May the 30th, 2021 - The much talked about digital Croatian coronavirus documents are set to be made available as planned, as of the 1st of June, 2021, Interior Minister Davor Bozinovic stated.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, here in Croatia, vaccination against the novel coronavirus is still being carried out with increased intensity, so far almost 1.7 million doses have been administered and more than 1.2 million people or 36.9 percent of the adult population living in Croatia have been vaccinated, Health Minister Vili Beros reported on Thursday.

"This is very encouraging data that gives us reasons for optimism in meeting our goal, which is to vaccinate more than 50 percent of adult residents in Croatia by the end of June," Beros said at a recent government session.

The number of new infections is also continuing to decline, when compared to the week before, Croatia recorded a drop in newly infected people of 42 percent. Bed occupancy for coronavirus patients in hospitals fell by more than 11 percent in just one single week. The epidemiological situation is getting better week by week due to the vaccination rollout going according to plan,'' the minister added.

He announced that due to the favourable epidemiological situation, the further reduction of capacity is expected in KB Dubrava, and part of the medical staff redeployed to that hospital will now return to their own respective healthcare institutions.

Interior Minister and head of the National Civil Protection Directorate Davor Bozinovic reported that new measures against the spread of the novel coronavirus have been adopted at the national level, which came into force today and are being implemented until June the 15th, 2021.

Since the last government session, the Civil Protection Directorate has made five decisions, four at the national level and one at the suggestion of the Istria County Directorate, which included the suspension of workshops, children's playrooms and indoor entertainment and recreation.

Minister Davor Bozinovic also said that the Croatian national system for issuing the EU Digital Covid Certificate, also referred to as Croatian coronavirus documents, was all ready for June the 1st, and that integration with the EU on this topic had been successfully carried out.

Currently, the ''Covid certificates'' issued by Italy, Poland, Austria, Belgium, Iceland, Sweden, Denmark, Estonia, Greece, Spain, Lithuania, Romania and Cyprus have been validated.

Everything on that topic has been included in the national border information system, and here in Croatia, Croatian coronavirus documents can be obtained through the eCitizen (eGradjani) portal and via numerous HZZO branches.

Otherwise, inspectors performed more than 20,000 inspections and as many as 201 measures of self-isolation violations were determined.

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 centres across the country, make sure to bookmark our dedicated COVID-19 section and select your preferred language.

ZAGREB, 29 May 2021 - In the last 24 hours, 5,971 tests have been conducted for coronavirus, and 5.6%, that is 338 have turned out to be positive, Croatia's COVID-19 crisis management team reported on Saturday.

The COVID-related death toll has risen by 10 to 8,002.

There are currently 2,557 active cases, including 819 hospitalised patients of whom 88 are on ventilators.

Since 25 February 2020 when Croatia registered its first case of infection with coronavirus, more than two million tests have been conducted, showing that 355,955 people have caught the virus. Of them 345,396 have recovered, including 497 recoveries in the last 24 hours.

Currently, 11,510 people are self-isolating.

Over 1.72 million COVID vaccines administered so far

By Friday, 1,722,430 doses of vaccines against this infectious disease have been administered in Croatia. So far, 1.254,659 people have received at least one shot of the vaccine, and of them 467,771 have fully been vaccinated.

On Friday alone, 35,845 vaccine jabs were given.

May the 28th, 2021 - Croatia is set to follow in the footsteps of multiple European countries such as the United Kingdom who have made the possibility of testing for the novel coronavirus at home an option for a long time now. While the move will relieve the pressure on testing centres and just be more convenient in general, where will Croatian home coronavirus test results be actually accepted?

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, a member of the Management Board of Medika, Jakov Radosevic, was a recent guest on New Day/Novi Dan and commented on the introduction of rapid tests for home use that will appear on the Croatian market very soon.

"These home tests are very reliable, their reliability is over 98 percent," assured Radosevic.

He added that Medika had already started with the distribution of home coronavirus test kits to pharmacies and specialised stores, which will be the only ones able to sell these tests.

