August the 9th, 2021 - The Croatian Institute of Public Health has released an interactive Croatian vaccination coverage map which highlights precisely where the vaccination rollout is going well, and where it isn't. The map shows which counties and cities are progressing more than others.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes,  when looking at the situation with Croatian vaccination coverage by counties, most residents were vaccinated with two doses of the vaccine against the novel coronavirus in the City of Zagreb, where the current vaccination rate stands at 38.87 percent. Receiving two doses is counted as being fully vaccinated.

Dalmatia has a lower vaccination rate, with Split-Dalmatia County and Sibenik-Knin County having lower vaccination coverage.

These calculations were made on the basis of the latest available data from the eVac database (taken from the 2nd of August, 2021), which is set up according to the place of residence of a person from the OIB system (submitted by HZZO on the 21st of June, 2021), and the CBS estimate of the total population from back at the end of 2019.

The interactive map which showcases the level of Croatian vaccination coverage will be updated regularly with a note of the update date included on it.

Vaccination was visualised at three so-called NUTS levels (the whole of the Republic of Croatia, four regions and at then at the county level), as well as at the municipal level. The preview opens via the Firefox or Chrome browsers.

In the upper right corner there is a menu for selecting the level of Croatian vaccination coverage you want to view, in the left there is search bar for particular municipalities, and by hovering your mouse over a particular region/county/municipality, additional information can be obtained.

Click HERE to access and view the interactive map.

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ZAGREB, 8 Aug, 2021 - In the past 24 hours, 213 coronavirus cases and one COVID death have been registered in Croatia, the national COVID-19 crisis management team said on Sunday.

There are 1,231 active cases and 175 hospitalised patients, including 18 on ventilators, while 4,100 persons are self-isolating.

To date, 2,352,357 persons have been tested for the virus, including 6,991 in the past 24 hours.

Also, 41% of the population has been vaccinated, including 49.2% of adults, 44.99% of whom have completed vaccination.

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August the 8th, 2021 - The Austrian Heute publication has claimed that Austrian residents returning from spending their holidays in Croatia are importing coronavirus into the country. It certainly isn't good publicity for Croatia as it fights to keep its coast orange on the ECDC's coronavirus map and green on the UK's travel traffic light system.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, the Austrian Heute wrote that two weeks ago, the biggest concern regarding covid positive returnees to the country from holidays abroad were returnees from Spain, of which there were 322 at the time, and in second place were returnees from holidays in Croatia, 187 of them.

''The number of imported infections from the Republic of Croatia has been on the rise. And now, a mere two weeks after that, the number of newly infected returnees from Croatia to Austria has exploded and is 4.5 times higher than it was fourteen days ago,'' the Austrian Heute pointed out, as reported by Vecernji list.

The same source noted that in just one week, an increase of 501 new cases of coronavirus infection was recorded. This was then supported by figures and indicators that in the calendar week of 29/30 alone, 834 coronavirus positive Austrian returnees from holidays in Croatia were recorded, which is an increase of 501 cases in just one single week.

The Austrian Heute writes that Austrian epidemiologists, along with those from Croatia, are still worried about the situation with the wildly popular holiday destination of Spain, although the number of newly infected Austrians who returned home from that country had dropped by 37 cases.

In third place in terms of ''imported coronavirus infection'' among lab positive Austrians returning from being abroad are those coming home from Italy, of which there were 68 last week alone. The fourth is Greece, from which 110 lab positive people returned home to Austria, which is 31 infected people more than a week ago.

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August the 8th, 2021 - Croatian epidemiologist Bernard Kaic recently spoke about the situation surrounding covid passes, sometimes called ''covid passports'' in Croatia, as well as why cafes and bars are still having their work limited despite the good epidemiological picture and the continued vaccine rollout.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, when asked whether or not Croatia will remain ''orange'' on the ECDC coronavirus map until the end of the summer if we continue to behave like this, epidemiologist Bernard Kaic said:

"I don't know. Time will tell. We can see that the number of new cases is growing a bit, so if we continue to behave in the same way, the coast will probably not remain orange until the end of the summer. However, the measures should be adhered to a little more strictly.''

He also explained why the measures against one of the hardest hit sectors, the hospitality and catering industry, are still not being relaxed:

"If they're working outdoors and it's not crowded, it doesn't matter if it's 12:30 or past one in the morning, the only problem is if working after midnight would involve working indoors in a big, crowded, poorly ventilated area where everyone is very close to everyone else, in such situations, it's almost certain that someone there will be carrying the virus.''

He believes that covid certificates work well in Croatia.

