ZAGREB, 30 March, 2021 - The US Embassy in Croatia has donated a medical device to the Fran Mihaljević Hospital for Infectious Diseases in Zagreb that can detect the coronavirus in less than 45 minutes, the hospital's director Alemka Markotić said on Tuesday.

Four samples can be placed in the GeneXpert machine at the same time. However, it is not used for mass testing, but is useful in quickly dealing with certain situations, Markotić said.

US Embassy official Victoria Taylor said that this is not about just a piece of equipment, but also about the partnership between Croatia and the United States.

We are happy that our small contribution can help the Fran Mihaljević Hospital and the healthcare system in time of need, Taylor said, commending all Croatian health workers for their tireless work during the pandemic.

Markotić said that most of the patients in the hospital's COVID ward were between 50 and 65 years old and had underlying conditions. She noted that the hospital was nearly filled to capacity.

Markotić said that for now there was no substantial number of young people infected with the British variant of the coronavirus in the hospital, but noted that this variant was proved to be spreading faster among young people because of "their greater nonchalance, mobility and socialising."

She warned that the number of new cases was growing and called on the citizens to avoid "risky situations".

Markotić expressed hope that patients would not be left without medicines, after wholesale drug suppliers warned last week that they might restrict drug deliveries because of HRK 6.5 billion debt owed by the hospitals.

Drug wholesaler Medika said today it had suspended drug deliveries to the hospitals.

Markotić said that her hospital had sufficient drug supplies for now. "We hope that we will not find ourselves in a situation where we, or rather our patients, will be left without medicines."

Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said earlier that Finance Minister Zdravko Marić and Health Minister Vili Beroš would meet with drug wholesalers to discuss the debt and that they would be paid a certain amount of money in the coming days.

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

ZAGREB, 30 March, 2021 - In the past 24 hours 1,487 new coronavirus cases and 17 COVID deaths have been registered in Croatia, the national COVID-19 response team said in a press release on Tuesday.

The number of active cases is 9,622, including 1,289 hospitalised patients, of whom 127 are on ventilators, while 27,940 people are self-isolating.

Croatia has registered 269,009 coronavirus cases to date, 5,928 COVID deaths and 253,459 recoveries, including 1,138 in the past 24 hours.

To date 1,539,232 people have been tested for the virus, including 9,064 in the past 24 hours, and 367,458 people have been vaccinated against COVID-19, with a total of 453,710 doses administered, including two to 86,252 people.

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

March 29, 2021 - While it was expected last year that guests from other countries would arrive just for the summer season, accommodations owners hoped that this year they could travel even sooner. However, as we enter the Easter holidays, it hasn’t been the case.

HRT Vijesti reports that the scenes from April 2019 for tourist workers are now just a dream, despite the fact that this year there are more tourists in the Zadar area than last year when the country was immersed in a complete "lockdown". Most are domestic tourists. Due to the unfavorable epidemiological situation, the expectations for Easter are also bad.

‘‘We are also afraid that the reservations we have can be canceled as well. Entries to Croatia have been simplified with these quick tests, but unfortunately returns to neighboring countries are complicated’’, said Tomislav Fain, president of the Association of Croatian Travel Agencies.

It is known that, although last year tourists from countries such as the United Kingdom or the Netherlands could travel to Croatia, many had to cancel their flights or reservations. This is due to the last-minute measures imposed by their respective governments, in which they were forced travelers to serve a certain time in self-isolation upon their return. Local authorities fear that this could be repeated this season.

(Credit: PIXSELL)

Mostly domestic guests are expected. Frane Skoblar of the Turisthotel believes hostels in the pandemic crisis have pulled out the “thickest end” because of their attachment to air traffic.

The thick end was also drawn by private renters who have almost no reservations. On the other hand, hotels and large resorts claim that they are satisfied with reservations for the holidays.

‘‘We are mainly focused on the Croatian market, and some guests from Austria and Slovenia are also coming’’, said Goran Sremec from Falkensteiner Hotel & Spa Ladera.

Guests feel safe in the campsites as well. Mišela Lastrić (Falkensteiner Hotels & Residences Borik) says that they expect increased interest from domestic guests and that the booking is very good for now. She adds that they are currently at more than half capacity.

(Credit: PIXSELL)

The pandemic has completely changed the tourist picture all over the world, including on our coast.

‘‘There will certainly be no Slovene tourists at this moment. On the days of Corpus Christi, which come after, German tourists traditionally arrive. You know what instructions they have.’’, said Mario Paleka, director of the Zadar Tourist Board.

All private accommodations and tourist workers expect the first large number of tourists to arrive in June if the situation allows them to spend their holidays on the Adriatic during the COVID pandemic, which depends mostly on the vaccination process through Europe.

For the latest travel updates and COVID-19 news from Croatia, CLICK HERE.

ZAGREB, 26 March, 2021 - Over the past 24 hours, Croatia has registered 1,802 new cases of the coronavirus infection and 16 deaths, the national COVID-19 crisis management team said in Friday.

The number of active cases stands at 9,052. There are 1,107 COVID patients in hospitals, 115 of whom are on ventilators.

