ZAGREB, 29 April, 2021 - In the past 24 hours 2,439 new cases of the coronavirus infection have been reported in Croatia, putting the number of active cases at 14,878, while 39 people have died, the national COVID-19 response team said on Thursday.

A total of 2,239 patients are in hospital, including 245 on ventilators.

Since the first case of the disease was reported on 25 February 2020, 330,176 people have contracted it, and 7,040 have died.

A total of 308,258 people have recovered, including 2,126 in the past 24 hours.

Currently 34,690 people are in self-isolation.

To date a total of 1,794,905 persons have been tested, including 10,358 in the past 24 hours.

As of 28 April 825,839 doses of COVID vaccines have been administered, inoculating 648,709 people.

Of that number, 469,143 people have received the first dose and 177,130 have received both doses, while for 2,436 people it is not known which of the two doses they have received.

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

ZAGREB, 28 April, 2021 - In the past 24 hours a total of 12,032 coronavirus tests were conducted in Croatia, with 2,904 returning positive while 44 people died in that period, the national COVID-19 response team said on Wednesday.

There are currently 14,604 active cases, with 2,278 patients who are in hospital, including 253 on ventilators.

The number of positive cases in the number of tests done in the past 24 hours is slightly above 24%, around 5% down from last Wednesday.

Since the first case of the disease was reported in February 2020, 327,737 people have contracted it, and 7,001 have died.

A total of 306,132 people have recovered, including 1,586 in the past 24 hours.

To date a total of 1,784,547 persons have been tested.

As of 27 April 812,984 doses of COVID vaccines have been administered, inoculating 639,564 people.

Of that number, 463,710 people have received the first dose and 173,420 have received both doses, while for 2,434 people it is not known which of the two doses they have received.

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

ZAGREB, 26 April, 2021 - In the past 24 hours a total of 3,417 tests were conducted in Croatia, with 410 returning positive to coronavirus while 51 people died in that period, that national COVID response team reported on Monday.

There are currently 13,432 active cases in the country, 2,315 of whom are hospitalised patients and 259 of them are on ventilators.

Since the first case was identified in Croatia, there have been 323,036 registered cases of coronavirus in the country and 6,905 people have died as a consequence.

A total of 302,699 people have recovered, with 2,207 recovering in the past 24 hours.

The share of positive cases among those tested in the past 24 hours is about 12%, which is 3% less than last Monday.

There are currently 31,841 people in self-isolation.

To date a total of 1,762,625 persons have been tested.

As of 25 April 795,597 doses of COVID vaccines have been administered, inoculating 627,216 people.

Of that number 456,398 have received the first dose and 168,381 have received both doses, while in 2,437 cases it is not sure which of the two doses they have received.

For more about COVid19 in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

April 27, 2021 - COVID-19 testing at Split Airport is now available for passengers traveling to or from Split Airport. 

As of Monday, the Split-Dalmatia County Public Health Teaching Institute enables all passengers to be tested for SARS-CoV-2 near the passenger terminal of Split Airport.

SARS-CoV-2 testing will take place right next to the state road D409, near the passenger terminal of Split Airport. Access to the location is possible on foot and by car.

Testing for SARS-CoV-2 is made possible by using two methods, depending on the needs of the passengers and depending on the type of test required to travel to a particular country.

The result of a rapid antigen test for SARS-CoV-2 is ready within 30 minutes. The test costs HRK 200.00, while translating the result to English will cost an extra HRK 250.00.

The SARS-CoV-2 PCR test is ready within 24 hours and costs HRK 400.00. Should you need the result in English, the total cost is HRK 450.00 total. The testing center explained that any tests taken on Sunday would be delivered to the passenger within 36 hours.

Passengers should bring an identity document with them and are obliged to check the travel conditions and restrictions for the country they are traveling to and the type of test they need.

Payment is possible by cash, debit, or credit card. Pre-registration by phone or e-mail is not required.

The number of those tested at Split Airport will increase in the coming weeks, especially when the airlines inform passengers about this possibility. The Airport and the Institute of Public Health want to facilitate and speed up the process of testing tourists in this way.