“Both before the covid passes were introduced and before the vaccination rollout began, things could have been maintained with the use of masks, maintaining social distance, the disinfection of surfaces and hands, and the isolation of infected individuals. Even without these covid certificates, one could have lived with those epidemiological measures, but they don't provide total and absolute safety,'' explained epidemiologist Bernard Kaic for RTL, before adding:

''The biggest issue with these covid passes are those issued on the basis of someone having received a negative test in the last 48 or 72 hours because that can be a false negative. A person can be negative at the time of taking the test, and positive the next day if they became infected a few days ago. If there are many people obtaining these passes because they've just returned a negative test then there's an issue as these are people who haven’t been vaccinated and who haven't contracted the disease and then recovered from it. If there are a large number of such cases, someone among them will be infected, even if they had a negative test result two or three days ago.

If a large number of people have covid passes based on having returned a negative test, then that's a pretty good ground for the spread of the infection," epidemiologist Bernard Kaic pointed out.

As for the plan for autumn and the new school year, of course, there are no firm guidelines yet, nor can there be as the situation is fluid.

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August the 8th, 2021 - While vaccination isn't mandatory, many limits are being gradually placed on those who aren't vaccinated against the novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2. Could Croatian employees who aren't vaccinated ever face being ''let go'' by their employers? Croatian lawyer Antonio Volarevic weighed in on this question.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, due to the continued spread of the novel coronavirus and sometimes poor vaccination coverage, many countries are imposing restrictions on the unvaccinated. Some unvaccinated people are even being fired from their places of work. Namely, in Italy, you absolutely can't enter theatres, museums, gyms, or the insides of cafes and restaurants without being able to show a green pass proving you're vaccinated. According to the US CNN, three unvaccinated employees were fired.

Lawyer Antonio Volarevic revealed for Dnevnik whether there are legal grounds for such moves here in Croatia.

"In Croatia, there's really no legal basis for such repression. There is no law or regulation that would restrict the freedom of movement of citizens in that sense,'' he said.

For example, on CNN, three unvaccinated people were fired. Here in this country, according to lawyer Antonio Volarevic, that is simply not allowed, but in America "it obviously is".

America, he explains, has a strikingly different legal system - a system of precedent. In this country, something must actually be prescribed in advance in order to be sanctioned.

"I say that it's inadmissible because an employer, in order to want to terminate an employment contract for something, must therefore have some justification, a legally valid basis. The fact that the worker wasn't vaccinated cannot be the basis for their dismissal,'' he explained.

If the employer fired an unvaccinated person because they're unvaccinated, then they wouldn't be punished because that isn't prescribed by law. That said, the worker can go to court and then the court can decide whether the dismissal was justified or not. In that case, the employer must return the worker to work and pay them the salaries he would have received if they'd stayed at work, as well as compensation for damages,'' lawyer Antonio Volarevic said.

The employer has no right to request an employee's vaccination information, nor do they have any right to keep records of who has been vaccinated and hasn't been vaccinated,” he stated.

"All of this, creating an atmosphere of fear where people should be afraid they could lose their jobs, that they'll end up getting fired if they aren't vaccinated - it's completely illegal,'' lawyer Antonio Volarevic concluded.

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ZAGREB, 7 Aug, 2021 - In the past 24 hours, 233 coronavirus cases and one COVID-19 death have been registered in Croatia, the national crisis management team said on Saturday.

There are 1,201 active cases and 166 hospitalised patients, including 18 on ventilators, while 4,130 persons are self-isolating.

To date, 2,345,366 persons have been tested for the virus, including 7,832 in the past 24 hours.

Croatia has registered 364,832 coronavirus cases to date, including 8,271 deaths and 355,360 recovered patients, 170 of whom have recovered in the past 24 hours.

Croatia has vaccinated 40.9% of its total population, including 49.2% of adults, 44.89% of whom have completed vaccination.

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August 7, 2021 - Vaccinations at Croatian pharmacies could be a reality in three Croatian cities by the end of next week. 

"At three pharmacies, one each in Bjelovar, Požega, and Šibenik, the vaccination of citizens against Covid-19 could start by the end of next week, and other pharmacies will join them as soon as they are organized and have personnel ready for the job. In addition, a dozen more pharmacies have informed us that they have found doctors who are willing to vaccinate at pharmacies so that they could get involved in this work very soon," announced the president of the Croatian Chamber of Pharmacists, Ana Soldo, as reported by Jutarnji List. 

She adds that technical, more precisely IT problems regarding entering the system for those who will be vaccinated in pharmacies have just been solved. Namely, all pharmacies are connected to CEZIH, i.e., the health information system that enables data entry on the vaccinated person.

