April 13, 2021 - Johnson & Johnson arrives in Croatia tomorrow, and within a few days, an Action Plan will follow, which will define the order and manner of priority vaccination.

Slobodna Dalmacija reports that another coronavirus vaccine will arrive in Croatia on Wednesday. The Johnson & Johnson vaccine is expected in Zagreb and will be distributed throughout Croatia by public health education institutes (NZJZ).

This vaccine is similar to that of AstraZeneca, i.e., it is a standard vaccine that is not made based on mRNA technology, such as PfizerBiontech or Moderna. However, its advantage, compared to all previous vaccines, is that a person who is vaccinated with this vaccine should be vaccinated only once, meaning you don't need to go to the doctor twice to get two doses of the vaccine.

With Johnson & Johnson's arrival, which gives the vaccinated person around 70 percent protection, Croatia will have four vaccines in use for now. The next, fifth vaccine, which is eagerly awaited and could soon receive EMA approval in May this year, is the German vaccine Curevac, which is made on mRNA technology, like Pfizer and Moderna.

According to the announcements, a total of 747 thousand doses of various vaccines should arrive in Croatia by the end of June, with the help of which we would be ready for the tourist season.

The fact that an inter-ministerial meeting was held to discuss the continuation of vaccination of priority groups also speaks in the direction of vaccinating the working-age population as much as possible.

As soon as all elderly and chronically ill people are vaccinated, vaccination of other priority groups is planned. An interdepartmental meeting was held on this topic, where members of various departments proposed groups from their jurisdiction. Thus, the mentioned tourism workers, educators, sailors, professional drivers in road and air transport, police officers, soldiers, craftspeople, shop workers, and other professions are important to be vaccinated at this stage, wrote Vili Beroš, Croatian Minister of Health, in his message. 

An Action Plan will be drafted within a few days, which will define the order and manner of priority vaccination.

"I especially want to point out that we will be among the first in the major markets that will vaccinate their tourism workers, which is a clear message of the safety of our destination to tourists who intend to come to Croatia. It is important to note that citizens over the age of 65 and the chronically ill, who cannot or do not want to be vaccinated at the moment, will be able to be vaccinated whenever they decide to do so," Minister Beroš pointed out.

Given that the tourist season is around the corner, it would certainly be necessary to vaccinate those who work in the tourism sector, or all those who in any way come into contact with tourists as soon as possible. Therefore, before our tourist competitors, Croatia should start vaccinating tourist workers and give guarantees to foreign tour operators that foreign guests are coming to a safe destination.

Maja Bašić, a spokeswoman for HALMED, spoke about the latest with the Russian Sputnik V vaccine and whether we can expect it as the sixth vaccine in Croatia.

"HALMED is checking the documentation of the Sputnik V vaccine so that everything would be ready to launch intervention imports. At the same time, the EMA is conducting a process of evaluating the documentation for granting marketing authorization for this vaccine," said Bašić.

Finally, it is important to note that if the EMA does not approve the Sputnik V vaccine, Croatia will not be able to introduce it "on its own."

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

ZAGREB, 12 April, 2021 - Of 3,201 tests performed in Croatia in the last 24 hours, 13.2%, that is 422, have turned out to be positive, the national COVID-19 crisis management team stated on Monday.

The COVID-related death toll has increased by 25 to 6,333.

Currently, there are 11,844 active cases of the infection with this novel virus  in the country, and of them 1,953 patients are receiving hospital treatment, including 191 patients placed on ventilators.

Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 epidemic in Croatia on 25 March 2020, a total of 1.642 million tests have been performed. To date, 292,938 people have tested positive, and of them 274,761 have recovered, including 1,794 in the last 24 hours.

So far this year, 588,183 COVID jabs have been administered in Croatia.

The crisis management team has reported tat 477,617 people have been vaccinated against this disease. As many as 110,566 residents have received both does of the two-dose vaccine, and an additional 365,323 have been given the first shot.

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

April the 12th, 2021 - New coronavirus measures have been introduced across four Croatian counties. Here is a list of what is set to alter and where the measures will be the strictest.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, at the suggestion of local headquarters, to whom more powers have been given, stricter epidemiological measures were introduced in four Croatian counties - Primorje-Gorski Kotar, Dubrovnik-Neretva, Zagreb and Osijek-Baranja.

Of the aforementioned four Croatian counties, in Primorje-Gorski Kotar County, from today, April the 12th, to April the 26th, all public events and gatherings are prohibited, gyms and fitness centres, cinemas, casinos and shops selling shoes and clothes are closed. It is currently forbidden to visit the residents of homes for the elderly, and working hours are limited in stores where work is allowed from 06:00 to 19:00.

