ZAGREB, 3 May 2021 - Over the past 24 hours, Croatia has registered 349 new cases of the coronavirus infection and 36 deaths, the national COVID-19 crisis management team said on Monday.

The number of active cases in Croatia today stands at 11,378. There are 2,247 COVID patients in hospitals, 244 of whom are on ventilators.

Since the first confirmed case of the infection in Croatia on 25 February 2020, a total of 335,522 people have been registered as having contracted coronavirus, 7,218 of them have died, while 316,926 have recovered, including 2,087 in the last 24 hours.

There are currently 30,225 people in self-isolation.

To date, 1,827,068 people have been tested, including 4,193 over the past 24 hours.

 As of 2 May, 908,839 doses of the vaccine have been administered in Croatia, and 708,137 people have been vaccinated, with 504,856 people receiving the first dose and 200,702 receiving both doses. For 2,579 people there is no data on how many doses they have received.

For all you need to know about coronavirus specific to Croatia, including travel, border, and quarantine rules to the locations of vaccination points and testing centres throughout the country, make sure to bookmark our dedicated COVID-19 section.

May the 3rd, 2021 - The Croatian vaccination platform, Cijepi se, has been in the news for all the wrong reasons of late. A total breakdown of the online vaccine registration platform has highlighted the difficulty Croatia continues to face in getting a good job done well at the government level, but despite that, Health Minister Beros has still had positive things to say...

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, Croatian Health Minister Vili Beros is obviously trying to repair the damage caused by numerous difficulties that arose from and regarding the Cijepi se vaccination registration platform, so he decided, oddly, to boast that Croatia is the best in the European Union in terms of the daily number of vaccinated people.

"We're moving in the right direction. Croatia has the largest number of daily vaccinations in the EU, and according to e-VACCINES, every fifth Croatian citizen is vaccinated against COVID-19,'' Health Minister Beros wrote on the social media platform Twitter.

Health Minister Beros was referring to the data from the global database Our world in data for April the 29th on his Twitter post, and the Croatian Institute for Public Health announced today that a record number of vaccinations had been achieved on that particular day across Croatia, with 46,887 doses administered in one single day, which is indeed impressive. However, unfortunately, the next day the number of doses administered in Croatia was almost 20 thousand less.

“According to the data from the central register of vaccinated persons, e-Vaccinated, on the 30th of April, as many as 28,394 doses were administered while on the 29th of April, Croatia achieved an absolute record in terms of coronavirus vaccination with 46,887 people getting the vaccine in just one single day,'' they announced from the Croatian Institute for Public Health.

Of course, coronavirus vaccination praise cannot be based purely on the events of a single day or event, and Health Minister Beros presented the Croatian Government with a plan according to which vaccination will be accelerated in the third phase and that it will be performed seven days a week for twelve hours per day. The capacities of the Ministry of Defense and the Red Cross will be mobilised, the number of vaccination sites will be increased, and family doctors will be tasked with registering their patients who haven't expressed the need for vaccination, and they will be called separately.

Although both those wanting the vaccine and doctors continue to point out significant issues with the functioning of the Cijepi se vaccine platform, Health Minister Beros is still claiming that the platform is working as it should be.

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ZAGREB, 2 May 2021 - Croatia has registered 944 new coronavirus cases and 52 COVID-related deaths in the last 24 hours, the national coronavirus response team reported on Sunday.

The number of active cases currently stands at 13,152. Among them are 2,223 infected people who are hospitalized, including 240 who are on ventilators.

Since 25 February 2020, when the first case was confirmed in the country, 335,173 people have been registered as having contracted the novel virus, of whom 7,182 have died and 314,839 have recovered, including 2,016 in the last 24 hours. Currently, 32,614 people are self-isolating.

A total of 1,822,875 people have been tested to date, including 8,370 in the last 24 hours.

So far, 907,575 vaccine doses have been administered; 503,960 people have received the first dose and 200,518 have received both doses. For 2,579 people there is no information on the number of doses administered.

The head of the national coronavirus response team, Interior Minister Davor Božinović, said that the daily number of new cases was on the decline.

"We have a reason for optimism, but only if we comply with the measures aimed at protecting people'', Božinović told the press during a visit to the eastern town of Borovo.

For all you need to know about coronavirus specific to Croatia, including travel, border, and quarantine rules to the locations of vaccination points and testing centres throughout the country, make sure to bookmark our dedicated COVID-19 section.

May the 2nd, 2021 - The payment of Croatian COVID pension supplements for the country's retirees has begun. To briefly recall, the decision was pending up until quite recently after several other European countries decided to add funds to the pensions received in their countries.

