January 24, 2021 – First President of Croatia makes a Covid-era comeback, as new Franjo Tudman face masks become a hit on social media

So far, the nationally specific Covid-era face masks seen on the streets of Croatia have been rather divisive. The logos of the country's bigger football clubs look good but could land you in grief if you travel to the other side of the country while wearing one. The outlawed slogans and insignia of Nazi-allied independent Croatia are a rather more gruesome reminder of the minority of fascist sympathisers that sadly linger in the village. Thankfully there are few tourists here right now to be appalled at such.

Three cheers, then, for the arrival of a distinctly Croatian covering of which the whole country can approve. Though released relatively recently, the new Franjo Tudman face masks have already proved to be a Covid-era hit on social media.

The Franjo Tudman face masks were designed by nationally recognized Rijeka singer-songwriter Dražen Turina, best known by the nickname Šajeta, which is also the name under which his music is released. Along with Pula singer Alen Vitasović and his band Gustafi, Šajeta is a key composer of contemporary Croatian music that uses the Chakavian dialect. Dražen Turina revealed the Franjo Tudman face masks on his Twitter social media account, where they became instantly popular.

Distancing himself from any misunderstanding that the Franjo Tudman face masks had been inspired by sentiments of nationalism, Šajeta instead playfully bemoaned the wearing of masks by young Croats that feature the images of foreign figures. He said he deliberately choose a photo of the former Croatian president smiling for the Franjo Tudman face masks.

It is not yet clear if Šajeta plans to make the Franjo Tudman face masks widely available. Followers of the singer on Twitter were keen to ask if he would be making other masks featuring nationally famous figures.

The Franjo Tudman face masks are far from the first tributes to be paid to the first President of Croatia. There are more statues dedicated to Franjo Tudman in Croatia than any other person. Following Croatia's independence from Yugoslavia, Franjo Tudman became the first President of Croatia and served in the position from 1990 until his death in 1999.

All images from the Twitter account of Šajeta

ZAGREB, 23 January, 2021 - In the last 24 hours, 4,872 coronavirus tests have been performed in Croatia, and 599, that is 12.3%, have returned positive, while there have been 29 COVID-related deaths, the country's coronavirus crisis management team reported on Saturday morning.

There are currently 3,232 active cases of whom 1,468 are receiving hospital treatment, including 142 patients placed on ventilators.

Since the outbreak of the infection in Croatia on 25 February, 1,149,691 tests have been conducted for this novel virus, and 228.568 people have tested positive.

Of them, 220,537 have recovered to date, including 659 recoveries in the last 24 hours. The death toll stands at 4,799.

Currently, 16,114 persons are self-isolating.

ZAGREB,  23 January, 2021 - The COVID-19 pandemic is perceived as the top business risk in Croatia in 2021, cyber incidents rank second, while changes in legislation and regulations and lack of skilled labour force share the third place, according to the Allianz Risk Barometer.

The tenth annual edition of the barometer, issued recently, is based on the findings of a survey conducted by Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty (AGCS) following interviews of 2,769 specialists and experts from 92 countries and territories. Some of the respondents are Chief Executive Officers, risk consultants, underwriters, senior managers, claims experts in the corporate insurance segment of Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty and other Allianz entities.

The survey was conducted in Croatia before the 29 December devastating earthquake in the Petrinja region.

As many as 54% of the respondents in the country cite the pandemic as the biggest risk, while cyber incidents follow (31%), and changes in legislation and regulations have been stated as a business risk in 26% of the answers. In the previous four years, this was identified as the top business risk, according to this barometer.

The shortage of a skilled labour force is also mentioned as a business risk in 26% of the interviews in Croatia.

Allianz Croatia CEO Daniel Matić was quoted as saying that the impact of the pandemic and the COVID disease on doing business in Croatia is perceived in the same way as in most countries.

Matić speculates that had the survey been conducted after the quakes in Petrinja and Glina, the risk called "Natural catastrophes" would have had climbed to a higher position on the barometer.

