ZAGREB, 7 Dec, 2021 - Croatia has registered 3,262 new coronavirus cases and 60 COVID-related deaths in the last 24 hours, the national coronavirus response team said on Tuesday,

The number of active cases in the country currently stands at 25,107 and among them are 2,436 infected people who are receiving hospital treatment, including 319 who are on ventilators. A total of 20,937 persons are self-isolating.

To date, 3,522,521 people have tested for the SARS-CoV-2 virus, including 10,244 in the last 24 hours.

Since 25 February 2020, when the first COVID-19 case was confirmed in Croatia, 635,027 people have been registered as having contracted the new virus, of whom 11,329 have died and 598,591 have recovered, including 3,662 in the last 24 hours.

As of Monday, 4,266,743 COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered, with 54.47 per cent of the total population, or 64.97 per cent of the adult population, having been vaccinated. A total of 2,210,635 persons have received at least one dose and 1,989,027 of them have been fully vaccinated, which is 58.69 per cent of the adult population.

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ZAGREB, 6 Dec 2021 - The Iustitia et Pax Commission of the Croatian Conference of Catholic Bishops (HBK) on Monday joined Pope Francis in his appeal for getting vaccinated, explaining that the COVID-19 pandemic requires responsible behavior, including renouncing personal freedoms.

The HBK commission issued a press release in which it recommends vaccination against coronavirus as an act of love, as suggested by Pope Francis in several appeals, however, the Croatian Justice and Peace Commission also warned against making use of COVID certificates as an indirect form of coercion.

The press release reads that the COVID-19 pandemic caught everybody unprepared and it "often juxtaposes the fundamental values and the acquired freedoms."

"All of that requires of us to show great responsibility and prudence, as well as to make sacrifices for the sake of our fellow humans, including relinquishing certain personal freedoms."

The press release signed by the commission's president, Osijek Archbishop Đuro Hranić, reads that the developments had led to the social conflicts and divisions that caused mistrust of institutions and science, thus creating space for pseudo-scientific speech and conspiracy theories.

In this context, the commission mentions cases of persons who negated the appearance of the COVID-19 pandemic and spread fear, which was conducive to the rifts in the society.

Admitting that some of those pandemic negators are members of the Church, the commission says that such persons have done damage to themselves as well as to fellow humans and to the reputation of the Catholic Church.

The press release further reads that vaccination is not a moral obligation and ought to be on a voluntary basis, however, the conscience of individuals must not become blind.

Thus, during the pandemic, people are called upon to take care of each other, and in this spirit, they are expected to follow the appeal of Pope Francis who has underscored on several occasions that getting vaccinated is an act of love.

The commission also underscores that all the approved vaccines against coronavirus are morally acceptable, as stated by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, and also points out the importance of complying with all the epidemiological rules, including testing and inoculation.

Vaccination on a voluntary basis

The press release, however, calls for avoiding making use of COVID-19 certificates as indirect coercion for immunization or making use of vaccination as a precondition for employment, as this causes fear and resistance among people.

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ZAGREB, 6 Dec 2021 - The head of the Croatian Institute of Public Health (HZJZ), Krunoslav Capak, said on Monday that two people in the country had been found to be infected with the new Covid variant, Omicron.

The two patients have not developed any serious symptoms of the infection and all their contacts are under surveillance, Capak told a news conference.

The patients had been at a business meeting, and there are possibilities that other participants could have caught it, too, said epidemiologist Bernard Kaić.

According to Capak, Croatia has taken all the necessary measures to slow down the spread of the new variant.

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ZAGREB, 6 Dec 2021 - In the past 24 hours Croatia has registered 728 new COVID cases while 51 people died of this infection, the national COVID response team reported on Monday.

There are currently 25,567 active cases in the country including 2,444 hospitalized patients with 326 patients on ventilators. As many as 23,453 people are self-isolating.

Since 25 February 2020 when the first case of the novel coronavirus was registered in Croatia, there have been a total of 631,756 cases of contagion and 11,269 people have died as a consequence while 594,929 have recovered, including 4,588 in the past 24 hours.

To date, there have been 3,512,277 tests conducted, including 2,732 in the past 24 hours.

As of Sunday, a total of 4,249,704 doses of a vaccine have been administered under the vaccine rollout. Thus, 54.40% of the total population or 64.89% of the adult population have received at least one dose.

A total of 2,207,786 people has received at least one dose of a vaccine while 1,981,397 are fully vaccinated, which is 58.74% of the adult population.

