ZAGREB, Oct 24, 2020 - Additional measures will be introduced very soon as the high number of coronavirus cases shows that the existing ones have not yielded results, Croatian Institute of Public Health (HZJZ) director Krunoslav Capak said on Saturday.

"Unfortunately, these measures haven't shown results. They were introduced last Monday and the results should have been seen by now. Everyone realises that the numbers are rising and that additional measures are necessary. Intensive talks on that are under way," he told the press.

Capak said the numbers certainly would not be rising if everyone adhered to the measures. "Evidently, we have a problem with people who don't want to adhere to the measures."

Capak said he was aware of the problem of concealing contacts with infected persons and not sending people into self-isolation, so measures to deal with that will be adopted "very soon."

He said those would not be new measures, rather working hours would be further shortened and the number of people who could gather would be reduced.

As for the fact that some states in Europe have other restrictive measures, for example banning two families to meet in one month, he said it was not acceptable for the Croatian culture and way of life.

But there is a threshold after which measures would be made stricter, he added.

Speaking of the age of coronavirus fatalities in Croatia, Capak said it was 79 on average and that the average age of patients was 43, "and it hasn't significantly changed since the start of the epidemic."

The director of the Dr Andrija Stampar Teaching Institute of Public Health, Zvonimir Sostar, said there were no new hotspots in Zagreb, which reported 798 new cases in the last 24 hours, but that the virus was spreading horizontally.

"Whole families are infected, we have more and more of them," he said.

Sostar and Capak were speaking to the press at the opening of a new testing location in Zagreb.

Capak said all public health institutes and the Health Ministry were working on hiring people to help epidemiologists and that he hoped about 100 would be hired in the next few days.

"The biggest pressure is on the City of Zagreb. We are constantly working on expanding the number of laboratories as well as the capacities," he said, adding that there were problems with reagents but that they were not due to the debt owed to wholesale drug suppliers.

Capak said the HZJZ could do 1,600 tests a day and that it could do 500-600 more if the problem with expendable supplies was solved, which he hopes will happen next week.

October the 24th, 2020 - The ongoing coronavirus pandemic is continuing to put Croatia through its paces, particularly here in the heart of Zagreb where the numbers of newly infected people have soared over the last few days, causing alarm among many. There are now new coronavirus testing rules in force, which involved altered working times and the requirement to first book online.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 23rd of October, 2020, although the number of newly infected people recorded in the City of Zagreb on Friday was lower than it was the day before, the head of the City Health Office, Vjekoslav Jelec, said at yesterday's press conference of the Zagreb Civil Protection Headquarters that the epidemiological situation continued to be serious and once again asked citizens to make sure they continue to adhere to the epidemiological measures put in place in an attempt to slow down the spread of the new coronavirus.

The coronavirus testing rules have changed.

''The new working hours for testing at the Andrija Stampar Institute (Mirogojska) are from Monday to Saturday from 10:00 to 14:00, and on Sundays and on holidays from 08:00 to 10:00. All persons must book their coronavirus test online regardless of whether they're paying for their test or coming to get test based on a referral from their family doctor,'' said the Andrija Stampar Institute's head nurse Cecilija Rotim.

"We need to strictly adhere to the anti-epidemic measures," Jelec warned. As of Friday, there are 580 newly infected people having been recorded in the capital, and as many as 894 people are now in self-isolation. Most of the new patients are the contacts of previously infected people, and 18 residents of homes for the elderly and infirm are positive,'' said the head nurse of the Andrija Stampar Institute, Cecilija Rotim.

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ZAGREB, Oct 24, 2020 - The number of COVID-19 fatalities has been dramatically rising recently, 50 in the past five days, and the average age of the fatalities in intensive care at Zagreb's Infectious Diseases Hospital is seven years lower than two weeks ago, Jutarnji List said on Saturday.

According to the hospital's infectologist Vladimir Krajinovic, that age has dropped from an average 70 to 63.

He says the mortality rate in his intensive care unit over the past eight months has remained about 50%, and 60% for those on ventilators. "All patients have the same disease."

Krajinovic says he saw data from Ljubljana ten days ago and that they are the same as in his hospital. "Interpreting mortality and comparing countries is quite unfortunate and time will tell how things are being presented and what the real situation is."

ZAGREB, Oct 24, 2020 - In the last 24 hours Croatia has registered 2,242 new coronavirus cases and 16 persons have died, the national COVID response team said on Saturday.

The number of active cases is 9,745, including 731 hospitalised patients, of whom 52 are on ventilators.

Since February 25, when the new virus was first registered in Croatia, 33,959 persons have been infected, including 429 who have died. To date 23,785 persons have recovered, including 875 in the last 24 hours, and 437,048 have been tested, including 8,087 in the last 24 hours.

Currently 27,967 persons are self-isolating.

