings... Everything is an opportunity to show responsibility."

Asked if it was realistic for a vaccine to be in Croatia by Christmas, Beros said, "We joined early enough all European initiatives for procuring vaccines from various manufacturers. As a state, we have done everything. Now it's all up to the manufacturers."

ZAGREB, November 22, 2020 - A total of 3,308 new coronavirus infections have been confirmed in Croatia in the last 24 hours, and the number of active cases stands at 19,985, the national coronavirus response team said on Sunday.

Of the active cases, 2,031 are hospitalised, including 223 patients who are on ventilators.

In the last 24 hours, 49 people have died as a consequence of infection with coronavirus.

A total of 2,353 patients have recovered over the past 24 hours, and 9,216 have been tested, while 43,023 people are in self-isolation.

Since February 25, when the first case was confirmed in Croatia, 103,718 people have been infected with the novel virus and 82,380 have recovered.

To date, 676,965 people have been tested for coronavirus, and 1,353 have died.