ZAGREB, 16 Sept 2021 - In the last 24 hours, Croatia has conducted 10,743 coronavirus tests, and 12.8%, that is 1,369, have returned positive, and nine patients have died, raising the COVID-related death toll to 8,472, the national COVID-19 crisis management team reported on Thursday.

There are currently 7,643 active cases, including 628 hospitalized patients, and of them, 72 are placed on ventilators. Also, 17,051 are self-isolating.

Since the first registered case of the infection with this novel virus in Croatia on 25 February 2020,  nearly 2.7 million tests have been conducted, showing that 388,260 people have caught the virus, and of the 372,145 have recovered, including 754 recoveries in the last 24 hours.

Since the start of the vaccine rollout in the country, 43.64% of the total population, or 52.38% of the adult population have got vaccinated.

The statistics show that 49.17% of the adult population has been fully vaccinated.

For all you need to know about coronavirus specific to Croatia, including travel, border, and quarantine rules, as well as the locations of vaccination points and testing centers across the country, make sure to bookmark our dedicated COVID-19 section and select your preferred language.

ZAGREB, 15 Sept, 2021 - Croatia reported a surge in the daily number of coronavirus cases on Wednesday as 1,835 new cases had been registered in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of active cases to 7,037.

Among those infected are 603 people who are hospitalised and 64 of them are on ventilators. Seven people have died in the past 24 hours.

Health Minister Vili Beroš told Parliament that Croatia was at the beginning of the fourth wave of the coronavirus pandemic.

"Today's 1,835 new infections are indeed a warning. Seven of the infected persons have died and only one of them was vaccinated. The healthcare system will be ready, but the question is whether society will be ready because not enough people have been vaccinated," Beroš said.

A similar number of cases were registered on 30 November 2020, when as many as 73 people died, and on 26 March 2021, when 16 people died.

Since 25 February 2020, when the first case was reported in Croatia, 386, 891 people have been registered as having contracted the novel virus, of whom 8,463 have died and 371,391 have recovered, including 609 in the past 24 hours. A total of 14,799 people are currently in self-isolation.

To date, 2,684,626 people have been tested for COVID-19, including 11,550 in the past 24 hours. A total of 3,341,864 doses of vaccines have been administered, with 43.53 percent of the total population or 52.26 percent of the adult population having been vaccinated. 1,766,447 people have received at least one dose and 1,655,970 of them have been fully vaccinated.

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ZAGREB, 15 Sept, 2021 - The Tourism and Sports Ministry has approved HRK 15.55 million in aid to help 307 travel agencies across Croatia hit by the coronavirus crisis to normalise their current operations.

The grants range from HRK 6,460 to HRK 566,600 and the ministry has noted that the recipients will have to spend the funds for the purpose intended and submit a final report on the funds spent by 31 January 2022.

(€1 = HRK 7.474887)

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September the 15th, 2021 - After it was confirmed that from the beginning of October, all employees in the healthcare system can only come to work if they have Croatian covid certificates, and soon the same could happen in the social services system, the question arose what to do with those whose certificates are expiring.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, at this moment in time, Croatian covid certificates are valid for nine months from the holder receiving their second dose of the vaccine. For those who were vaccinated early and received their second dose in January, their deadline expires in mid-October. This primarily applies to healthcare and social workers, as they were a priority group and were among the first to be vaccinated.

"Doctors, nurses and non-medical staff who trusted science at the end of last year and the beginning of this year and were vaccinated and thus preserved their own and other people's health, will not be left without their Croatian covid certificates,'' confirmed the Minister of Health, Vili Beros.

At this point, Croatian covid certificates are valid if no more than 270 days have passed since the holder received their second dose, a period which, for the first among the population to be vaccinated, including healthcare workers, nursing home staff and residents, will begin to expire soon.

The extension of the validity of Croatian covid certificates will certainly be related to receiving the third dose, and Beros notes that at this moment all eyes are on the European Medicines Agency (EMA) which should decide on the third ''booster'' dose of Pfizer in ten days at the latest. "I believe that the opinion of the EMA will be positive. The Croatian Institute of Public Health is preparing instructions so that we can say that we're ready,'' explained Beros, reports Jutarnji list.

But regardless of the EMA and the decision on the third dose, an extension of the duration of Croatian covid certificates is also being considered in the context of vaccination. For now, only Pfizer has asked the EMA for approval for the third dose, so the question remains what to do with those who have been vaccinated with Moderna, AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson.

"As always, we're closely monitoring the situation and adjusting things as needed. Other companies will certainly ask for approvals for the third dose. We're also waiting for answers as to whether it will be recommended that people who received the vector vaccine, for the third dose, receive the mRNA vaccine and vice versa,'' said Beros.