Matić underscores the labour shortage as a high risk for doing business in Croatia.

Many industries, including tourism and the ICT sector, are faced with this problem, he said.

The importance of this issue can be seen in the example of the necessary labour force for rapid repair response in the aftermath of the quake in Petrinja, Sisak and Glina, he explained.

"Given the unprecedented disruption caused by the coronavirus outbreak, it is no surprise that business interruption and pandemic outbreak top the 2021 Allianz Risk Barometer," according to the explanation given on the Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty web site.

"The pandemic is the biggest climber this year (up 15 positions), with cyber incidents ranking a close third. All three risks – and many of the others in this year’s top 10 – are interlinked, demonstrating the growing vulnerabilities and uncertainty of our highly globalized and connected world, where actions in one place can spread rapidly to have global effects. Looking forward, the pandemic shows companies need to prepare for a wider range of business interruption triggers and extreme events than previously. Building greater resilience in supply chains and business models will be critical for managing future exposures."

The top ten business risks globally identified in the barometer are: Business Interruption, Pandemic outbreak, Cyber incidents, Market developments, Changes in legislation and regulation, Natural catastrophes, as well as Fire and explosion, then Macroeconomic developments, Climate change/increasing volatility of weather, and Political risks and violence.

ZAGREB, 22 January, 2021 - In the last 24 hours, 643 new coronavirus infections have been confirmed in Croatia and 32 people have died of the consequences of the disease, the national coronavirus crisis management team said on Friday morning.

Currently there are 3,321 active cases and 1,518 people are receiving hospital treatment, including 145 who are on ventilators.

Since the outbreak of the infection in late February, 227,969 people have been infected with the novel virus, of whom 4,770 have died.

A total of 219,878 people have recovered, including 796 in the last 24 hours.

Currently, 15,878 persons are self-isolating.

To date 1,144,819 people have been tested, including 4,863 in the last 24 hours.

January 19, 2021 – 45 people tried to enter Croatia with fake PCR tests this weekend alone. They were caught by Croatian police, detained at the border and reported to the State's Attorney office. If found guilty, each faces a maximum penalty of three years in prison

Some 45 people tried to enter Croatia through the borders of one county with fake PCR tests this past weekend.

Travel from Bosnia and Herzegovina into Croatia currently requires the production of a negative PCR test or a doctor's certificate proving you have successfully passed through a COVID-19 infection in recent months.

Since the ban on entering Croatia from Bosnia and Herzegovina without a negative PCR test was introduced, fake PCR tests are increasingly being forged. Border police and customs officers at crossings in Brod-Posavina County have met many people trying to cross the border with fake PCR tests. But, this weekend a new record number of forged tests were found on the county's border crossings.

According to a statement from the Brod-Posavina Police Department, as many as 45 attempts to enter the country with fake PCR tests were discovered on Saturday and Sunday.

"At the Stara Gradiška border crossing, police officers determined that 43 persons, mostly citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina, presented fake PCR tests issued in BiH at the border control. At the Slavonski Brod border crossing, two people were registered who gave forged tests," the Brod-Posavina police reported.

Police officers file criminal charges against all those suspected of committing the criminal offence of forgery of a document with the Municipal State Attorney's Office in Slavonski Brod. If found guilty, such persons face up to three years in prison.

The overall number of people detained on Croatia's border with fake PCR tests this weekend could actually be higher - the figures of 45 persons detained with fake PCR tests were released by the police of just one county in Croatia - Brod-Posavina County. A further eight Croatian counties exist along the border with Bosnia and Herzegovina. Each has border crossings between the two countries.

ZAGREB, 18 January, 2021 - The head of the national COVID-19 crisis management  team, Davor Božinović, said on Monday that the despite the fact that the current epidemiological situation was good, they did not want to risk a third wave occurring and that the impact of each measure on the decrease of infections would be assessed.