Since 25 February 2020, when Croatia registered its first case, a total of 264,111 people have been infected, 5,854 of them have died and 249,205 have recovered, including 1,141 in the last 24 hours.

There are currently 27,892 people in self-isolation.

To date, 1,511,40 people have been tested, 8,003 of whom over the past 24 hours.

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

ZAGREB, 25 March, 2021 - In the last 24 hours, Croatia has performed 8,396 tests for coronavirus and 1,673 of them, or 20%, have returned positive, the national COVID-19 crisis management team reported on Thursday.

Currently, there are 8,407 active cases in the country, and of them, 1,071  patients are receiving hospital treatment, including100 placed on ventilators.

In the last 24 hours, the death toll related to COVID-19 has increased by 10 to 5,838.

Since the outbreak of this infectious disease in late February last year, over 1.5 million tests have been performed, and 262,309 people have turned out to be positive. Of them, 248,064 have recovered, including 856 in the last 24 hours.

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

ZAGREB, 24 March (Hina) - Andreja Marić of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and Rada Borić of the New Left party on Wednesday critcised the Croatian government as well as the European Commission over procrastination in administering COVID-19 vaccines.

Addressing the national parliament, Andreja Marić said that the Croatian government failed this test.

Until three days ago, a mere 470,000 doses of all vaccine producers were delivered to Croatia, which is only 14 doses per 100 inhabitants, Marić said.

To date, 358,000 doses have been administered, and 8.9% of citizens have received one shot so far of the two-dose vaccine and 2.2% have been inoculated with both doses. Only Bulgaria and Latvia have fared worse than Croatia in the European Union, she said.

Marić insists that delays in coronavirus vaccine deliveries are not the result of the unjust distribution inside the European Union but a consequence of Croatia's wrong decision to rely on AstraZeneca vaccines at the beginning.

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

ZAGREB, 24 March, 2021 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenković, Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandroković and Health Minister Vili Beroš were vaccinated with the AstraZeneca vaccine at Government House on Tuesday, and Beroš said that they had sent a message of confidence in medical science and the medical profession.

"Today we have sent a strong message of confidence in medical science, the medical profession, primarily because we were vaccinated with the AstraZeneca vaccine. We will continue to work diligently on vaccinating Croatian citizens so that they could continue living and working with as little risk of infection as possible. Every vaccinated individual contributes to the protection of the population and is definitely a step towards our old normal, and a step closer to a successful tourist season," Beroš told reporters after the vaccination.

He added that there were still many challenges ahead and that it was important to think about future challenges such as new variants of the virus.

"I believe that with this message we have encouraged citizens to follow us on that path, to curb the epidemic and return to our normal life," Beroš said.

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

ZAGREB, 24 March, 2021 - Over the past 24 hours, Croatia has registered 1,891 new cases of the coronavirus infection and 20 deaths, while the number of active cases currently stands at 7,600, the national COVID-19 crisis management team said on Wednesday.

There are 1,038 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, 99 of whom are on ventilators.

At the moment, there are 23,766 people in self-isolation.

Since 25 February 2020, a total of 260,636 people have contracted coronavirus, 5,828 of them have died, and 247,208 have recovered, including 665 in the last 24 hours.

As of Wednesday, a total of 1,495,041 people have been tested, 9,327 of whom over the past 24 hours.

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

ZAGREB, 23 March, 2021 - Croatia expects a law to be adopted and technical preparations to be completed by June to enable the introduction of a digital green certificate proving that its holder has been vaccinated against COVID-19, has recovered from it, or has tested negative, an official said on Tuesday.

Andreja Metelko-Zgombić, the State Secretary for Europe, today took part in an informal conference of European affairs ministers, at which she stressed the importance of ensuring a stable, predictable and faster delivery of vaccines so that the common EU goal of inoculating 70% of the EU population by summer could be achieved.

She stressed that member-states should be equal in vaccine distribution, and that it was necessary to have a balanced approach to vaccine distribution as some countries currently have a lower vaccination rate due to delays in vaccine delivery, a statement said.

Metelko-Zgombić said that Croatia welcomed the European Commission's proposal for the introduction of digital green certificates that would facilitate free and safe travel within the EU.

She said that Zagreb "expects the adoption of the relevant legislative proposal and completion of technical preparations according to plan, by June, so that certificates could start to be used as soon as possible."

PM says Pfizer vaccine delivery to be stepped up

Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said today that work was underway on transferring the delivery of some of the vaccine supplies from the fourth to the second quarter so that the dynamic of vaccination could be stepped up before summer and that the vaccine in question was expected to be the Pfizer vaccine.

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

ZAGREB, 23 March, 2021 - In the last 24 hours, Croatia has performed 8,177 tests for coronavirus and 956 of them, or 11.7%, have returned positive, the national COVID-19 crisis management team reported on Tuesday.

Currently, there are 6,394 active cases in the country, and of them, 1,029  patients are receiving hospital treatment, including 92 placed on ventilators.

In the last 24 hours, the death toll related to COVID-19 has increased by 22 to 5,808.

Since the outbreak of this infectious disease in late February last year, as many as 1.485 million tests have been performed, and 258,745 people have turned out to be positive. Of them, 246,543 have recovered, including 820 in the last 24 hours.

Currently, 21,804 persons are self-isolating.

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