ZAGREB, 28 April 2022 - Croatia has registered 850 new coronavirus cases and nine COVID-related deaths in the last 24 hours, the national coronavirus response team reported on Thursday.

Currently, 425 infected persons are being treated in hospitals, including 20 placed on ventilators, while 3,512 persons are self-isolating.

Since 25 February 2020, when the first case was confirmed in Croatia, 1,120,766 people have been registered as having contracted the SARS-CoV-2 virus, of whom 15,817 have died.

A total of 4,780,298 people have tested for COVID-19 to date, including 3,956 in the last 24 hours.

By Wednesday, 5,242,249 vaccine doses had been administered, with 59.48 per cent of the total population, or 70.75 per cent of adults, having been vaccinated. A total of 2,313,013 people had received at least one dose and 2,241,598 of them had been fully vaccinated, which is 68.68 per cent of the adult population.

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ZAGREB, 14 Nov, 2021 - The Homeland Movement said on Sunday it supported protests against "attempts to forcibly introduce vaccination and blackmail via so-called COVID certificates," adding that many of its members have joined in the protests and will not agree to segregation and first- and second-class citizens.

The opposition party said that under the Council of Europe's Resolution 2361, vaccination is not mandatory and no one must be discriminated against for not getting vaccinated.

It is hypocritical and politically rotten to hear the national COVID-19 crisis management team and the prime minister claim that there is no coercion against unvaccinated citizens or those who refuse to get tested, while on the other hand they are being fired because of "so-called" COVID certificates and prevented from exercising their right to work, access state institutions, free movement and many other human and civil rights, the party said.

Every citizen should have the right to choose whether to get vaccinated, the party said, adding that it would do everything at its disposal to prevent mandatory vaccination.

The Homeland Movement said it welcomed the Croatian Bishops Conference's objection to forced vaccination.

Prime Minister Andrej Plenković's policy of stability culminated in his statement that mass vaccination is important also for raising Croatia's credit rating, the party said.

Correlating the credit rating and people's health is a continuation of the policy of ridiculing common sense, whose victims are all Croatian citizens, whether they have been vaccinated or not, it added.

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ZAGREB, 28 Oct 2021 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said on Thursday that 56% of the adult population in Croatia had received the first shot of the COVID-19 vaccine and warned that in the past week 750 of 1,000 hospitalized patients were people who had not been vaccinated.

Today we have reached the vaccination rate of 56% of the adult population who have received the first dose, which is close to 1.9 million citizens, Plenković said at a government session, calling once again on citizens who are fully vaccinated to have themselves vaccinated with the third shot and on those who have not got vaccinated to do so.

Over the past week, of 1,000 hospitalized patients, as many as 75% were not vaccinated, he said.

Of the 15 people aged 40-59 who died over the last seven days, only one had been vaccinated, he said, appealing to all to protect themselves considering the increase in new infections in the past few days.

In the last 24 hours, Croatia has registered 4,154 new coronavirus cases, 26 patients have died and 11,320 vaccine doses have been administered, it was said on the government's website koronavirus.hr earlier today.

There are currently 22,382 active cases, including 1,231 hospitalized patients, of whom 160 are on ventilators.

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ZAGREB, 22 Oct 2021 - Five members of the government's Scientific Council on Friday distanced themselves from all statements made by Council member Gordan Lauc about the coronavirus pandemic, notably his latest messages that the pandemic is over and that only elderly people should get vaccinated. 

"We fully distance ourselves from all statements about the pandemic made by Gordan Lauc since the summer of 2020," says the declaration signed by Andreja Ambriović Ristov, Petra Klepac, Branko Kolarić and academicians Nenad Ban and Igor Rudan.

They in particular distanced themselves from Lauc's messages in which he declared the pandemic over or claimed that there are circumstances in which it is better to get infected. Lauc downplays the effectiveness of the epidemiological measures and the need for their application, recommends vaccination only for persons above a certain age and insinuates a connection between the increased mortality rate in Croatia and vaccination, they said.

"Anyone who says that any one of us could agree with Gordan Lauc's statements about the pandemic is not telling the truth," the signatories said.

The five members of the Scientific Council said that "their views on the pandemic are based on the existing knowledge from relevant professions and constantly evolving scientific knowledge, which often requires changes and adjustments of the COVID-19 response strategy, which then need to be explained to the public."