Now that the details have finally been ironed out, the Croatian COVID pension supplements are beginning to be paid out with the regular monthly amounts received in the bank accounts of Croatian pensioners.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, those with a pension of up to one and a half thousand kuna per month will receive an additional 1200 kuna on top of their normal monthly income. Retirees with incomes from one and a half to two thousand kuna will receive a supplement of 900 kuna, and those with a pension of two to three thousand kuna per month will receive an additional 600 kuna bonus.

The smallest Croatian COVID pension supplements are for other groups with higher monthly pensions. The smallest amount of 400 kuna will go to those pensioners with a pension of three to four thousand kuna per month. The second payment is scheduled for July for the beneficiaries of this scheme who receive a foreign pension in addition to a normal Croatian one.

''In total, we have provided about 600 million kuna for this purpose and the rest of the amount will be paid in the future phase for those who receive a pension from two countries (meaning a foreign pension as well as a Croatian one). This is an incentive for Croatian pensioners and a supplement that makes sense to compensate for certain costs incurred during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic,'' stated Labour Minister Josip Aladrovic, and as was reported by HRT.

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May the 2nd, 2021 - Krunoslav Capak has announced changes to the Croatian vaccination procedure for those people who have already contracted and recovered from the novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, the Croatian vaccination procedure was tweaed a couple of days ago, with those who have already suffered the virus in mind.

''We published an amendment to the recommendations on receiving the coronavirus vaccination. Those who return positive results on antigen tests are being accepted into the database of coronavirus patients, but are not added to the number of positive results received from PCR tests. We accepted the use of these rapid tests for border crossings when more than half of European countries accepted the same. We also took that risk because rapid tests aren't as sensitive as PCR tests are, but in the last two or three months there has been an improvement in the sensitivity of these tests,'' stated Krunoslav Capak at a recent press conference of the National Civil Protection Directorate.

“The British experience is that no thromboembolism has been reported after receiving the second dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine. If, after receiving the first dose of the vaccine, a person becomes ill, then they should receive the second dose of the vaccine three to six months after their recovery. Our recommendation is that people who have received the first dose of AstraZeneca also receive the second dose.

We vaccinate against coronavirus the second time twelve weeks after the first dose is received. We've been asked if that period could be shortened if someone is travelling somewhere and can't be present for their second vaccination. The manufacturer's recommendation is 8-12 weeks, and maybe even a little earlier. We've also been asked about side effects. I'm the side effects reported to HALMED here, from 0.3 to 0.5 percent. So, every 200th or 300th person reports a side effect, and most of them are mild issues: pain, fever and the like after vaccination. That's not all. Many people feel mild side effects but don't report them. Therefore, there's no need to worry. This reaction is proof that something is happening in the body. This is very normal and happens with most other vaccines,'' explained Capak.

“People who have already contracted and since recovered from the novel coronavirus should only be vaccinated with one dose. The second dose after their recovery doesn't really contribute to their level of immunity, as has been shown by the research of Professor Alemka Markotic. This has now become an official decision. Everyone who has recovered the disease will receive only one dose of the vaccine,'' said Capak when discussing the changes to the Croatian vaccination procedure.

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.

ZAGREB, 1 May, 2021 - A total of 2,046 new coronavirus cases have been registered in Croatia in the last 24 hours and 49 people have died from COVID-19, the national coronavirus response team reported on Saturday.

The number of active cases now stands at 14,276. Currently, 2,210 infected people are receiving hospital treatment, including 246 who are on ventilators, and 34,826 people are self-isolating.

Since 25 February 2020, when the first case was confirmed in the country, 334,229 people have been registered as having contracted the novel virus, of whom 7,130 have died and 312,823 have recovered, including 2,228 in the last 24 hours.

So far, 901,120 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered and 702,470 people have been vaccinated, including 501,257 who have received the first shot and 198,650 who have received both shots. For 2,563 people there are no data on how many doses they received.

A fifth of adults have received at least one dose

According to data from the eCijepih platform, a fifth of the adult population in Croatia, or 20.9%, have received at least one dose of vaccine against COVID-19, which is in accordance with the vaccination plan conducted by the Croatian Public Health Institute (HZJZ).

Most of the vaccinated people are 70 years and older, of whom 54% have received at least one dose of the vaccine.

Given a large number of vaccine doses due to arrive in May and June, the HZJZ expects that at least 1,848,462 people, or 55% of the adult population, will be inoculated by July.