"All Croatian pharmacies and specialised stores will have this test in their offer," said Radosevic, and explained what kind of test it is.

"This is the first test approved by the European Union, it is a fast antigen test for at home self-testing. The instructions are tailored to users, which are non-medical people.

Asked whether the Croatian home coronavirus test results could be used before coming to a wedding or other organised event, as part of the conditions for a negative test result for coronavirus, Radosevic said he assumed they would be accepted.

“The information we received is that 120 people are to be allowed to attend an event and that they would have to have proof that they have recovered from coronavirus in the last six months, that they've been fully vaccinated at least two weeks before the event or that they had a negative test result, PCR or antigen. Accordingly, my assumption is that the Croatian Institute of Public Health has recommended that this test be accepted as well,'' said Radosevic.

The price of the Croatian home coronavirus test kits will be between 75 and 80 kuna.

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 centres across the country, make sure to bookmark our dedicated COVID-19 section and select your preferred language.

May the 27th, 2021 - The Croatian Civil Protection Directorate has provided further detail about what is set to change as Croatian anti-epidemic measures are set to alter once again as of this Friday.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, the epidemiological picture across the country is improving and as such, Croatian anti-epidemic measures are loosening. Among other things, that loosening up refers to increasing the number of people permitted weddings to 100 (or more, more details can be found here), opening up the closed parts of restaurants again and longer working hours for hospitality and catering facilities until 23:00. Outdoor fairs will also be allowed to operate. The relaxation of the current Croatian anti-epidemic measures will be valid from Friday.

The changes set to come into force on Friday the 28th of May as far as coronavirus measures are concerned are as follows:

Gatherings - more than 100 people will be allowed to gather in one place and the ban on private gatherings and ceremonies will be lifted.

Public events and gatherings of all kinds will be allowed to go on until 23:00.

There will be no more restrictions on the number of people allowed to be present at funerals.

The working hours of bakeries, catering and hospitality facilities and family farms (OPGs) will be extended to 23:00, instead of the current 22:00.

Alcoholic beverages may be sold from 06:00 to 23:00.

The suspension of the operation of dance schools will be lifted, and it will be possible to hold playrooms and workshops operating indoors. The training ban is set to remain in place for school halls.

In addition, catering and hospitality facilities will be permitted to serve guests indoors, not just outside on the terraces as before. This primarily involves restaurants, as well as those facilities in the category of bars, pubs, cafes and coffee bars if they serve some sort of food or desserts to guests.

Cafes and facilities that only serve drinks can still only operate outdoors on terraces. The reason for this difference is because the catering and hospitality facilities that have the minimum technical conditions for serving hot and cold dishes must meet stricter sanitary requirements and undergo special systematic controls, which is important from an epidemiological point of view.

The suspension of wedding ceremonies would still be in effect, but could take place with a maximum of 120 guests present, and they would have to report to the competent civil service and county directorate no later than five days before the start of the event, Bozinovic said, adding that people must either be fully vaccinated, have a negative test result or proof that they have already recovered from COVID-19 in the last six months. A list of all guests along with their first and last names and OIBs must be submitted to the county civil protection directorate.

As far as passenger transport is concerned as Croatian anti-epidemic measures change again, the 40 percent passenger seat limit will be lifted but the obligation to wear masks while on board is set to remain.

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 test centres up and down the country, make sure to bookmark our dedicated COVID-19 section and select your preferred language.

May the 27th, 2021 - Zagreb's Andrija Stampar Institute has been a very popular destination of late, more so since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic at the start of 2020. While popular, it wasn't for the right reasons and lines and lines of cars full of people waiting to get PCR tests there were a common sight during the pandemic. Just how much did the Institute earn as a result?