Passengers will be informed about the possibility of being tested at the airport by their airlines in the coming days. Before or after the flight, those who travel abroad or come to Croatia can perform a quick antigen test or PCR test without notice. They bear the cost themselves, and if we add testing in another country, it is not cheap.

"We expect that all passengers who will need testing will be informed in time of what tests they need to enter their home country," explained the Deputy Director of Split Airport Pero Bilas.

For the second summer, Croatia has been fighting for every guest. In a pandemic, safety is paramount.

"Those who come, if they are positive, will have to go to isolation where they organized for accommodation, and those who leave will, of course, be offered quarantine if they have no other options for isolation," explained Željka Karin, director of NZJZ SDŽ.

The new testing center at Split Airport will work from:

Monday to Friday from 08:00 to 16:00,

on Saturdays from 07:00 to 17:00,

on Sundays from 08:00 to 16:00.

Sources: HRT, Croatia Aviation 

Follow the latest on flights to Croatia HERE and the latest travel updates and COVID-19 news from Croatia HERE.

For more on travel in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

ZAGREB, 26 April, 2021 - In the past 24 hours a total of 3,417 tests were conducted in Croatia, with 410 returning positive to coronavirus while 51 people died in that period, that national COVID response team reported on Monday.

There are currently 13,432 active cases in the country, 2,315 of whom are hospitalised patients and 259 of them are on ventilators.

Since the first case was identified in Croatia, there have been 323,036 registered cases of coronavirus in the country and 6,905 people have died as a consequence.

A total of 302,699 people have recovered, with 2,207 recovering in the past 24 hours.

The share of positive cases among those tested in the past 24 hours is about 12%, which is 3% less than last Monday.

There are currently 31,841 people in self-isolation.

To date a total of 1,762,625 persons have been tested.

As of 25 April 795,597 doses of COVID vaccines have been administered, inoculating 627,216 people.

Of that number 456,398 have received the first dose and 168,381 have received both doses, while in 2,437 cases it is not sure which of the two doses they have received.

To read more about coronavirus in Croatia, follow our Covid-19 in Croatia guide.

April 26, 2021 - A look at the vaccine side effects in Croatia until April 22, 2021. 

Slobodna Dalmacija reports that out of a total of 750,000 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine administered in Croatia by April 22, side effects were reported in only 0.4 percent of cases. According to the Agency for Medicinal Products and Medical Devices (HALMED), 36 reports of suspected side effects were received for every 10,000 doses of vaccine.

Out of a total of 2667 reports, there were 1297 side effects for Pfizer / BioNTech's Comirnaty vaccine, 1166 for AstraZeneca, and 202 for Moderna.

So far, most citizens in Croatia have been vaccinated with Pfizer (about 390 thousand), and only 0.33 percent of those vaccinated have reported side effects, most often mild ones. Slightly less than 230,000 people were vaccinated with AstraZeneca, and 0.55 percent of side effects were reported. The fewest people were vaccinated with Moderna (about 103 thousand), and it had the least side effects of 0.19 percent.

Of the total reported adverse reactions to the COVID vaccine, 81 percent were mild health problems, while 19 percent were more severe.

The most commonly reported adverse reactions were fever (49.1 percent), headache (32.3 percent), application site pain (29.3 percent), chills (27.6 percent), muscle pain (24.7 percent), general weakness (24.1 percent), fatigue (15.4 percent), nausea (10.4 percent), joint pain (9 percent), and redness at the vaccine site (8.6 percent).

These are expected side effects, which occur frequently, are similar to the side effects of other vaccines, and are usually mild to moderate in intensity and resolve spontaneously over several days or with symptomatic therapy (e.g., cold compresses, antipyretic medications, and pain medications).

Among the serious side effects, hypersensitivity reactions, which manifested as rash, itching, and hives shortly after vaccination, were the most common. Antiallergic drugs were administered, after which recovery occurred in all cases. These were young to middle-aged adults.

Also, reactions of facial paresis or peripheral weakness of one side of the face have been reported less frequently. These reactions are usually associated with swelling of the tissue that presses on the nerve and is most often a transient condition.