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ZAGREB, 5 Dec, 2021 - Croatia has registered 2,796 new coronavirus cases and 68 COVID-related deaths in the last 24 hours, the national coronavirus crisis management team reported on Sunday.

Currently, there are 29,478 active cases in the country. Among them are 2,381 people being treated for COVID-19 in hospitals, including 310 who are on ventilators. A total of 25,841 people are self-isolating.

Since 25 February 2020, when the first case was confirmed in Croatia, 631,037 people have been registered as having contracted the SARS-CoV-2 virus, of whom 11,218 have died and 590,341 have recovered, including 4,598 in the last 24 hours.

To date, 3,509,545 people have been tested for the new virus, including 8,277 in the last 24 hours.

As of 4 December, 4,245,741 vaccine doses have been administered, with 54.38 per cent of the total population, or 64.87 per cent of the adult population, having been vaccinated. A total of 2,206,995 persons have received at least one dose and 1,979,003 of them have been fully vaccinated, which is 58.40 per cent of the adult population.

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December 5, 2021 - The Croatian Institute of Public Health has published an interactive Croatian vaccination map concerning the total population of Croatia according to the place of residence.

Dark red shades are parts of Croatia with a lower percentage of vaccination (up to 19%). In comparison, parts with slightly higher vaccination are marked shades of orange and light orange (up to 29 and 39%), followed by yellow and light yellow (up to 49 and 59%), reports Jutarnji List.

Thus, the map shows that the coastal part of Croatia is less vaccinated than the continental areas. Among the counties, Varaždin is the most vaccinated (47.33% vaccinated with the second dose), and Split-Dalmatia is the least vaccinated (33% with the second dose). 

The map also shows the vaccination rate of municipalities.

Only the municipality of Sali in Zadar County is green on the map of those vaccinated with the second dose, which means that it has vaccinated over 60% of the population, in their case, 65.47% of people.

The weakest vaccination rates are in Vrhovine in Lika (17.92%), in Bjelovar-Bilogora County - in Zrinski Topolovac (18.47%), and Đulovac (19.03%) as well as in Split-Dalmatia County in Dicmo (19.15%), and Otok (18.67%).

As for the four largest cities, the best is Rijeka (47.85 %) and Osijek (47.65%). Zagreb is at 44.59% and Split at 35.5%.

You can see the map HERE.

On Saturday, December 4, 4,465 cases were reported positive, whereas another 54 COVID patients died, bringing the COVID-related death toll to 11,150. In addition, 11,717 coronavirus tests were conducted.

There are 31,348 active cases in Croatia 2,382 are receiving hospital treatment, including 317 patients on ventilators.

Since the first registered case of infection on February 25, 2020, 628,241 people have been infected, and 585,743 of them have recovered, including 4,712 on Saturday. 

Over 4.2 million vaccine doses against coronavirus have been administered in Croatia. So far, 54.29% of the total population have got at least a jab or nearly 65% of adults.

Furthermore, 58.13% of adults have been fully vaccinated.

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ZAGREB, 4 Dec, 2021 - In the last 24 hours, 11,717 coronavirus tests have been conducted in Croatia and of them, 38% (4,465) have returned positive, whereas another 54 COVID patients have died, bringing the COVID-related death toll to 11,150, the national COVID-19 crisis management team reported on Saturday.

Currently, there are 31,348 active cases, and of them 2,382 are receiving hospital treatment, including 317 patients on ventilators.

Since the first registered case of infection with the novel virus in Croatia on 25 February 2020, 628,241 persons have caught the virus and 585,743 of them have recovered from the infection, including 4,712 in the last 24 hours.

During the vaccine rollout, over 4.2 million doses against coronavirus have been administered. So far, 54.29 % of the total population have got at least a jab, or nearly 65% of adults.

Furthermore, 58.13% of adults have been fully vaccinated.

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ZAGREB, 2 Dec 2021 - The opposition on Thursday criticized the government's proposal to fine HRK 30,000 to 50,000 those not checking COVID certificates, asking that parliament decide on such measures by a two-thirds majority and some MPs saying they would ask the Constitutional Court for its opinion.

Arsen Bauk of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) said the SDP would not support the proposal because the party believed that the way in which the national COVID-19 crisis management team was making decisions during this crisis was not good.

"We are still of the opinion that when restricting human rights, decisions should be made by the Croatian parliament, and those of a technical nature by the government," he said, adding that the team could act as an advisory body to the government.