PCR tests aren't cheap and that has been an understandable bone of contention for the public not only in Croatia but abroad. The fact that a swab up the nose could possibly cost up to 700 kuna and even more was unthinkable for many, especially in a dire economic situation which seemingly had no end in sight. The Andrija Stampar Institute in Zagreb was performing PCR tests repeatedly throughout pandemic-dominated 2020, and is still doing so. A report revealed just how much money those many, many PCR tests translated into.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, if one was to look at the "Statement of income and expenditure, receipts and expenditures" for the period from the 1st of January to the 31st of December 2020, one would notice very high growth indeed in operating income of Andrija Stampar Institute, otherwise the instutition that performed the most PCR tests in all of Croatia, writes Jutarnji list.

Back in 2019, more precisely back when things were normal, the Institute had reported revenues of 96.17 million kuna, while last year they earned a massive 204.6 million kuna, or 2.1 times more. In 2020, the Institute's accountants recorded a total "Surplus operating income" of 49.5 million kuna, which is about 17 times more than was recorded back in 2019. How is it possible that in the midst of an unprecedented crisis and a global pandemic, a public health institution is 17 times more profitable than it was during a normal business year?

Multiple articles came to light last year which warned that the price of PCR tests in the Republic of Croatia is very high when compared to other EU member states. Here in Croatia, the price of PCR tests ranged from 500 to 1500 kuna, while in Germany the prices stood at 460 kuna. Last year, the Andrija Stampar Institute kept their price of a PCR test at around 700 kuna, and they justified that price with the fact that there are high input costs, ie that they purchase extremely high quality PCR tests.

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 centres across the country, make sure to bookmark our dedicated COVID-19 section and choose your preferred language.

ZAGREB, 26 May, 2021 - In the past 24 hours, Croatia has registered 538 new coronavirus cases and 21 related deaths, the national COVID-19 response team reported on Wednesday.

That number is a little higher than yesterday, when there were 323 new cases and 21 deaths.

There are currently 3,112 active cases in the country and 1,034 hospitalised patients, 102 of whom are on ventilators.

Since 25 February 2020, when the first case of the novel coronavirus was detected in the country, there have been 354,921 registered cases of the contagion and 7,971 fatalities.

A total of 343,838 people have recovered, 424 of them in the past 24 hours.

There are currently 12,360 people in self-isolation.

A total of 1,988,226 people have been tested for COVID-19, including 6,830 in the past 24 hours.

As at 25 May, 1,608,291 doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered, with 1,197,164 people having received at least one dose and 411,127 having received both shots.

For more about COVID-19 in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

ZAGREB, 25 May, 2021 - In the past 24 hours 323 coronavirus cases and 21 deaths have been registered in Croatia, the national COVID-19 response team said on Tuesday.

There are 3,019 active cases, including 1,109 hospitalised patients, 109 of whom are on ventilators, while 12,207 persons are self-isolating.

So far Croatia has registered 354,383 coronavirus cases, including 7,950 deaths, while 343,414 persons have recovered, 546 of whom in the past 24 hours.

To date 1,981,396 persons have been tested for the virus, including 7,695 in the past 24 hours, and 1,605,287 vaccine doses have been administered, with 1,195,088 persons receiving the first shot and 410,199 both doses.

For more about COVID-19 in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

May 24, 2021 - The head of Croatia's COVID-19 crisis management team, Interior Minister Davor Božinović, said on Monday that relaxations of restrictions could be eased even before 1 June, including the opening of restaurants' indoor sections.

Also, the capped number of people at a location will be raised from 25 to 100.

Furthermore, the area required for one person will be four square meters instead of the current seven square meters, Božinović said after the crisis management team held a meeting with Prime Minister Andrej Plenković.

Open-air fairs can again be organized, and the working hours of hospitality establishments will be extended to 2300 hours.

The team will continue evaluating the developments, and a new set of relaxations can be expected after mid-June.

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.

May 24, 2021 - In the past 24 hours, 74 coronavirus cases and 26 COVID-19 deaths have been registered in Croatia, the national COVID-19 response team said on Monday.

The number of active cases stands at 3,263, including 1,211 hospitalized COVID-19 patients, of whom 116 are on ventilators.

Currently, 13,795 persons are self-isolating.

To date, 1,973,701 persons have been tested for the virus, including 2,704 in the past 24 hours.