New two-week epidemiological measures are also being introduced down in southern Dalmatia, more specifically in Dubrovnik-Neretva County, which prohibits public gatherings for more than fifteen people in one place. A maximum of eight people from two households can attend private gatherings for the duration of the measures.

At the suggestion of the local county headquarters, stricter epidemiological measures are being introduced in Zagreb County today and will remain in force until April the 25th.

Among other things, the working hours of catering facilities are being limited from 06:00 to 21:00, the working hours of casinos, slot machine clubs and payment points for betting are being limited from 08:00 to 21:00, and the sale of alcoholic beverages from 21:00 to 06:00 is now prohibited.

In Osijek-Baranja County, until the end of April, recommendations are in place that locker rooms should not be used in sports and fitness facilities, and the increased monitoring of compliance with necessary epidemiological measures at public events and gatherings, public transport, shopping centers and restaurants will take place.

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

April 11, 2021 - Over the past 24 hours, 1,617 new cases of the coronavirus infection have been confirmed in Croatia, and there have been 39 related deaths, the national COVID-19 crisis management team said on Sunday.

The number of active cases in Croatia stands at 13,241, a decrease of 425 from Saturday.

There are 1,870 COVID patients in hospitals, 182 of whom are on ventilators.

There are currently 28,645 people in self-isolation.

Since 25 February 2020, when Croatia registered its first case of the infection, 292,516 people have contracted the novel coronavirus, 6,308 of them have died, and 272,967 have recovered, including 2,003 in the last 24 hours.

To date, 1,639,110 people have been tested, 9,307 of whom over the past 24 hours.

As of 10 April, 583,931 doses of vaccine have been used, and 473,522 people have been vaccinated. Of them, 361,385 people have received the first dose, and 110,409 have received both doses. For 1,728 people, there is no data on which dose they have received.

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

April the 11th, 2021 - Coronavirus testing for foreign tourists in Zagreb has been enabled.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, all foreign tourists in Zagreb or other visitors who have spent at least one night in the Croatian capital will be able to be tested for the novel coronavirus on Saturdays and Sundays (with prior notice), and more detailed information about this service has been made available here.

On that same page, you can find out about the possibilities of testing foreign tourists in Zagreb in the wider Zagreb area in hotels, public and private institutions, with data on working hours, the types of COVID-19 tests and of course - test prices.

The Minister of Tourism and Sport of the Republic of Croatia, Nikolina Brnjac stated: ''In order to make our tourists' stay in Croatia as pleasant and safe as possible, the Ministry of Tourism and Sport has launched an initiative and cooperation with the tourist board system on the project of tourist safety in Croatia. As such, the Zagreb Tourist Board recognised this initiative and enabled coronavirus testing on weekends through its Visitor Centre. I want to emphasise that safety is the future of tourism, so this initiative is extremely important for the perception of Croatia as a safe destination. I see this as a big upgrade to the already launched activities related to the Safe Stay in Croatia project.''

"Given the demanding times we're living in, we decided to make it even easier for foreign tourists in Zagreb by introducing the necessary tests for coronavirus, and thus, once again send out a message about our city as a safe and responsible destination. Throughout the pandemic, we've paid special attention to safety because tourists are looking for high safety standards, quality and risk-free travel above all. As testing in Zagreb is more difficult to conduct on weekends, we want to provide this opportunity to Zagreb's visitors, so testing will take place on Saturdays, Sundays, holidays and non-working days from 10:00 to 18:00,'' stated the director of the Zagreb Tourist Board, Martina Bienenfeld.

The director also gave special thanks to the Dr. Andrija Stampar Institute and the Ministry of Tourism and Sport of the Republic of Croatia for their support in regard to this project and for sending out a reassuring message to foreign tourists in Zagreb.

For all you need to know about coronavirus specific to Croatia, including travel, border and quarantine rules, as well as the locations of testing centres across the country, make sure to bookmark this page.

For all you need to know about the bustling Croatian capital in 2021, check out Total Croatia's dedicated Zagreb in a Page.

April the 11th, 2021 - The ongoing coronavirus pandemic continues to deal heavy blows to stability and reliability when it comes to travel for whatever reason. Germany, which has been facing unprecedented issues and intermittent lockdowns, has now introduced new rules for arrivals from Croatia.

Croatia has experienced a true rollercoaster throughout the ongoing public health crisis. It went from being one of the countries to handle the spread of the novel virus, SARS-CoV-2 the best, being praised across Europe and globally, to having some of the worst numbers in relation to the population in just a matter of months.