In addition to the booster dose, it seems that Croatian covid certificates will have their validy periods extended.

"Some countries have already extended the validity of their certificates to 12 months, and it's very likely that we'll go in that direction and extend the certificate for a year in accordance with the results of the latest scientific and professional tests," said Beros.

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ZAGREB, 14 Sept, 2021 - Over the past 24 hours, Croatia has registered 974 new COVID-19 cases and there have been nine related deaths, while the number of active cases stands at 5,818, the national COVID-19 crisis management team said on Tuesday.

There are 600 hospitalised patients, 59 of whom are on ventilators, while 679 people have recovered.

In the last 24 hours, 10,228 people have been tested, and there are currently 13,394 people in self-isolation.

To date, 43.44% of the total population, or 52.15% of the adult population have got vaccinated.

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ZAGREB, 13 Sept 2021 - In the last 24 hours, Croatia has conducted 3,871 coronavirus tests, and 167 have returned positive (4.3%), the national COVID-19 crisis management team reported on Monday.

There are currently 5,532 active cases, and 592 are hospitalized patients including 59 placed on ventilators.

In the last 24 hours, seven patients infected with coronavirus have died, raising the COVID-related death toll to 8,447.

Since the first registered case of the infection with this novel virus in Croatia, 384,082 people have caught the virus, and of them, 370,103 have recovered, including 751 recoveries in the last 24 hours.

To date, 43.37% of the total population, or 52.07% of the adult population have got vaccinated.

For all you need to know about coronavirus specific to Croatia, including travel, border, and quarantine rules, as well as the locations of vaccination points and testing centers across the country, make sure to bookmark our dedicated COVID-19 section and select your preferred language.

September the 13th, 2021 - Health Minister Vili Beros has recently revealed that hospital staff, including doctors, nurses and non medical employees will only be able to physically enter their places of work as of the 1st of October with covid passes, which are given to those who return negative test results, are fully vaccinated, or have proof of having contracted and overcome the disease.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, doctors, nurses, but also non-medical staff working in healthcare institutions across Croatia will only be able to come to work from October the 1st onwards with their digital covid passes. They will get the green light based on one of three conditions, which are vaccination, overcoming the disease, or a negative covid test.

Minister of Health Vili Beros told Jutarnji list that they have been discussing the introduction of covid passes into such scenarios for weeks now, and an official decision will be made on the matter next week.

The introduction itself should take place in early October. Such an organisation, however, takes time.

''We have to hold meetings with hospital management, and ultimately, employees will have some time to decide on the best option, vaccination,'' explained Vili Beros, adding that the procurement of tests for employees is currently underway.

In the first phase, testing for employees will be free, and it is planned that after a month and a half or two, testing will be conducted at the employees' own expense. Although the majority believes that the testing should have been charged to the employees immediately, because medical staff are naturally expected to be vaccinated, Vili Beros decided it was best to make sure there was some reasonable period of time for adjustment.

After the announcement of the introduction of covid passes in the Croatian healthcare system, according to unofficial information, the next in line is social care, and the Minister of Labour Josip Aladrovic has already begun preparing for that. However, whether or not the employees in care homes will also only be able go to work from the beginning of October or a little later on with covid passes, depends on the organisation of that which is yet to come.

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ZAGREB, 12 Sept, 2021 - Croatia has registered 807 new coronavirus cases and 13 COVID-19-related deaths in the last 24 hours, the national COVID-19 response team said on Sunday.

Currently, 572 infected people are receiving hospital treatment and 62 of them are on ventilators. The number of active cases stands at 6,123, and 12,468 persons are self-isolating.

Since 25 February 2020, when the first case was recorded in the country, 383,915 people have been registered as having been infected with the novel virus, of whom 8,440 have died and 369,352 have recovered, including 814 in the last 24 hours.

To date, 2,658,977 people have been tested for the virus, including 9,857 in the last 24 hours.

A total of 3,330,644 doses of vaccines have been administered so far, with 43.36% of the total population, or 52.06% of adults, having received at least one dose, while 1,649,627 adults or 48.87% have been fully inoculated.

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September the 12th, 2021 - Interior Minister Davor Bozinovic, who is also a leading member of the National Civil Protection Directorate, charged with setting out measures against the spread of the novel coronavirus, sat down to discuss all things ''pandemic'' in Croatia.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, Bozinovic recently appeared on ''Interview of the week'', during which he spoke about the situation with the spread of SARS-CoV-2 in Croatia, the excellent tourist season and more.

