ZAGREB, 1 Jan 2021 - Several Croatian cities, including the capital city of Zagreb, held New Year Eve parties in their main squares on Friday night, while a majority of big towns scrapped plans for outdoor celebrations for 2022 amid a rising number of new cases of the infection with coronavirus.

The fear of a surge in new cases due to the appearance of the Omicron variant limited the festivities that ushered in the new 2022.

The open-air New Year celebrations in Zagreb, Osijek, and Dubrovnik were held in line with COVID protocols, and guests attending the concerts in the squares of those cities were required to have COVID certificates.

Zagreb Mayor Tomislav Tomašević joined the revelers in the Trg Bana Jelačića Square on late Friday night and before that he visited the Kosnica shelter for the homeless and firefighters on duty.

In Osijek and Dubrovnik, the mayors also held a toast to welcome the 2022 year.

The entertainment programs featured local pop and folk bands. There were also firework displays.

The traditional farewell parties for the outgoing 2021 year were held in the town of Fužine in the hinterland of Rijeka and some other cities at noon on Friday.

For more, check out our lifestyle section.

January the 1st, 2022 - Are any new Croatian covid measures on the table now that the festive period of Christmas and NYE are out of the way? As Omicron spreads throughout Europe and with many countries tightening things up, Croatia appears to have no concrete plans as yet.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, the worsening epidemiological situation in Croatia has given rise to more questions, especially given the fact that the vaccination rate is still not satisfactory and every second test in Split-Dalmatia County has been positive. While Croatia was busy extending the opening hours of its catering and hospitality establishments during the festive period, Omicron measures have been being tightened across Europe.

The director of the Croatian Institute of Public Health, Krunoslav Capak, said on HTV's "Otvoreno/Open" show that the new strain of coronavirus, Omicron, has been being detected by sequencing, stressing that the number of people infected with Omicron will be continuously reported as the situation unfolds.

''These are still small numbers compared to what's happening in the surrounding countries,'' said Capak.

He pointed out that Croatia has so far been very successful in stopping and slowing down the arrival of new strains of the novel coronavirus, because we were the first European country to introduce a ban on foreigners coming into the country from South Africa to Croatia, and all Croatian citizens and permanent residents coming from those areas were to be quarantined.

''We had cooperation with the border police at Croatian airports. They informed us of the names and addresses of people coming here from those parts of the world. Epidemiologists immediately contacted them and quarantined them for fourteen days, and so we stopped the spread of that strain of the virus. Our figures are very favourable,'' he added.

The director of the Croatian Institute of Public Health said that Omicron is still not dominant in Croatia, pointing out that there are more people infected with Omicron in Dalmatian counties than there are on the continent.

The director of the Public Health Teaching Institute of Split-Dalmatia County, Zeljka Karin, emphasised that a record number of new patients in that county had been being set, and that we have to take into account that we have a huge number of tests being taken, so that share is slightly higher than fifty percent. But it was to be expected, because the Omicron variant appeared, it was the festive period in which there are more gatherings, and that all led to an increase in the number of new positive cases,'' Karin reasonably said.

The director of the Public Health Institute of Split-Dalmatia County said that the number of newly infected people in Split-Dalmatia County has been quite high for several weeks now.

''It's known that in this county there is a low vaccination rate compared to other counties across Croatia. These numbers are certainly the consequences of that,'' she said. Karin also pointed out that patients in the past two or three days don't present with a very severe clinical picture, as was the case before.

''That said, we can't estimate what that clinical picture will be like in the future. We have an increase in hospitalisations, and we still don’t know if it’s because of Omicron or if it’s because of the Delta strain. So for now, we can't say anything about what the clinical pictures will become, but the increase in hospitalisations is large, but so is the increase in the number of people on respirators,'' Karin warned.

The head of the Istrian Civil Protection Directorate, Dino Kozlevac, pointed out that there were "consistently high numbers" of positive cases across Istria.

''The numbers have been growing since September. What's happening? We have liberal measures, that should be said clearly and loudly. The whole of Croatia has liberal measures in relation to Europe,'' he said, adding that people should make sure to properly adhere more to all current Croatian covid measures, including maintaining social distancing and wearing masks.