From being on the ''green lists'' of many a country and seeing travel enabled back during a very brief period during the summer months of 2020, to being faced with a multitude of restrictions - Croatia, a country for which tourism is of huge importance, has had a fierce battle on its hands.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, the initial German decision was announced by the Robert Koch Institute on its website on Friday last week.

The decision to consider the Republic of Croatia, along with the other three countries, a particularly "high incidence area" until further notice means that in the future, while Croatia remains with that status, all arrivals from Croatia, more specifically all those who enter Germany by land from the Republic of Croatia will have to have what is being described as a ''currently negative coronavirus test,'' according to a report from N1.

The exact wording used by the Robert Koch Institute to describe the situation in Armenia, Croatia, Turkey and Ukraine is: "Areas with a particularly high risk of infection due to a particularly high incidence of SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus."

For all you need to know about coronavirus in Croatia, including travel, quarantine and border rules, as well the locations of testing centres across the country, make sure to bookmark this page.

- April the 11th, 2021 - The rumored Primorje-Gorski Kotar lockdown has now unfortunately been confirmed. Here are all the details, times and measures to be put into place.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, the Primorje-Gorski Kotar lockdown will begin this Monday. The Head of the National Civil Protection Directorate and Interior Minister Davor Bozinovic signed a decision on the introduction of the necessary epidemiological measures for Primorje-Gorski Kotar County, which actually translates as a lockdown for that county.

The numbers in that county have been high for days now, so the local headquarters decided to introduce a lockdown, and the National Headquarters confirmed that it will happen.

Strict measures are being introduced on Monday and will last until April the 26th.

Here are all of the measures set to be introduced in Primorje-Gorski Kotar County:

- A total ban on holding all public events and gatherings.

- A maximum of 8 people from a maximum of 2 different households can be present at private gatherings and ceremonies.

- A ban on all indoor sports training except for clubs competing in the 1st and 2nd rank of competitions in senior competitions and in the 1st rank of competitions in junior competitions at the national level in team sports.

- A ban on clubs competing in individual sports in senior competitions in team club competitions at the national level in the highest rank in the league system of competition and training and competitions of categorised athletes in individual sports, as well as national level athletes preparing for European and/or world competitions according to the list proposed by the Croatian Olympic Committee, the Croatian Paralympic Committee and the Croatian Association of the Deaf, approved by the Ministry of Tourism and Sport.

- The suspension of the work of gyms, fitness centres and sports and recreation centres indoors.

- The suspension of children's playrooms and indoor workshops.

- The suspension of professional artistic performances and programmes, cinema screenings and exhibitions in museums, galleries and other exhibition spaces.

-The suspension of work for shops selling clothes and footwear.

- The limitation of working hours in stores where work continues to be allowed from 06:00 to 19:00.

- Responsible persons in stores where work has not been suspended are obliged to ensure the implementation of supervision of compliance with prescribed epidemiological measures and recommendations such as mask wearing and the maintaining of social distancing.

- The suspension of the work of casinos, slot machine clubs and gambling facilities.

- The suspension of the work of catering and hospitality facilities and the provision of catering services on family farms (OPGs) (this refers to the provision of services on open terraces, or other open service areas).

- A ban on visits to users of homes for the elderly and infirm and to users of other institutions that provide accommodation within the scope of the social welfare system.

- The obligation to wear protective masks outdoors when it isn't possible to maintain a physical distance of two metres from others.

- The recommendation of intensified supervision of the introduced necessary epidemiological measures, and in particular measures related to public gatherings, public transport and the operation of shops/shopping centres and catering and hospitality facilities.

- The recommendation that locker rooms not be used in all sports facilities where competitions and trainings do continue to be allowed.

Exceptions during the Primorje-Gorski Kotar lockdown:

- Catering facilities are allowed to deliver, ie deliver food, beverages and sweets, which they can do in compliance with all anti-epidemic measures in one of the following ways:

- By personal collection in front of the entrance to the catering facility without the person entering it.

- By delivery from the catering facility with a delivery vehicle.

- By delivery from the catering facility on the basis of a business cooperation agreement concluded between the caterer and a third party (legal or natural person), which are registered and entered in the Register of food business entities.

- Those who have the so-called “drive in” mode at their disposal.

As an exception to the anti-epidemic rules, catering facilities from the group "Hotels", "Camps" and the type Pupil or Student dormitory or Akademis from the group "Other catering facilities for accommodation" are allowed to work or serve food/drinks indoors and outdoors only for guests who are using their accommodation services, such as students, reports Index.