"That is why a responsible interpretation of scientifically accepted knowledge is essential at any time during the pandemic in order to keep the public properly informed and to protect human lives and maintain the economic activity of Croatian citizens as much as possible," the declaration says.

Speaking in an interview with N1 television of his statement that the existing vaccines poorly protect against COVID-19, Lauc said that vaccination is not a mechanism to stop the spread of the virus, but that the vaccine provides excellent protection against serious forms of the virus. He said that he is a scientist whom the government has asked for an opinion, but that he is not a government employee and need not obey the government.

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ZAGREB, 30 Sept 2021 - Health Minister Vili Beroš said on Thursday that on 28 September, the share of the staff in the healthcare system vaccinated against coronavirus was 70%, and this percentage was even higher among doctors alone, 86%.

"Inoculation is a guarantee for the downward trend in the epidemiological curve and for going back to a normal life," he informed the government.

In the last 24 hours, Croatia has registered 1,710 new cases of the infection with coronavirus, and that the share of positive tests had been 17.68%, Beroš added.

Hospitals are currently treating 745 COVID-19 patients and of them, 99 are placed on ventilators.

The minister warned that a share of persons on ventilators among the COVID hospitalizations had reached a record high level of 14%.

He said the hospital system was ready to provide effective protection to all persons who need hospital treatment.

Broken down by regions, the number of hospitalizations is oscillating, however, the biggest burden is still o the KBC Split hospital, according to the minister.

In the last week, community nurses visited over 5,000 unvaccinated senior citizens, and after the contact with their district nurses, 1,197 decided to get vaccinated, however, 76% refused immunization without any valid health reason, said Beroš.

Until 29 September, Croatia administered over 3.42 million doses of coronavirus vaccine, and 53.59% of the adult population have received at least a shot, while 50,24% have been fully vaccinated.

Interior Minister Davor Božinović said that the validity of COVID certificates concerning the recovery or vaccination of a certificate holder when crossing the border had been extended from 270 days to 365 days.

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ZAGREB, 23 Sept 2021 - In the last 24 hours, Croatia has conducted 10,106 coronavirus tests, and 13.6% of them, or 1,373, have turned out to be positive, and ten more COVID patients have died, raising the COVID-related death toll to 8,554, the country's COVID-19 crisis management team reported on Thursday.

There are now 8,615 active cases, and 694 of them are receiving hospital treatment, including 89 placed on ventilators.

Since the first registered case of the infection with the novel virus in Croatia on 25 February 2020, the country has conducted over 2.76 million tests which have shown that 396,470 people have caught the virus, and of them, 379,301 have recovered, including 1,132 recoveries in the last 24 hours.

To date, 3,388,015 vaccines have been administered. As many as 1,793,806 people have received at least one shot, and of them, 1,682,093 have fully been vaccinated (49.82% of the adult population).

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September 23, 2021 - The coronavirus has broken out in Zagreb schools, and more and more Croatian children are being vaccinated at the Fair, but when will the general recommendation be for those over 12 years old?

Tportal.hr reports today that the number of people suffering from covid is growing, especially among young people. ''In the first three days of this week we have almost 100 new patients in primary and 88 in secondary schools in Zagreb'', said Tatjana Petričević Vidović from the School Medicine Department of the Institute of Public Health 'Andrija Štampar', and commented for HRT on the vaccination of Croatian children.

''Yesterday there were 427 newly infected people in Zagreb. The numbers are rising, we are on the ascending arm of the fourth wave. Epidemiologists say that we are not close to the peak, this can be seen from the daily figures on the increased number of tests, and the data can also be seen in schools in Zagreb. We have an increase in infected children, with a return to school and indoor spaces there is an increase. In the first week we had 80 new cases in primary schools, 99 in secondary schools, and in the second week 229 in primary and 203 in secondary schools. In the first three days of this week, we have almost 100 in primary and 88 in secondary. It is obvious that the number is growing and what we notice is that the virus is spreading much faster within the class so we have classes that have symptoms in a day or two and tests confirm the coronavirus in 15 out of 30 students. The delta strain is spreading much faster and we are witnessing that'', said Dr. Tatjana Petričević Vidović from the Department of School Medicine of the Teaching Institute for Public Health 'Andrija Štampar' in the HRT show on Studio 4.