October 24, 2020 - 13 players and 3 staff members are coronavirus-positive at HNK Gorica, the club announced on Friday evening.

HNK Gorica announced on Friday that after testing the entire team and the professional staff of HNK Gorica, 13 players and three staff members are coronavirus-positive.

Everyone infected is immediately referred to self-isolation; everyone feels good and has no pronounced symptoms, the club added.

Due to a large number of infected players, the 9th round match against Rijeka was postponed this weekend. Furthermore, the 10th round match of the Croatian First League between HNK Gorica and NK Varazdin, which was supposed to be played on October 30, has also been postponed.

Following the regulations of the HNS and the decision of the HNS Competition Commission, individual matches can be postponed in the event there are six or more players of the same club in self-isolation. According to the provisions of the Ordinance on football competitions and the Proposal of the competition, postponed matches must be played in the first possible free period.

As things stand now, HNK Gorica will play their 11th round of the Croatian First League against Slaven Belupo, on Sunday, November 8, at 19:00. It was originally supposed to be played two days earlier, but the date was changed due to new circumstances.

Recall, three 9th round Croatian First League matches meant to be played this weekend have been postponed.

In addition to Gorica, Lokomotiva Zagreb announced they still cannot compete as the coronavirus has penetrated its dressing room. After postponing the match against Osijek last weekend, the 9th round match against Hajduk, which was supposed to be played on October 24, at Kranjčevićeva, is also postponed. The match will take place on the first possible date, which will be decided later.

The same happened with the match between Istria and Osijek, as seven players of the Osijek Football Club have tested positive. 

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ZAGREB, October 23, 2020 - A total of 1,867 new coronavirus cases and seven related deaths have been confirmed in Croatia in the last 24 hours, the national coronavirus response team said on Friday. 

This is the largest single-day number of new infections since the outbreak of the epidemic. The current number of active cases is 8,394.

Among those infected, 716 are receiving hospital treatment for COVID-19 and 49 are on ventilators. 

Since February 25, when the first case was confirmed in Croatia, 31,717 people have contracted the novel virus, 413 of them have died and 22,910 have recovered, including 846 in the last 24 hours.

Currently, 25,889 people are in self-isolation, A total of 428,961 people have been tested to date, including 7,313 in the last 24 hours.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 23rd of October, 2020, the ongoing coronavirus crisis could accelerate the integration of capital markets across the European Union in order to encourage the recovery of small and medium-sized enterprises as soon as possible through alternative sources of financing. What does this mean for Croatia and Eurozone entry, exactly?

Capital market integration should also make it easier for banks and financial investors to invest in the capital of companies that strive for sustainable operations and in line with the European Union's green agenda. New ideas are constantly being sought during these truly unprecedented times in which the coronavirus pandemic brought the world the greatest global economic crisis since World War II. The significant levels of uncertainty and the impossibility of clearly estimating how long it will all last are accelerating various innovative solutions.

Shortly after the crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic began, it became clear that its impact on the Croatian financial services sector could be strong and far-reaching. With Croatia's Eurozone entry plans, it was unclear at first what effect the economic woes would have.

However, despite the severity of the unpredictable situation, the Croatian Financial Services Supervisory Agency (Hanfa) believes that we're at a turning point that - if we prepare well - might accelerate our stronger recovery in the capital market.

There are a number of challenges facing the financial sector in the future, from a number of geopolitical tensions, such as trade wars, growing economic and political instability, climate change and rising premium risks to the sustainability of public debt. It's also worth emphasising the problem of corporate liquidity due to the tightening of financing conditions - a pressing solvency problem that will only manifest itself after the expiration of assistance from national governments - which will lead to a possible increase in stress levels across financial markets.

In light of Croatia's economic recovery, especially after the coronavirus crisis passes, a very ambitious European Union plan to establish a Capital Markets Union is of high importance for Croatia, according to Ante Zigman, President of the Hanfa Board, who spoke on the matter during a recent presentation.

As he pointed out, with Croatian Eurozone entry, the continuation of the integration of the capital market into the EU is of significance for the Croatian economy. After the first one back in 2015, in September this year, the European Commission issued a new action plan which by the end of 2022 is divided into three basic goals through as many as 16 different measures. The first goal is to support green, digital, sustainable economic recovery by providing more affordable financing to European companies.

Digitalisation has come into focus because digital changes in the way we pay for things and provide financial services are changing even faster with this crisis forcing our hands. According to the market capitalisation of the 500 largest financial service providers in the world, the rapid growth of the share of the financial payments industry and fintech companies is obvious, and banks are finally losing their dominance in the financial world.

Croatia already has a basis for the growth of new digital financial companies due to changes in methods of payment, where transactions via the Internet and mobile banking are growing rapidly. The growth of young digital fintech competition has some major advantages, such as stronger market competition and lower service prices, reduced market concentration, greater transparency and better access to financial services in general.