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

May the 1st, 2021 - The Croatian Civil Protection Directorate has introduced new anti-epidemic measures as the country's infection rate slowly drops and the situation seems slightly more favourable. Despite that, the powers that be still consider it too risky to start on the path back to total normality.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, the Croatian Civil Protection Directorate (often referred to as the headquarters) have considered the current situation with the novel virus and have introduced new epidemiological measures at the national level.

''Although the epidemiological situation is somewhat more favourable than it was before, it doesn't mean that we can now all relax, so, the Croatian Civil Protection Directorate has extended the implementation of all current decisions related to gatherings, the opening hours/functioning of shops, public transport and restrictions on crossing the Croatian border, until May the 15th,'' said Interior Minister Davor Bozinovic.

There are, however, some alterations for people entering Croatia from the European Union (EU) or the Schengen zone, and they will allowed to enter on the basis of a negative rapid antigen test result, and they will no longer have to repeat the test if they intend to stay in Croatia for more than ten days. Whether such persons will need to do that at all depends on the countries they're returning to and their respective measures,'' Bozinovic explained.

People who have recovered from COVID-19, and those who have been vaccinated with a single dose of the coronavirus vaccine, will be exempted from the obligation to present a negative test result or go into self-isolation/quarantine, the minister added.

The ban on the sale of alcohol will be from 22:00 to 06:00, and not from 20:00 to 06:00 as it was before. The working hours of catering and hospitality facilities will be from 06:00 to 22:00, and not to 20:00 as it was before. There are no more restrictions for foreign language schools to report. Down in the Neretva Valley, local decisions for Metkovic, Ploce and Opuzen are being repealed, and only the measures introduced at the national level are to be applied,'' Bozinovic said.

For all you need to know about coronavirus specific to Croatia, including border, travel and quarantine rules, as well as vaccination points and testing centres throughout the country, make sure to bookmark our dedicated COVID-19 section.

ZAGREB, 30 April, 2021 - In the last 24 hours, of 9,282 tests performed for coronavirus, 21%, that is 2,007, have returned positive, the Croatian national COVID-19 crisis management team reported on Friday, underscoring that the portion of positive tests today was by seven percentage points lower than last Friday.

In the last 24 hours, the COVID-related death toll has increased by 41 to 7,081.

Currently, there are 14,507 active cases, including 2,237 hospitalised patients of whom 253 are placed on ventilators.

Since the first confirmed case of the infection with the novel coronavirus in Croatia on 25 February 2020, as many as 1.8 million tests have been performed showing that 332,183 people have contracted the virus. Of them 310,595 have recovered so far, including 2,337 recoveries in the last 24 hours.

There are currently nearly 34,000 Croatians in self-isolation.

Under the vaccination rollout plan, 872,726 shots against this infectious disease have been administered. The national COVID-19 crisis management team reported today that 682,757 people had got vaccinated. As many as 490,230 people have received the first shot, and almost 190,000 have been inoculated by both doses.

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

April the 30th, 2021 - Health Minister Vili Beros has announced changes in the Croatian vaccine rollout following the embarrassing situation surrounding the Cijepi se vaccination portal and issues with turnout and vaccine arrivals.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, the health minister has stated that so far, more than a million doses of vaccine have arrived in Croatia, with around 825,000 doses having been administered.

''Vaccination coverage greater than an average of 16 percent was achieved in the 65 and older age group. The highest coverage with the first dose is in Zagreb, standing at 18 percent, followed by Sisak-Moslavina County. The Croatian Institute of Public Health has issued recommendations to prevent the spread of the infection during election rallies. A revised list of countries for which special entry measures should be applied upon arrival in Croatia has also been published. India has now added to the special entry measure list,'' said Vili Beros.

"As part of the intensification of the Croatian vaccine rollout and its campaign, we sent a letter to the Ministry of Defense and the Red Cross for their active involvement. We've been asked if we can allow people to visit patients who are in critical conditions in hospital. The pressure on the hospital system isn't subsiding, but we're still managing to take care of the sick.

The arrival of a larger amount of vaccines makes it possible to intensify the Croatian vaccine rollout at mass vaccination points. By registering with a family doctor, by phone or by registering on the Cijepi se platform, I'd like to invite people to please register for vaccination,'' he added.

He emphasised that a sufficient number of vaccine doses has now been been provided.

“The Croatian Government has provided sufficient quantities of the coronavirus vaccine. The establishment of a clear chain of command is also crucial. The main coordinator is the director of the Croatian Institute of Public Health. This is being achieved on the basis of new legal decisions such as the decision on the mandatory participation of public and private healthcare workers in the implementation of the Croatian vaccine rollout. Three new coordinators have been appointed - the first for the organisation of vaccination sites, the second for distribution and the third for IT support.