Soldo emphasizes that at least 40 to 50 pharmacies across Croatia have already announced they will be included in vaccinations. Therefore, the problem of other vaccination teams in which there must be a doctor should be solved after August 15.

"According to the current law, pharmacists are not allowed to vaccinate citizens, and therefore mobile teams must be formed to come to pharmacies. Of course, everything could have already started, but the current problems are doctors' vacations. But one of the possibilities is to include retired doctors who have already contacted us and could start vaccinations immediately.

We have resolved the doubts about their inclusion in the vaccination, i.e., they will do it through our connection with CEZIH, which means that all those vaccinated at pharmacies will be immediately on the vaccination platform," says Soldo. She adds that Covid certificates will be issued to those vaccinated. Those vaccinated with Johnson & Johnson will receive it immediately after the first dose, and others after the second dose of the vaccine.

After first announcing the news, there are more and more inquiries from citizens who would like to be vaccinated at their nearest pharmacy—namely the elderly who have a problem going to vaccine points in big cities.

Everyone who intends to be vaccinated at pharmacies will have to announce their arrival and will be able to choose the vaccine. Namely, it is known that, for example, there are six doses in one bottle of Pfizer, so six citizens who want this vaccine should be vaccinated in one day at a pharmacy.

Pharmacies will also be provided with an 'observation area' for ten minutes after vaccination due to possible allergic reactions, for which mobile teams will be equipped with anti-shock therapy as well as at health centers and public health institutes when organizing vaccinations.

Payment has also been resolved, which means that those who will participate in vaccinations at pharmacies will be paid.

"Like all other teams, these mobile teams that will be vaccinating at pharmacies will be paid in the same way and the same amount by the HZZO," says the director of the HZZO, Lucian Vukelic.

The president of HLJK says that it is illogical that pharmacists in Croatia cannot vaccinate because, during the pandemic in other countries, their employees vaccinated a large number of citizens.

"We will try to solve this problem by the end of the year with legal changes because pharmacies are interested, as evidenced by the fact that as many as 180 pharmacies in Croatia applied for flu vaccination last season. Given that pharmacies are very accessible to citizens, I believe it will solve the issue because we will thus achieve greater vaccination not only against Covid-19 but also against influenza, as evidenced by the example of the United Kingdom where pharmacists perform a large part of the vaccinations," says Soldo.

She adds that the recent news that pharmacies can issue Covid certificates has shown that they should have their place in greater access to health care.

Given that we cannot be satisfied with the vaccination rate against Covid-19, especially among those over 80, vaccination in pharmacies is an opportunity to improve these figures, i.e., to protect the most vulnerable part of the population against an epidemiologically demanding autumn. In addition to vaccination at pharmacies, this means that mobile teams should also be hired to vaccinate the elderly, immobile, and people with limited mobility in their homes.

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August the 6th, 2021 - After a long, hard 288 day slog of being used solely as a covid hospital, the Zagreb KB Dubrava emergency room is now open for all patients once again, with just four covid patients with severe clinical pictures currently being treated there at the time of writing.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, as of yesterday, after almost one entire year of caring for only covid patients with severe clinical pictures, the KB Dubrava emergency room has been reopened for all patients in the Eastern part of the City of Zagreb and the surrounding areas. The move marks a significant point in Croatia's own battle with the pandemic.

The currently much more favourable epidemiological situation across the Republic of Croatia and in Zagreb itself, and the reduction in the number of covid patients in hospital, enabled the KB Dubrava emergency room to finally open its doors and offer its medical services to all other patients in the Eastern part of the Croatian capital and beyond.

There are about 350 thousand such patients, and on average about 56 thousand examinations, 11 thousand emergency hospitalisations and more than three thousand emergency surgeries are performed in KB Dubrava.

"Everything is absolutely ready for the reception of patients with other issues. The enrollment of patients is at the counter where the administrative part is resolved, after that the patient goes to the triage itself where the category of urgency of the patient's admission is determined,'' said KB Dubrava's Sanja Kristo in conversation with RTL.

As stated, there are currently only four covid patients being treated for severe issues due to coronavirus infection at KB Dubrava (at the time of writing this article), and the hospital hopes that as autumn approaches, things won't take a turn for the worse again and turn the hospital back into a covid hospital housing hundreds of extremely unwell patients.

"KBC Zagreb, our largest institution, has formed its own covid department, they have their own intensive care unit, so I believe that a calmer autumn awaits us with more regular work," said the hospital's director Ivica Luksic. He added that he hopes there will be no need to go through what they went through again last year.