He added that the current situation will be assessed in the coming days, and there is a possibility that new measures for Istria will be discussed in agreement with the National Civil Protection Directorate.

The director of the Croatian Institute of Public Health, Krunoslav Capak, pointed out that the situation is being reviewed on a daily basis and Croatian covid measures are being taken accordingly, and this will be the case in the coming days, although there is nothing concrete yet to speak of. He added that the situation in other counties will be monitored on a daily basis and if the situation worsens, which can be expected due to the arrival of the Omicron strain, in that case some Croatian covid measures may well be tightened.

"Nothing is on the table at the moment," he repeated.

For all you need to know about coronavirus specific to Croatia, make sure to bookmark our dedicated section and select your preferred language if it isn't English.

ZAGREB, 30 Dec 2021 - Health Minister Vili Beroš reiterated on Thursday that the fifth wave of COVID-19 infection, with the Omicron variant, was expected in the second half of January and once again called on citizens to get a booster jab, warning that most likely everyone will come into contact with Omicron.

Speaking at a cabinet meeting, he said there were 24 confirmed Omicron cases in Croatia but that without stepping up vaccination and strictly complying with the rules, "we probably won't be able to avoid the effects of the full force of the fifth wave in the second half of January."

Beroš said 42% of the tests done in the last 24 hours were positive and that Dalmatia, which has the lowest vaccination rate, accounted for the highest numbers.

Despite a gradual decline in hospitalizations, hospitals are constantly on alert as new cases are rising again. To date, 66.22% of adults have been vaccinated, including 487,083 with a booster.

Interior Minister Davor Božinović, who heads the COVID-19 crisis management team, called on citizens to maintain rational caution during the New Year's holidays.

He said the team had extended the current COVID protocols for another month. They refer to gatherings, crossing the border, wearing masks, shops' opening hours, public transport, and an entry ban for persons from many African countries.

For all you need to know about coronavirus specific to Croatia, make sure to bookmark our dedicated section and select your preferred language if it isn't English.

ZAGREB, 30 Dec 2021 - Croatia has registered 5,958 new coronavirus cases and 27 COVID-related deaths in the last 24 hours, the national coronavirus response team reported on Thursday.

The number of active cases in the country currently stands at 25,521. Among them are 1,858 infected persons receiving hospital treatment, including 239 who are on ventilators, and 17,722 persons are self-isolating.

A total of 3,743,534 people have been tested for the SARS-CoV-2 virus to date, including 14,209 in the last 24 hours.

Since 25 February 2020, when the first case was confirmed in the country, 709,678 people have been registered as having contracted the new virus, of whom 12,493 have died and 671,664  have recovered, including 2,760 in the last 24 hours.

As of 29 December, 4,708,957 COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered, with 55.62 percent of the total population, or 66.27 percent of the adult population, having been vaccinated. A total of 2,257,261 people have received at least one dose and 2,137,145 of them have been fully vaccinated, which is 62.90 percent of the adult population.

For all you need to know about coronavirus specific to Croatia, make sure to bookmark our dedicated section and select your preferred language if it isn't English.

ZAGREB, 29 December, 2021 -  The head of the Split University Clinical Centre's infectious diseases department, Ivo Ivić, told the press on Wednesday that coronavirus numbers were still high in Split-Dalmatia County.

The infectious diseases specialist said that he was afraid that new coronavirus numbers would continue rising and that the consequences of New Year's Eve parties and revellers' gatherings would be getting hooked up to mechanical ventilators and funerals.

Over the last six weeks, the number of COVID patients being treated in the Split hospital was around 180, and we have now surpassed that number, he said.

As many as 100 patients have been admitted to emergency rooms for urgent checks both today and yesterday, and before that there were about 60 such cases a day, Ivić said.

Over the last two days, there were 47 COVID hospital admissions, and before that there were roughly 15 hospital admissions per day, he said.

The doctor warned that 80% of COVID patients admitted to the hospital were unvaccinated persons, and most of them were aged over 80.

This infectious diseases specialist went on to say that although the healthcare authorities had been dealing with an intensive epidemic for six weeks, people did not change anything in their behaviour.