Nikola Grmoja of Bridge said the government did not mention COVID certificates in the law protecting the population from infectious diseases but only today, and that it envisaged fining officeholders also.

Sandra Benčić of the Green-Left Bloc asked that provisions on the certificates and the related fines be adopted only by a two-thirds majority in parliament based on Article 17 of the Constitution, given that there were no conditions to do so based on Article 16, that is proportionality.

"That was a big mistake, so we are preparing an initiative for the Constitutional Court to have its say because this state is no longer temporary. We have been in a state of emergency for a year and a half now and it doesn't seem that the pandemic will end soon," she said.

That's why it's necessary to have clear rules on how to reach a political and social consensus because this state, Benčić said, will definitely last and it also has serious social repercussions such as polarisation.

The Constitutional Court too must say that we are in a state of emergency because after a year and a half no one can say any longer that this is normal, she added.

Stephen Bartulica of the Homeland Movement said he had been skeptical about the efficacy of COVID certificates from the start because, he added, the experience of many countries showed that they were ineffective and counterproductive as well as not solving the problem.

He is sorry about the government's proposal because so far, he said, it had quite a liberal course in fighting the pandemic and Croatia benefitted from it. Now a new path was chosen, he added, "and I don't know why it's following countries with a bad model of fighting the pandemic."

Katarina Peović of Workers' Front said the state authorities were indecisive about vaccination and where COVID certificates should be required. In a library they are, in a bar, they are not, as a result of which we have 60 to 70 deaths a day, she added.

In post-socialist countries, where the public sector has been strongly devastated, there is a big distrust of institutions, and that's brought us into this situation, she said.

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ZAGREB, 2 Dec 2021 - Changes to the Act on the Protection of the Population from Infectious Diseases, sent on Thursday by the government to the parliament for consideration under a fast-track procedure, envisage fines for responsible persons not complying with the COVID-19 certificate mandate in bodies governed by public law. 

The fines range between HRK 30,000 and 50,000.

The changes specify the bodies governed by public law in charge of implementing measures from the said law as well as responsible persons in those bodies - leader of a body of state authority, leader of a body of state administration and other state body, county head, the mayor as well as the legal representative of the legal entity, in line with special regulations.

"The bill introduces a new safety measure, the obligation to present proof of testing, vaccination or recovery from an infectious disease before entering offices of bodies governed by public law, as well as the obligation of responsible persons in those bodies to enable its implementation," said Health Minister Vili Beroš.

To ensure the implementation of the new measure, the powers of health inspectors will be enhanced to enable them to supervise compliance with the COVID-19 certificate mandate, while failure to ensure its implementation carries a fine of between HRK 30,000 and 50,000.

Speaking to reporters ahead of a session of the government, Justice and Public Administration Minister Ivan Malenica said that he was not afraid that the fines would prompt protests, reiterating that the government was not considering making vaccination mandatory.

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ZAGREB, 2 Dec 2021 - Health Minister Vili Beroš said at a government session on Thursday that the number of new coronavirus infections was down 14.5% from the previous week and that the number of hospitalizations was also slightly smaller even though pressure on the health system was still significant.

The test positivity rate in the past 24 hours was 38.35%, a drop of 14.5% compared to last week and 26.5% compared to two weeks ago.

A total of 2,391 people are hospitalized, which is a slight decrease in the number of hospitalizations. In the past 24 hours, 30 people were put on ventilators and 24 of them are unvaccinated, said Beroš.

Despite the decline in the number of infections, hospitals are still under strain and the situation is most difficult in the northwest of Croatia, in the hospitals in Zabok, Varaždin, Čakovec and Koprivnica, where nurses and ventilators from other health institutions are being sent.

"The capacity for the admission of COVID-19 patients keeps increasing, and over the past month, the number of beds for those patients was increased from 2,253 to 3,580, which is currently insufficient. The number of hospitalizations in that period grew by 85%, from 1,330 to 2,545," he said.

As for the new coronavirus variant Omicron, the minister said that it was considered more dangerous because it had twice as many mutations as the Delta variant. However, experts note that vaccines continue to provide a high degree of protection from severe clinical symptoms and hospitalization, he said.

A total of 209,000 people have received the third vaccine dose so far.

As for vaccination with the first and second doses, one should strive to achieve the vaccination rate of Zagreb (75%), with the 70-74 age group having the highest vaccination rate, with 90% having received at least one shot.

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