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August the 6th, 2021 - Croatian covid reservations, which means the far cheaper reservations made months and months ago are being cancelled as higher paying last minute tourists are being favoured by apartment owners.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, this information has come about mainly from irritated Croatian guests who had booked accommodation units last winter, paid for them, and then a day or two before arriving at their destination, they'd received notice of the cancellation of their reservation.

"There are excuses from the landlords that they've had a death in the family, so they don't want to rent their units for a certain period, then their guests got infected with covid, so they have to be allowed to stay in the same apartment/house for another fourteen days," annoyed would-have-been guests told Slobodna Dalmacijap. In reality, this is deception and cheaper Croatian covid reservations are being kicked to the curb as those with deeper pockets turn up on a whim.

It's clear to everyone how the following has happened: in fear of a bad season, landlords offered their units for very low ''covid'' prices, now they've realised that the season is doing far better than anyone could have ever predicted and they're opting for higher paying last minute tourists instead, giving those who had previously reserved the accommodation ridiculous exuses.

Not all landlords are like that, of course. Many have stuck to their guns and rented to those who had made Croatian covid reservations months ago, when the epidemiological picture was dire and the season looked bleak.

One lady decided to book an apartment not far from Split back in March. Four people, one week, with a hundred euro advance payment included, and then two days before departure - she was hit with a shock.

"The reason for the cancellation is allegedly that the German guests who are currently there have become infected and need to isolate there. When I angrily told them that I would send an inspection to their address, they begged me not to report them,'' she said.

In Podstrana close to Split, a similar story played out but with a different reason for cancellation. Before their arrival to their Croatian covid reservation which had been booked months in advance, the would-be renters called the unit's owner and found that their reservation had been cancelled due to an alleged ''death in the family''.

Josko Stella, director of the Split-Dalmatia County Tourist Board, said that he had heard of no similar complaints, and claimed the same from the Croatian Tourist Board, which said they had no knowledge of such unfair practices.

Despite the above claims, we at TCN have been told of several similar cases occuring in Dalmatia, and claiming this isn't happening is adding insult to injury to all of those on the receiving end of this awful behaviour.

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August 5, 2021 - The orange Adriatic Coast on the latest ECDC COVID-19 map is a good indicator for the remainder of the tourist season 

The latest ECDC report on the 14-day Covid-19 incidence rate in EU countries reveals that most of Croatia still remains green and the Adriatic region orange. This means that there are no obstacles to the successful continuation of the tourist season related to the epidemiological picture during the coronavirus pandemic, reports Index.hr.

The ECDC map is advisory, but some Member States rely on it when introducing epidemiological restrictions upon returning to the country.

Of Croatia's tourism competitors, Spain and Italy have a worse picture than last week. Now two more Italian regions in the central part are red and the rest are orange, with the exception of part of northern and southern Italy.

All of Spain is marked in dark red, except for a small part of the coast in the northern part of the country. As for Greece, another region in the central part of the country received has been marked red, while everything else remains the same as last week.

In the past 24 hours, 247 new cases were recorded. The number of active cases in Croatia today is a total of 1,221. Among them, 154 patients are in hospital, of which 14 are on a respirator. Three people died.

Cases by county

City of Zagreb (59), Split-Dalmatia (52), Zadar (40), Dubrovnik-Neretva (20), Zagreb (18), Osijek-Baranja (12), Šibenik-Knin (9), Primorje-Gorski Kotar (7) , Varaždin (7), Istria (6), Koprivnica-Križevci (4), Sisak-Moslavina (4), Karlovac (2), Bjelovar-Bilogora (2), Krapina-Zagorje County (1), Brod-Posavina (1), Požega-Slavonia (1), Vukovar-Srijem (1), Virovitica-Podravina (1), Lika-Senj (0) and Međimurje (0).

Epidemiological indicators as of August 1, 2021
Cumulative 7-day rate for the Republic of Croatia: 27.8 / 100,000

Cumulative 14-day rate for the Republic of Croatia: 52.9 / 100,000

Counties with a cumulative 7-day rate of more than 50 / 100,000 inhabitants: Dubrovnik-Neretva, Split-Dalmatia, Zadar

Counties with a cumulative 14-day rate of more than 100 / 100,000 inhabitants: Dubrovnik-Neretva, Split-Dalmatia, Zadar

Total number of tests in the last week: 41,049, -13.6% compared to last week

Share of positive tests in the total number of tests in the last week: 2.8%

Total number of tests and share of positive tests in the total number of tests: 2,305,717; 15.8%

Number of new cases in intensive care per 100,000 inhabitants in the last week: 0.3 / 100,000

Number of deaths in the last week: 18

Total death rate per 1,000,000 inhabitants: 2,021.4 / 1,000.00

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