Most side effects of all vaccines occurred within four hours of their administration. In some cases, side effects were accompanied by problems with breathing or swallowing or swelling of the face, lips, and tongue.

Several cases of thromboembolic symptoms have been reported, where patients were hospitalized and released home after therapy with instructions on medications to take.

Sporadic cases of blood clots accompanied by a reduced number of platelets in Croatia have not been reported.

For more on 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.

ZAGREB, 25 April 2021 - Slightly more than one-fifth of Croatians do not want to get vaccinated against COVID-19, which puts Croatia among the top few EU countries in that regard, shows a Eurobarometer survey released by the European Commission this past Friday.

When asked when they would get vaccinated if the authorities had approved a COVID-19 vaccine and if it was available, 22% of those polled in Croatia said 'never'.

This type of answer was the most frequent in Cyprus (26%), Latvia (23%), and Croatia, Bulgaria and France (22%).

Twenty percent (20%) of Croatian respondents said they would get vaccinated as soon as possible or that they had already been vaccinated, 27% said they would get inoculated this year while 30% said they would do it later.

The share of sceptical respondents was the lowest in Denmark (2%), followed by Ireland, Sweden and Malta (4%), and Portugal (5%).

The survey was conducted in February and March and covered all 27 member states.

More than half of Croatians, 55%, are satisfied with measures taken by the EU to fight the coronavirus pandemic.

The least satisfied were respondents in Greece (31% said they were satisfied with the EU's measures), followed by those in France (32%) and Germany (33%).

Danes were the most satisfied with the EU's measures (68%), followed by Lithuanians (67%), and the Portuguese (66%).

Support for EMU in Croatia 48%

The European Monetary and Economic Union (EMU) with the euro as the single currency is supported by 48% of Croatians, 45% are against, and 7% said they did not know, shows the survey.

The EMU is supported the most in Portugal (95%), Slovenia (94%) and Ireland (91%). It is the least supported in Sweden (25%), Denmark (32%), Poland (34%), and the Czech Republic and Bulgaria (40%).

Eighty-seven percent (87%) of Croatians consider the economic situation in their country bad while 13% consider it good.

More dissatisfied than Croatians are Greeks and the Portuguese, of whom 90% said that the economic situation in their respective countries was bad, followed by Spaniards (91%) and Italians (93%).

The most satisfied respondents were those in Luxembourg, where 86% of those polled described the economic situation in their country as good, followed by respondents in Sweden (81%) and Denmark (71%).

EU citizens expect recovery from pandemic in 2023 or later 

Only 6% of Croatians believe the national economy will recover from the consequences of the coronavirus pandemic this year, 20% think that recovery will happen in 2022, and 57% in 2023 or later.

Most of those polled in all member countries, 44-82%, believe economic recovery will happen in 2023 or later. Between 10 and 31% expect recovery next year.

Most Croatians consider the Next Generation EU recovery instrument, worth €750 billion, an effective response to the economic consequences of the crisis.

Sixty-eight percent (68%) of Croatians consider the instrument very effective or quite effective. That view is held by 83% of Maltese respondents, while on the other end are Finns (42%), the French (45%) and Latvians (47%).

Slightly more than half of Croatians, 51%, trust the EU while 44% do not.

Trust in the EU is the highest in Portugal (78%), Ireland (74%) and Lithuania (70%).

For more on 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, 25 April, 2021 - Health Minister Vili Beroš said during a visit to Zadar on Sunday that it was not true that the cijepise.hr platform for registration for vaccination against COVID-19 was not functioning, calling on citizens to register and noting that everyone would get vaccinated.

"Maybe the platform is not functioning the way we wanted but it functions well enough to cope with the challenges of vaccination. I read in the papers that the system of vaccination has collapsed. That's not true! We are increasing the daily number of vaccinations, currently around 23,000 people get vaccinated on a daily basis," the minister said.

He stressed that he was aware of his own responsibility but noted that the system was decentralised and that county public health institutes organised vaccination in their own areas of responsibility.

"The City of Zagreb and other counties use the platform, maybe not to the extent we would want them to use it, but they do use it. Local platforms do not include what is necessary to organise the system. You can vaccinate people, but then you have to enter the information in the system that incorporates all information for green COVID-19 certificates," the minister said.