He warned about the fast spread of the Omicron variant of SAR-CoV-2, although it seems to have less pathogenic effects, and explained that the higher numbers of new cases meant more pressure on hospitals.

Ivić said that the low vaccination rate in this county should be ascribed to ignorance, a lack of understanding, and the victory of social media reporting that "exaggerates the side effects of  the vaccines, so people, who cannot understand anything of that and have no knowledge of COVID and vaccines, feel insecure and do not want to be inoculated." 

ZAGREB, 29 Dec 2021 - Croatia has registered 5,768 new coronavirus cases and 41 COVID-related deaths in the last 24 hours, the national coronavirus response team reported on Tuesday.

The number of active cases in the country currently stands at 22,350. Among them are 1,868 infected persons receiving hospital treatment, including 237 who are on ventilators, and 15,607 persons are self-isolating.

A total of 3,729,325 people have been tested for the SARS-CoV-2 virus to date, including 13,929 in the last 24 hours.

Since 25 February 2020, when the first case was confirmed in the country, 703,720 people have been registered as having contracted the new virus, of whom 12,466 have died and 668,904 have recovered, including 1,718 in the last 24 hours.

As of 28 December, 4,684,781 COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered, with 55.57 per cent of the total population, or 66.22 per cent of the adult population, having been vaccinated. A total of 2,255,115 people have received at least one dose and 2,130,760 of them have been fully vaccinated, which is 62.72 per cent of the adult population.

December the 29th, 2021 - Croatian Omicron rules have been put in place and clarified as the new variant of the novel coronavirus sweeps Europe. Although it appears that the Omicron variant causes a far less severe clinical picture and there are only a few confirmed cases in Croatia, measures must still remain in place for now as the situation unfolds.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, the Croatian Institute of Public Health has published new Croatian Omicron rules which regard quarantine and self-isolation.

The revised rules of the CNIPH for the treatment of patients, those who have been in close contact with a lab confirmed positive case and the termination of self-isolation and quarantine bring several important changes to Croatian Omicron rules.

People who have been vaccinated, have contracted and then recovered from the disease in the past three months, or have been vaccinated after recovering should not be quarantined/put into self-isolation, the new Croatian Omicron rules state.

If the source of infection is confirmed to be infected with the Omicron variant or there is an epidemiological suspicion that it is the Omicron variant in question, all of that individual's contacts (except the exceptions below) are subject to a fourteen-day quarantine period and should be tested with a PCR test at the beginning of their quarantine and on the last day of quarantine.

If the suspected Omicron variant is excluded by sequencing, the fourteen-day quarantine period can be terminated and their contacts will be further treated as they would be in the case of their exposure to domesticated coronavirus variants.

The following people don't need to go into self-isolation/quarantine:

Immunocompetent individuals who have received their primary vaccination (one dose of the Janssen vaccine or two doses of a vaccine (Pfizer, AstraZeneca, Moderna etc) received in two doses) and subsequently vaccinated with a booster dose.

People who have contracted and recovered from the novel coronavirus and received their primary vaccination after recovery (one dose of Janssen or two doses of vaccine given in two doses)

People who have had coronavirus within the last 90 days before their close contact with a possible or confirmed Omicron case, regardless of their vaccination status.

People who are exempted from quarantine should intensify any measures to prevent droplet infections within fourteen days of contact with increased hand washing etc, and it is recommended that they be tested by rapid antigen test as soon as possible after their close contact and every third day for two weeks after their exposure. A positive rapid antigen test result should then be confirmed by a PCR test.

For all you need to know about coronavirus specific to Croatia, make sure to bookmark our dedicated section and select your preferred language if it isn't English.

ZAGREB, 28 December, 2021 - A small number of Omicron cases have been confirmed in Croatia, so the existing COVID-19 protocols will remain in force in January, while on 31 December hospitality establishments will be allowed to stay open until 2 am, it was said on Tuesday.

Speaking to the press after a meeting of the government's Scientific Council, Croatian Institute of Public Health director Krunoslav Capak said there were eight sequenced Omicron cases in Croatia, eight cases "for which we are 99.9% sure it's Omicron" and "three or four suspect" cases.