In the introductory part of the show, the Interior Minister spoke about the increased number of infected people, emphasising that we're now coming to the end of the height of a fantastic 2021 tourist season, which is at the level of record 2019, when we're talking about July and August. Compared to last year, he added, this year there were a lot more people present and activities going on, so infection growth was expected, including the fact that the Delta strain, which is much more contagious, is spreading rapidly and with apparent ease all around the world.

"We aren't at all surprised by the increase in the number of infected people, but we're entering autumn (…) and that's why we are talking all the time about recommendations that always come down to the same - maintaining social distancing, wearing a mask indoors, ventilating indoors and vaccinating people," he told HRT.

When all this is summed up, and when you see experiences from around the world, vaccination against the virus is, he believes, the only way out of the pandemic and the route we must continue to insist on - the more people get vaccinated, the smaller the reservoir is in which the virus will spread.

''Despite everything that has been going on, life mustn't stop, I think that we in the Government and in the Civil Protection Directorate have shown a very high degree of understanding for what people can accept at a given moment. Our measures have never been so strict, nor have they been accompanied by any repressive action by the police, but we can't just let the virus spread without any measures to make the environment more hostile for it in place. The minimum must remain,'' he added.

There will be no new lockdowns, nor will there be any sort of curfew, he said, adding that we have learned that we can calibrate anti-epidemic measures, but the only real protection is vaccination.

President Zoran Milanovic said that "this is all getting very much on people's nerves", and Bozinovic says that this is not a normal situation which we're used to, but the Government has a responsibility on its hands to protect people from the agent as much as possible.

"We have to take certain measures, we have to point out the dangers that are very real - more than 8,300 people in Croatia have died as a result of this virus. The danger is there, we have enough vaccines and everyone in Croatia can protect themselves in the most effective way possible,'' he added.

Some of the arguments against vaccination in this case are that vaccinated people can both spread the infection and become infected themselves. Bozinovic cited the example of the Split hospital, where 93 percent of all those hospitalised were not vaccinated.

"Of course, some vaccinated people get sick, some of them do sadly die, but most of those in that situation who are vaccinated are older, they're people who have various comorbidities, and despite vaccination, they fail to develop a sufficient level of immunity to protect them from SARS-CoV-2,'' Bozinovic told HRT.

Since then, Andrej Plenkovic has come out to state that ''nobody can be forced to be vaccinated'' given the fact that many portals have wrongly interpreted Bozinovic's comments on vaccination. 

"That isn't correct. He was asked about covid certificates, for some reason people thought he was talking about mandatory vaccination, he wasn't. Whoever has published that, please remove it,'' asked Plenkovic.

"We can't introduce the obligation to vaccinate for anyone because we said at the beginning that we wouldn't do that and we're sticking to it. We believe in the intelligence of Croatia's residents. I don't believe that there is anyone in Croatia who doesn't know that covid has existed for more than eighteen months now,'' he added.

He added that the government had done everything in their power to get people to have their vaccinations and that they weren't about to force anyone's hand.

"We can't force anyone to get vaccinated, but at the same time life... has to go on," he said, adding that minimal epidemiological measures are set to remain in place.

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September the 12th, 2021 - Health Minister Vili Beros has stated that two new anti-epidemic measures are being prepared regarding the use of covid certificates.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, the National Civil Protection Directorate recently held what has become a regular press conference, during which Minister Vili Beros discussed the current situation with the spread of the novel coronavirus, as well as measures that are in preparation.

''The key to success in this fight lies the hands of those who are still unvaccinated, whether or not all of our efforts simply come to nothing lies with them. Over 81 percent of those newly infected are unvaccinated people. In KBC Split, over 93 percent of those currently hospitalised are unvaccinated. So... don’t those numbers say it all? Over 90 percent, in some places over 94 percent of people on respirators aren't vaccinated. Maths doesn't lie, you don't have to trust me, trust mathematics,'' said the Minister of Health Vili Beros.

"Let's not gamble with this, let's save people's lives, I have to tell you that as your minister. As we have been talking about for some time now, aware of the epidemiological situation, we're preparing two new anti-epidemic measures that would introduce the use of the covid digital certificate, proof of having overcome the illness or some other proof of vaccination in the healthcare system. Several decisions are being prepared in the Ministry of Health on that topic,'' announced Beros.

He was asked if covid certificates would be applied in shopping centres.

"Every day we're talking about this issue. In the general context, we're thinking about other departments as well. I think that the department of social welfare is also the department where this should be introduced. But, if we think more broadly, depending on the unfolding of the ongoing pandemic... the profession will make a decision on shopping centres,'' he said.

"We are aware of the limitations of these covid certificates, but that being said, we think that it continues to be the best way at this moment in time,'' Minister Vili Beros said.

For all you need to know about coronavirus specific to Croatia, make sure to check out our dedicated COVID-19 section and choose your preferred language.