As an exception to these anti-epidemic measures, visits to users of homes for the elderly and infirm and to users of other institutions that provide accommodation services within the scope of the social welfare system will be permitted:

- To visitors who present a negative PCR or rapid antigen test for a COVID-19 test not older than 48 hours.
- To visitors who can prove that they have recovered from COVID-19 and the test confirming that (antibody) was performed no longer than 180 days ago. The proof must also be older than 11 days from the date of arrival/presentation.

- To visitors who present a certificate of having recovered from COVID-19 (not older than 180 days) issued by a doctor.

- To visitors who present a vaccination certificate showing that 14 days have elapsed since they received their second dose of coronavirus vaccination or a single dose vaccination in the case of having received a single dose vaccine.

For more on coronavirus in Croatia, including border, quarantine and travel rules, as well the locations of testing centres across the country, make sure to bookmark this page.

April 10, 2021 - In the last 24 hours, 2,535 new coronavirus cases and 34 COVID-19-related deaths have been registered in Croatia, the national COVID-19 response team said on Saturday. 

The number of active cases currently stands at 13,666, an increase of 466 from Friday. Among them are 1,796 people who are receiving hospital treatment, including 180 who are on ventilators.

Since 25 February 2020, when the first case was confirmed in the country, 290,899 people have been registered as having contracted the new virus, of whom 6,269 have died and 270,964 have recovered, including 2,035 in the last 24 hours. Currently, 29,718 people are in self-isolation.

A total of 1,629,803 people have been tested to date, including 10.140 in the last 24 hours. So far 565,785 vaccine doses have been used and 458,762 people have been vaccinated, of whom 350,053 have received one dose and 107,023 both doses. For 1,868 persons there is no data on how many doses they have received.

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

April 10, 2021 - According to the Minister of Tourism and Sports Nikolina Brnjac, the State will cover part of the testing costs for tourists in Croatia.

With a good epidemiological situation, we can expect a higher percentage than last year, said the Minister of Tourism and Sports Nikolina Brnjac for HTV's Dnevnik, answering what percentage we could achieve in the season compared to 2019.

On Friday, it was announced that 70,000 tourism workers would be vaccinated in mid-April. Brnjac told Dnevnik that a survey revealed that about 68,000 tourist workers would like to get vaccinated.

"Tourist employees are in direct contact. It is an epidemiological measure by which we can prevent further outbreaks," said Brnjac.

Germany also put Croatia on the list of high-risk areas. Will it affect tourists?

"First of all, we will look at the epidemiological situation. After that, of course, tourists will look at the vaccination coverage of tourism workers. The segment of the Safe Stay in Croatia project is also important to them, where we have developed all epidemiological standards, protocols, together with the CNIPH, which should be adhered to by all of us in the tourism sector," said Brnjac.

She stated that so far, about 12,000 facilities have received the Safe Stay in Croatia label. Three levels of control have been introduced - one will go from the Ministry, and the other will be professional associations. The third and most important is the guest themselves - the tourist will see how someone behaves and whether they adhere to all measures and protocols, said Brnjac.

"They will see through the QR code in the facility about the protocols are, the standards, whether everyone adheres to them and will be able to send a direct e-mail with their comments, which goes directly to the Ministry, If it is negative, that facility will not get that label," said Brnjac.

When asked about the price of antigen tests at mobile testing points for foreign guests returning to their countries, she could not give a concrete answer, but she said that the state would cover part of the cost.

"The state will cover part of the cost; it will participate in a rather large amount as far as the price of the antigen test is concerned," said Brnjac.

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

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

ZAGREB, 9 April, 2021 - Over the past 24 hours, Croatia has registered 50 COVID-19-related fatalities and 2,599 new cases of coronavirus infection, after 8,994 samples were tested, the national COVID-19 crisis management team said on Friday.

The number of active cases in Croatia today stands at 13,200.

There are 1,768 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, 175 of whom are on ventilators.

Since 25 February 2020, when Croatia registered its first case of the infection, a total of 288,364 people have contracted coronavirus and 6,235 of them have died.

A total of 268,929 people have recovered, including 2,116 in the last 24 hours.

There are currently 26,425 people in self-isolation.

To date, 1,619,663 people have been tested, 8,994 of whom have been tested over the past 24 hours.

As of 8 April, 543,436 doses of vaccine have been used, and 440,890 people have been vaccinated. Of them, 336,693 people have received the first dose, and 102,546 have received both doses. For 1,651 people there is no data on which dose they have received.

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