She called on people who have not been vaccinated to do so, ''it is absolutely a way out of this situation'', she pointed out.

''Regarding the vaccination of Croatian children, we vaccinate children over 12 years of age, in accordance with the recommendations of regulatory agencies and our CNIPH. Children are vaccinated with the vaccine from Pfizer and Moderna. So far, expert recommendations exist for the population of children suffering from chronic diseases or other conditions, for whom covid infection could significantly endanger their health. Of course, healthy children can also be vaccinated and we see that, and parents bring their children to the Fair. That is what we wanted to see, that parents and children are vaccinated together, but also grandparents who have not been vaccinated'', said Petričević Vidović.

When it comes to vaccinating Croatian children over the age of 12, she said there is no mass recommendation to vaccinate healthy children. Vaccination can be carried out individually.

'We have not yet embarked on mass vaccination because the benefits and possible side effects that have been reported are still being weighed, I must say. That is valid, the research is ongoing and I hope that some decision will be made in the foreseeable future'', said Petričević Vidović for HRT.

Commenting on the increase in the number of new patients in schools, she said that she is constantly called upon to maintain distance, but that is difficult. ''These measures must be implemented in the school. Self-isolation is still necessary when we have a newly ill child in the classroom. We try to be as sparing as possible and as few children as possible go into self-isolation. But when the infection spreads in the class and when we have two or more sick children, then self-isolation must be determined for the whole class'', explained Petričević Vidović.

For example, four classes in a school had to go into self-isolation because of one infected student, and she said that children must all be tested before going to school to eliminate the infection before the trip.

''But in school children are in contact with each other, so everyone has to self-isolate. It is not a popular method, but it is still needed given the state of the epidemic and given the fact that we do not have a high enough vaccination rate of the general population'', she said.

She also commented on postcovid in children who had no symptoms during the illness.

''The disease in children passes in most cases with a mild clinical course. Fortunately, complications of multiinflammatory syndrome are rare. Long postcovids with symptoms of weakness, long fatigue are monitored, concentration disorders are mentioned, but it takes more time and research and we hope that there will be no more pronounced consequences in children and young people'', Petričević Vidović told HRT.

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ZAGREB, 20 Sept 2021 - In the past 24 hours 264 coronavirus cases and 14 deaths have been registered in Croatia, the national COVID-19 crisis management team said on Monday.

There are 7,518 active cases and 695 hospitalized patients, including 85 on ventilators.

Croatia has registered 392,248 coronavirus cases to date, including 8,514 deaths and 376,216 recoveries, of which 1,018 in the past 24 hours.

A total of 20,966 persons are self-isolating.

To date, 2,730,993 persons have been tested for the virus, including 3,863 in the past 24 hours, and 43.93% of the population has been vaccinated, including 52.73% of adults, of whom 49.50% fully.

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ZAGREB, 16 Sept 2021 - In the last 24 hours, Croatia has conducted 10,743 coronavirus tests, and 12.8%, that is 1,369, have returned positive, and nine patients have died, raising the COVID-related death toll to 8,472, the national COVID-19 crisis management team reported on Thursday.

There are currently 7,643 active cases, including 628 hospitalized patients, and of them, 72 are placed on ventilators. Also, 17,051 are self-isolating.

Since the first registered case of the infection with this novel virus in Croatia on 25 February 2020,  nearly 2.7 million tests have been conducted, showing that 388,260 people have caught the virus, and of the 372,145 have recovered, including 754 recoveries in the last 24 hours.

Since the start of the vaccine rollout in the country, 43.64% of the total population, or 52.38% of the adult population have got vaccinated.

The statistics show that 49.17% of the adult population has been fully vaccinated.

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ZAGREB, 13 Sept 2021 - In the last 24 hours, Croatia has conducted 3,871 coronavirus tests, and 167 have returned positive (4.3%), the national COVID-19 crisis management team reported on Monday.

There are currently 5,532 active cases, and 592 are hospitalized patients including 59 placed on ventilators.

In the last 24 hours, seven patients infected with coronavirus have died, raising the COVID-related death toll to 8,447.

Since the first registered case of the infection with this novel virus in Croatia, 384,082 people have caught the virus, and of them, 370,103 have recovered, including 751 recoveries in the last 24 hours.

To date, 43.37% of the total population, or 52.07% of the adult population have got vaccinated.

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.