ZAGREB, 20 Dec 2021 - In the last 24 hours, of 2,208 tests conducted for coronavirus in Croatia, 16.7% (367) have returned positive, and another 62 COVID patients have died, raising the COVID-related death toll to 12,043, Croatia's COVID crisis management team reported on Monday.

There are currently 19,570 active cases of infection in the country, and of them, 2,178 are hospitalized patients, including 268 placed on ventilators.

Since the first registered case of infection with the novel virus in Croatia on 25 February 2020, 675,730 people have been diagnosed with this infectious disease, and of them, 644,117 have recovered to date, including 3,341 in the last 24 hours.

So far, 2,242,791 residents have got vaccinated and the rate of fully vaccinated adults stands at 61.59%.

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ZAGREB, 14 Nov, 2021 - On Saturday 28,170 people were vaccinated against COVID-19 in Croatia, including a record-high 19,198 with the first dose, the Institute of Public Health (HZJZ) said on Sunday, adding that 50.35% of the total population, including 60.18% of adults, have received the first dose to date.

On Saturday 2,359 persons received a second dose and 6,613 a booster shot.

HZJZ director Krunoslav Capak called on the rest of the population to get vaccinated, notably those with chronic illnesses.

The City of Zagreb has the highest number of people who have received the first vaccine dose, 58.9% of its total population, including 70.6% of adults, as well as the highest number of people who have completed vaccination, 53.2% of its total population, including 64.1% of adults.

Also, 87.65% of those aged 70-74 have received the first dose, as have 74.8% of those aged 65 and over. In the latter age group, 69.6% have received two doses.

Bjelovar-Bilogora County has the lowest number of vaccinations, with 42.1% of its population having received the first and 37.9% two doses, followed by Zadar County with 42% and 38.9%, respectively, Šibenik-Knin County with 42.4% and 39.3%, and Split-Dalmatia County with 42.5% and 38.2%.

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ZAGREB, 29 Oct 2021 - The rising interest in vaccination is encouraging as over 10,000 citizens have received the first shot in two days, the government said on Friday, adding that the number of those who have received a booster shot it also rising.

The booster shoot is recommended for everyone who was vaccinated six months ago or more as well as for senior citizens and immunocompromised persons, government spokesman Marko Milić tweeted.

Yesterday 13,292 COVID-19 shots were administered.

To date 56.92% of the entire population, including 56.21% of adults, has received the first shot.

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ZAGREB, 29 Oct 2021 - Health Minister Vili Beroš said on Friday a decision was made under which family doctors would contact their patients over 65 in the next fortnight about getting vaccinated because 31.3% of people in that age group have not been vaccinated against COVID.

The most vulnerable persons, those over 65, are the priority in protection from COVID, he said at a press conference of the national COVID-19 crisis management team, adding that 40% of those over 80 have not been vaccinated either.

If doctors fail to contact their patients over 65 in the next fortnight, they should visit them at home, or have a district nurse do so, in the next 30 days, and then report to the ministry about what they have achieved. Those infirm should be vaccinated at home.

Beroš appealed to the elderly to get vaccinated. "Vaccination saves lives and it is our obligation to enable it."

He said 97 of the 177 persons over 65 who died of COVID this past week had not been vaccinated.

However, he said, interest in vaccination is growing and almost 6,000 of the 13,292 vaccinated yesterday received their first shot, the highest number since late July. Week on week it was an increase of 34.5%, and of 51.8% when compared with two weeks ago.

Croatian Institute of Public Health director Krunoslav Capak said there were 48.8% more new cases today than a week ago.

In the past 24 hours, 26 of the 32 COVID patients who ended up on ventilators and 20 of the 26 who died were not vaccinated.

The head of Zagreb's infectious diseases hospital, Alemka Markotić, told women who planned to get pregnant to get vaccinated or to do so after giving birth.

COVID certificates can't replace vaccination

Asked why COVID certificates were not required more widely, the head of the crisis management team, Interior Minister Davor Božinović, said the certificates offered a certain security but could not be a replacement for vaccination, adding that only vaccination could result in the pandemic abating.

"We are trying to do our best to have people vaccinated. We are thinking more and more about not limiting COVID certificates only to those vaccinated. We will also look at when they were vaccinated."

No one is considering another lockdown, but citizens must understand that this is a situation we will not get rid off anytime soon, Božinović said.

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ZAGREB, 22 Oct 2021 - European Health and Food Safety Commissioner Stella Kyriakides visited a COVID-19 vaccination point in Zagreb on Friday with Health Minister Vili Beroš, telling Croatian citizens to get vaccinated and listen to scientists' messages, not messages on social media.

Get vaccinated to protect yourselves, your fellow citizens and so that hospitals are not full of patients again. That's a very clear message, based on science and the reality we know. Listen to scientists, not experts on social media, Kyriakides said.

We are not in the same situation as in 2020. Today we have a safe and effective vaccine which was approved for use in the EU. We have enough vaccines, but we must go forward. We don't want to have a pandemic of the unvaccinated, she added.

Croatia has vaccinated about 55% of its adult population against coronavirus. It must accelerate it because in the EU we have more than 75% of the population fully vaccinated. That's why it's necessary to accelerate vaccination as much as possible so that we don't have areas in the EU that are still unprotected, she said.

Minister Beroš commented on a letter by five members of the government's Scientific Council who distanced themselves from statements made by Council member Gordan Lauc.

He said that when members of a scientific forum individually commented on "expertly established facts" on social media, contrary to the forum's clearly stated views, such commenting "is damaging."

Beroš added that he said yesterday all he had to say about Lauc and the Council and that, as far as he knew, most Council members wanted to continue to be part in it.

They don't intend to leave the Council as that would send a bad message of inconsistency, he added.

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ZAGREB, 30 Sept 2021 - In the last 24 hours, Croatia has conducted 9,674 coronavirus tests, and 17.7% of them, or 1,710 have returned positive, the national COVID-19 crisis management team reported on Thursday.

There are now 8,875 active cases. Of them, 741 are hospitalized patients, including 94 placed on ventilators.

In the last 24 hours, the COVID-related death toll has increased by 12 to 8,640.

Since the first registered case of the infection with the novel virus in Croatia in late February 2020, over 2.83 million tests have shown that 404,790 persons have caught the virus, and of them 387,275 have recovered, including 924 recoveries in the last 24 hours.

So far, Croatia has administered nearly 3.43 million vaccine doses, and 44.78% of the total population, or 53.73% of adult Croatians, have been vaccinated.

The share of the adult population fully vaccinated stood at 50.49% on Thursday.

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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, 19 Sept, 2021 - In the past 24 hours 875 coronavirus cases and seven deaths have been registered in Croatia, the national COVID-19 crisis management team said on Sunday.

There are 8,286 active cases and 683 hospitalised patients, including 81 on ventilators, while 21,151 persons are self-isolating.

Croatia has registered 391,984 coronavirus cases to date, including 8,500 deaths and 375,198 recoveries, of which 1,028 in the past 24 hours.

To date 2,72,130 persons have been tested for the virus, including 9,621 in the past 24 hours, and 43.92% of the population has been vaccinated, including 52.72% of adults, of whom 49.48% fully.

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