He said a rise in Omicron cases was expected in the second week of January and the peak at the end of January and the beginning of February.

Due to the small number of Omicron cases, the COVID restrictions will not be tightened.

The head of the national COVID-19 crisis management team, Interior Minister Davor Božinović, said the rules on borders, shops' opening hours, transport and assembly would "likely be extended tomorrow."

He said the scientists on the council said the Omicron variant was different from previous ones due to a higher infection rate, but that there was no firm evidence on the seriousness of the illness.

He said it was necessary to keep in mind the burden on hospitals. If we will have four times as many cases, despite a 50% milder illness, it could still mean twice as many hospitalisations, he added.

Božinović said the new COVID vaccines and drugs being tested were expected to make next year easier in terms of serious illness and deaths.

He said the participants in the meeting underlined the need for the booster shot, calling on citizens to take it, notably medical workers, care home residents and all seniors. Thanks to higher vaccination rates, he added, EU countries with many Omicron cases have fewer hospitalisations and deaths.

Capak said the testing capacity was increasing and that 20,000 PCR tests could be done in one day.

According to the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention, he said, persons infected with Omicron carry the virus only two days before and two to three days after the onset of symptoms. Hence, he added, those who are no longer contagious will have to self-isolate for a shorter time.

ZAGREB, 28 December, 2021 - Croatia has registered 4,139 new coronavirus cases and 50 COVID-related deaths in the last 24 hours, the national coronavirus response team reported on Tuesday.

The number of active cases in the country currently stands at 18,341. Among them are 1,851 infected persons receiving hospital treatment, including 238 who are on ventilators, and 14,332 persons are self-isolating.

A total of 3,715,396 people have been tested for the SARS-CoV-2 virus to date, including 11,475 in the last 24 hours.

Since 25 February 2020, when the first case was confirmed in the country, 697,952 people have been registered as having contracted the new virus, of whom 12,425 have died and 667,186 have recovered, including 2,499 in the last 24 hours.

As of 27 December, 4,662,872 COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered, with 55.52 per cent of the total population, or 66.16 per cent of the adult population, having been vaccinated. A total of 2,253,137 people have received at least one dose and 2,124,416 of them have been fully vaccinated, which is 62.54 per cent of the adult population.

ZAGREB, 23 Dec 2021 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said on Thursday that coronavirus was spreading somewhat faster in Dalmatia and urged citizens to remain cautious during the festive season in order to prevent the spread of the virus at family gatherings.

Broken down by regions we can see that the virus is spreading somewhat faster in Dalmatia. After weeks of registering fewer and fewer new infection numbers, today we have a higher number than last week, said Plenković, opening a cabinet meeting.

This Thursday, the COVID-19 crisis management team reported 3,831 new cases in the last 24 hours, as against 3,765 new cases which were registered last Thursday.

The premier recalled the importance of vaccination and personal protection and of avoidance of large gatherings as well as the implementation of  COVID certificates.

"All these measures need to be used combined and then we will have better protection, particularly, during the festive season," he said.

He underscored that the government and national COVID response team were monitoring the situation, considering the new Omicron variant. Some countries are ramping up restrictions where Omicron infections are doubling each day, he said.

Third dose is necessary

The rapid spread of the latest variant is certainly worrisome. "It is obvious that the current vaccines can protect against Omicron and it is necessary to get the third dose," he said and called on citizens to get the booster dose.

Plenković recalled that he had met with country, city and municipal heads this week and discussed education, traffic, demography and employment.

"That system of dialogue is excellent. It has come across great support with county prefects and other stakeholders...I think we can be proud because that framework has improved the balance in regional development in Croatia and county prefects are included in all essential issues," he added.

Also today, the government adopted a few decision important for quake victims in Sisak-Moslavina County.

He in particular underscored a decision on a grant for the cost of food amounting to HRK 2.76 million for the entire county and an additional HRK 1.6 million for the City of Sisak, adding that to date HRK 33 million had been paid to cover the cost of food for meals in that county.

He announced that he would visit Petrinja next week to mark the first anniversary of the devastating earthquake that struck that area on 29 December 2020.