The second is to make the European Union an even safer place to save and make long-term investments, and the third is to integrate national capital markets into what would truly be one single market.

In the long run, this should focus more on financing from the banking to the non-banking sector, enable the easier and cheaper financing of sustainable companies that currently don't have access to recover their equity through banks and traditional lending, and the easier transition of the economy to sustainable and environmentally friendly business within a constructive Union-wide plan.

The proposed plan doesn't diminish the importance of national stock markets, but connects them so that through future uniformed and harmonised regulations, investors can find good opportunities for cross-border investment, that large and small investors can more easily invest and that tax treatment of such investments is equalised throughout the EU.

In addition to strengthening new investments, the plan also includes financial literacy of the aging European population as well as the growth of their investments for pensions.

The plan defines the intention to alleviate the tax burden in cross-border investments, standardises bankruptcy proceedings between EU member states in order to protect all types of investments, unambiguously defines the concept of shareholders across the EU to harmonise rules governing the relationship between investors, intermediaries and issuers, and foresees all barriers to the use of new digital technologies in all capital markets being removed in the long run.

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As Poslovni Dnevnik/Marija Crnjak writes on the 21st of October, 2020, the Zagreb Westin Hotel, which operates within the Rovinj-based Maistra, is the first hotel in Zagreb to offer the market an audio-visual studio, in response to all the challenges of organising events, conferences and congresses during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

As has since been learned from Maistra, the Zagreb Westin Hotel, in cooperation with the local company Ivas Group, conceived, designed and equipped an audio visual studio that has all the necessary equipment and technology (stage, speaker, LCD screens, smart flip chars, sound system, recording service and live broadcast) for the successful maintenance of virtual and hybrid events. The new visual studio is part of the Maksimir Hall, which can accommodate about 30 participants, while other participants get involved through online platforms. A coffee break, as an always desirable option, is also available.

With this studio for virtual and hybrid events, the Zagreb Westin Hotel has fully responded to what are currently highly specific, safety-oriented market demands, Darko Radetic, the director of the hotel, pointed out that this is also the only hotel in the City of Zagreb that remained open throughout this entire difficult year, despite the pandemic and the earthquake which struck back in March.

"In addition to fully aligning our business with all of the epidemiological measures, we have taken it a step further and designed this product. Although there's still interest in organising MICE events in the classical sense, there are more and more inquiries for holding virtual or hybrid events, so we expect that this, a unique product on our market, will attract many partners and guests,'' said Radetic.

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ZAGREB, October 22, 2020 - Health Minister Vili Beros said at a cabinet meeting on Thursday that despite continual measures and responsible behaviour by most citizens, the past week has seen the largest number of people infected with coronavirus and related deaths.

"We cannot be pleased with the current epidemiological situation or with the irresponsible behaviour of some individuals. All of that puts a lot of pressure on epidemiologists and other health workers, physicians and nurses, hospitals and the health system overall," said Beros.

He added that today, the 241st day since the outbreak of coronavirus in Croatia, a total of 1,563 new cases were registered and that currently there are 7,380 active cases with 661 patients receiving hospital treatment.

In the past week 686 patients were admitted to hospital while 448 were released. Compared to the week before, there is a noticeable increase in the number of people being hospitalised.

Currently 610 health workers are infected and 1,341 are in self-isolation.

"Despite the increase in the number of new cases no major hotspots have emerged and on the most part they are micro-clusters and involve small groups," he added.

Hospitals increasing capacity to cater for coronavirus patients

Epidemiologists keep recording infections that are connected with family gatherings, parties, choirs, going out, training and sport events, from where they  spread into the working community. A significant portion of those infected have had contacts with people who were previously infected.

Beros said that he expects appropriate participation by all stakeholders in the health system. Primary health care has the obligation to work on prevention and curbing the spread of the epidemic, he said. 

We are in a situation when we all need to do our bit, just like medical staff in intensive care units have been doing for months, he underscored.

Hospitals have been instructed to increase their capacity to cater for Covid-19 patients and to provide daily reports of the number of health workers who have been infected as well as schedule examinations for patients whose diagnosis and condition do not allow deferrals.

ZAGREB, October 22, 2020 - Interior Minister Davor Bozinovic said on Thursday that the authorities were preparing additional beds in makeshift facilities for the treatment of COVID-19 patients, following a surge in the number of daily cases of the coronavirus infection.

For this purpose, Zagreb's Arena Centre, Split's Spaladium hall, Rijeka's Dvorana Mladosti venue as well as similar locations in Varazdin and Osijek have been selected for installing a total of 2,360 beds, if necessary.

Bozinovic informed the government that those capacities could be prepared to take in COVID-19 patients within 48 hours.

He also called on the Croatians to avoid all the uneccesary contacts so as to help efforts to curb the infection.