Register and you will be vaccinated

He added that it was not him as minister but professionals who had come up with the idea to design a platform for registration for vaccination.

The platform is now available, he said, adding that there was no duplication or deletion in the process of registration.

"Register and you will be vaccinated," he said, calling on everyone to register.

He also said that there was no wasting of vaccines, that vaccination points were full and that the vaccination process would be stepped up.

"All resources must be mobilised so that we can inoculate as many people as possible and reach the 55% vaccination rate by summer, which will also enable a safer tourist season," Beroš said, describing the reform of the health system and its financial stability as the most important challenge and noting that changes could no longer be delayed.

Reporters also asked the minister about the case of Deputy Prime Minister Boris Milošević who was vaccinated against COVID-19 and received both doses yet he got infected.

"That is very rare, all vaccines that are used in Croatia should respond to all variants of the virus that have been registered in the country," he said.

For more on 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, 25 April, 2021 - Over the past 24 hours, Croatia has registered 1,254 new cases of the coronavirus infection and 39 deaths, the national COVID-19 crisis management team said on Sunday.

The number of active cases in Croatia stands at 15,280, and there are 2,288 COVID patients in hospitals, 240 of whom are on ventilators.

Since the first case of infection was registered in Croatia, 322,626 people have contracted coronavirus, 6,854 of them have died, while 300,492 have recovered, including 2,282 in the last 24 hours.

There are currently 33,759 people in self-isolation.

To date, 1,759,208 people have been tested, including 7,007 over the past 24 hours.

As at 24 April, 785,869 doses of the vaccine have been administered in Croatia, and 621,077 people have been vaccinated, with 453,854 people receiving the first dose and 164,792 receiving both doses. For 2,431 people there is no data on how many doses they have received.

For more on 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.

April the 25th, 2021 - As we previously reported, the once popular cijepi se vaccination platform has completely failed and will no longer be an option for those wanting to be vaccinated against the novel coronavirus. What are the next steps for the Zagreb vaccination process?

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, as Zvonimir Sostar, the head of the Dr. Andrija Stampar Institute recently confirmed to Index, vaccination through the Cijepi se system has been stopped by the City of Zagreb and the capital no longer intends to continue it in future through the platform.

"That's right, only those who have applied through their family doctors are being vaccinated. We're no longer vaccinating people through the Cijepi se platform at all,'' said Sostar yesterday morning. He also explained the reasons behind such a decision.

"When we had a meeting with the IT specialists, we asked them if the platform is working properly anywhere, in any county. The answer was that no, it wasn't working at all. Then we decided entirely on the model that health centres actually carry out the vaccinations, and that we be the coordinators and the logistics behind that. Family doctors refer people, and the order goes through. This way of doing it is successful and it works extraordinarily well, the response is very good,'' said Sostar of the Zagreb vaccination plan going forward.

“We're going to continue as we have done so far, through people's general practitioners. Until further notice, we're not going to be taking vaccine registrations through the Cijepi se platform,''

He warned of a major technical problem with the website, which is one of the key reasons why they gave up using the platform. "The platform now only shows the initials, which creates big problems for us. You can't check the vaccination status with the initials, we have to do the checks, all of which requires extra time,'' according to Sostar.

Sostar revealed plans for the Zagreb vaccination process in the weeks ahead.

"We plan to vaccinate people next week as well as this week, which means that there aren't going to be any vaccinations on Monday mornings and on Friday afternoons. The main reason is that we still don’t have enough vaccines to vaccinate people for hours on end. But that week after the next we plan to provide vaccinations on both Monday morning and on Friday night, as well as on Saturday, at least in the mornings.

As of that week, we estimate that we'll vaccinate about 6,500 people a day. The news is that we're introducing three additional teams at the Zagreb Fair. We're going to vaccinate with AstraZeneca on Monday and Tuesday, and since we should receive 18,000 doses of Pfizer on Monday, that should be enough for us to start vaccinating with Pfizer on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Next week, we should receive 3,500 doses of Moderna and 1,350 doses of Johnson & Johnson,'' Sostar told Index.

For more on 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.