Croatia has registered 354,060 coronavirus cases to date, including 7,929 fatalities, while 342,868 persons have recovered from it, including 666 in the past 24 hours.

Through 23 May, 1,582,821 vaccine doses have been administered, with 1,181,255 persons receiving both shots and 401,566 one.

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 up and down the country, make sure to bookmark our dedicated COVID-19 section and choose your preferred language.

May 23, 2020 - Early this morning, Mario Celinić became the sixth Croat to climb Mount Everest.

As Jutarnji List reports, they set off for the final ascent on Saturday around 6 pm local time, arriving at the top early this morning. That means he has a whole day ahead of him to go down, which are good circumstances.

Stipe Božić climbed Everest in 1979 and 1989. In 2009, four women's mountaineering expeditions climbed - sisters Darija and Iris Bostjačić, Ena Vrbek, and Milena Šijan.

This year proved to be complicated for the ascent of Everest due to the pandemic that reached the base camp as well. At one point, Celinić tested positive for coronavirus at base camp. A few days after completing the first part of the acclimatization and the first rotation, he returned to Kathmandu by helicopter.

Mario Celinić | Mario Celinić Facebook

He spent seven days at the hotel, passing tests every day as his Covid-19 was asymptomatic. He was feeling well physically and impatiently waiting to return to base camp, knowing he was missing the part of the acclimatization he would have to do, and the time to climb Everest was limited in May.

Then, saying what a physical and mental profile a man must be to decide to climb Everest, he wrote: 

"You have to be physically strong enough to handle your weight and a ten-pound backpack. You have to have mountaineering experience. You have to know how to climb ice and rocks and be used to scenes of heights, abysses. You have to be prepared for cold, headaches, insomnia. ...

What I feared most, what I was weak with, and what I had yet to overcome was patience and unpredictable situations. I like to have things under control and know at least a general situation. I was ready, and I accept the situation that I will have to sit in a tent if I need ten days due to bad weather or that it will be crowded on the climb, so I will stand for two hours waiting in line ... I was by no means prepared for coronavirus."

When they told him that his coronavirus test was positive, he was mentally shaken. "That's why I didn't call almost anyone. The day after I gave an interview to Jutarnji List about how Covid-19 came to the Everest base camp, I got a positive test. Before I had to go on the first rotation up to 7000 meters and do the final training and acclimatization, we took a Covid test. I was then transported by helicopter to Kathmandu for self-isolation. I spent eight days there lying in bed in a hotel room completely healthy or at least without the symptoms caused by the corona. There were nights when I cried because I wasn't where I was supposed to be. Then I consoled myself that I wasn’t sick, at least because there were people on the team with pretty bad symptoms. Severe cough, fever ... some ended up in the hospital. I got tested every day, but the test was always positive. That destroyed me. At times I forgot why I was here at all. Some people from the team who had symptoms after five days got a negative test and returned to the mountain. I lay in bed healthy and get a positive test every day. That broke me. I didn't count on that. I asked for a second opinion. I started yelling at everyone and everything. I wanted to leave the team, leave the agency and climb the mountain on my own. I thought, 'who can forbid me?."

However, after seven days of psychological agony, Celinić received a negative test.

"Both me and the man from the agency that took care of the climbers cried. He drove me to the hospital every day, and he cried when I got a negative test because he couldn't look at me so broken anymore. Before he gave me the test, he clenched his fists and lifted them into the air as if he had won something and told me, "Mario, you beat Covid. You're finally negative." And then we cried. All there was to do now was arrange a ride back."

The organizers recommended that he not return immediately to the base camp, at an altitude of about 5,300 meters, because the body had lost acclimatization. They suggested that he be taken away and lowered to a slightly lower Lobuche so that he could walk to the base camp on foot for two days. 

"Of course, I flew directly to the base camp and in two days was in the first altitude camp above the ice waterfall at 6000m. If my guide and friend Big Tendi hadn't answered me, I would probably be coming down from the top now. Or maybe not ..." said Celinić. 

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