“The new operational plan for the vaccination of the working population is clearly elaborated in detail. Family physicians are required to take out a list of persons who haven't yet been vaccinated from their files and they'll be vaccinated through the use of call centres. Mobile teams have also been formed. Additional locations are being determined throughout Croatia,'' Beros said.

"Sufficient quantities of various vaccines will be provided at all of the locations. The precondition for issuing a vaccination certificate is the enrollment in a digital platform. It's clear that this is a preparation to dynamise the Croatian vaccine rollout, to make it an effort we stick to seven days a week," PM Andrej Plenkovic added.

On Thursday, Plenkovic pointed out that the number of newly infected people had begun to fall in recent days compared to the previous two weeks, but also said that there was still no relaxation in terms of the need to fully adhere to all current epidemiological measures.

"It's encouraging that our numbers have started to fall in recent days compared to the past two weeks, but we should continue to be maximally responsible because this is the best way to accelerate the decline in the number of infected and dead people,'' Plenkovic said during a government session.

''Each of us has an active role in this process and our behaviour can contribute to the protection of life and health, but also to the economy and jobs,'' he stressed.

This, he added, especially refers to the tourist season and he expressed satisfaction that the process of vaccinating tourist workers has already begun down in Dubrovnik-Neretva County, which should continue.

He also mentioned that last weekend, he asked the Minister of Health to prepare a concrete, updated action plan to intensify the Croatian vaccine rollout and reiterated that Croatia will have a total of at least 3.2 million doses of coronavirus vaccine available from the end of December to the end of June.

"All those who want to receive the vaccine will be able to get it," he assured, reiterating his appeal to residents, especially those with chronic diseases and the elderly, to get vaccinated at checkpoints that will be established or which already exist throughout Croatia.

For all you need to know about coronavirus specific to Croatia, including travel, border and quarantine rules to the locations of vaccination points and testing centres throughout the country, make sure to bookmark our dedicated COVID-19 section.

April the 30th, 2021 - Croatian MEP Valter Flego has spoken out in favour of securing free coronavirus tests in order to better facilitate the upcoming summer tourist season and to avoid discriminating against those who aren't vaccinated yet.

As Novac/Ljubica Vuko writes, Croatian MEP Valter Flego (IDS) spoke at a plenary session in Brussels this week and sought free coronavirus testing, which in Croatia currently costs from 500 to 750 kuna per PCR test, and about 150 kuna for an antigen test.

''If we want to travel without restrictions this summer, we'll need an EU certificate. So that this confirmation doesn't lead to inequality and discrimination against citizens who aren't vaccinated - coronavirus testing - just like the coronavirus vaccine - must be free of charge. Otherwise, many families simply won't be able to afford a holiday this summer. In the current situation, testing costs up to 600 euros on top of what they've paid for a holiday for a family of four,'' Croatian MEP Valter Flego stressed, adding that "whoever decides to introduce a certificate must take care that all citizens are equally allowed to have a certificate as coronavirus vaccination isn't mandatory, and not everyone has the opportunity to be vaccinated at the same time."

As reported by Croatian MEP Valter Flego's office, this is exactly what the Resolution on the availability and affordability of coronavirus testing discusses, over which the European Parliament called on the European Commission and the national authorities of individual EU member states to provide free testing to citizens and increase their testing capacities, especially in the main traffic hubs and in tourist destinations.

''The resolution calls for EU member states to ensure universal, affordable, timely and free coronavirus testing in order to avoid discrimination against those who haven't yet been vaccinated and for economic reasons. Otherwise, we're divided into citizens of the first and second order, and that's unacceptable,'' Croatian MEP Valter Flego believes.

A statement from his office also said that the European Parliament had reaffirmed its negotiating position on a proposal for an EU certification for coronavirus, which would allow EU citizens to move freely within the bloc from June.

MEPs believe that the EU certificate should be valid for one year and that it shouldn't be a prerequisite for travel, but only a relief with which citizens don't have to be quarantined or self-isolated upon arrival or return to a country.

The next step is to negotiate between Parliament and the Council, in order to reach a final agreement before the start of the tourist season.

''Tourism is important, but let's not forget to talk about all types of travel. People travel for work, for school, to see family. Now follows a trialogue, and I really hope for a final solution by the beginning of June, because everything coming later means losing part of the tourist season,'' said Croatian MEP Valter Flego, before concluding that "the cost of tests and a more detailed presentation of the epidemiological risk of tourist destinations on the ECDC map are two priorities which we must resolve as soon as possible.''

For more on coronavirus in Croatia, including travel, quarantine and border rules, as well as the locations of vaccination points and testing centres up and down the country, make sure to bookmark our dedicated section.