He stressed he could not specify whether the current measures would be relaxed after 31 January, but until then each existing measure would be evaluated.

Commenting on claims about the introduction of vaccination certificates which could enable citizens to travel, Božinović said there were no formal discussions on them.

"We are currently not considering those options," he said, adding that some countries are thinking about it.

"If there is a joint approach at the EU level, we are going to actively join those talks. At the moment, the quantities of vaccine in the EU and Croatia, and more or less in the entire world, are too small for such decisions to be made. At this moment I think it is too soon," Božinović said.

Capak: 29% fewer new infections compared to previous week

The head of the Croatian Public Health Institute, Krunoslav Capak, said that from 12 to 18 January there had been 29% fewer new infections than in the preceding week, from 5 to 11 January.

The 14-day incidence of 288.9 new cases places Croatia in the 7th place of countries with lowest incidence in the European Union. However, the mortality rate remains high, with Croatia ranking 8th among the EU countries with the highest mortality rate.

Capak said that a new tranche of 17,550 doses of the Pfizer vaccine had been delivered to Croatia today. Part of it will be used to administer the second shot to people who have been vaccinated.

He said that 122 suspected side effects had been reported to date, most of which had been mild side effects but there had also been several more severe allergic reactions.

Capak announced that the next tranche of Moderna's vaccine would be delivered on 25 January - 4,800 doses. He did not agree with reporters' claims that the delivery in the EU was slower than in countries who had negotiated with manufacturers by themselves.

"I hope we will receive sufficient quantities of the vaccine to vaccinate all those interested in our population, which is most important," Capak said.

Capak confirmed claims that Pfizer was reducing the delivery of vaccine doses but that the reason for that was the reconstruction of the vaccine production plant, the goal of which was to increase production and reach the agreed vaccine quotas.

As for Croatia, there is no official confirmation that the delivery of the vaccine will be reduced, he said, adding that as of 15 February the deliveries will be significantly increased.

Markotić: We must remain prudent to avoid third wave of epidemic

The head of the Zagreb Dr Fran Mihaljević Infectious Diseases Hospital, Alemka Markotić, said that the lower number of new infections was reducing the pressure on the hospital system, and that the number of discharged patients had been exceeding the number of admitted patients in recent days.

She underscored that despite that one must not ignore the situation in Europe.

"Some countries are registering a spike that occurred in a short period of time, probably due to the mutated version of the virus," Markotić said, adding that one must be careful to avoid a third wave of the epidemic.

She said that a decision to close the Arena sports hall in Zagreb as a tertiary centre for coronavirus patients had not been made yet, although it was being considered.

ZAGREB, 18 January, 2021 - Croatia has registered 174 new coronavirus cases after 2,369 tests conducted in the last 24 hours and 39 people have died from coronavirus-related complications, the national coronavirus response team said on Monday.

Currently, there are 3,276 active cases in the country, of whom 1,742 people are receiving hospital treatment and 139 of them are on ventilators. A total of 16,687 people are in self-isolation.

Since 25 February 2020, when the first case was confirmed in Croatia, 225,128 people have been infected with the novel virus, of whom 4,655 have died and 217,197 have recovered, including 917 in the last 24 hours.

To date, 1,120,894 people have been tested.

ZAGREB, 17 January, 2021 - In the past 24 hours 379 cases of SARS-CoV-2 infection have been registered in Croatia as well as 28 related deaths, the national COVID-19 response team said on Sunday.

In said period 4,669 persons have been tested for coronavirus.

The number of active cases stands at 4,058, including 1,761 hospitalised patients, 147 of whom are on ventilators.

Presently 17,382 people are self-isolating.

Since 25 February 20202, when Croatia registered the first case of coronavirus, 224,954 people have been infected with it and 4,616 have died as a consequence.

To date 1,118,525 people have been tested for the new virus and 216,280 have recovered from it, including 1,004 in the past 24 hours.

ZAGREB, 16 January, 2021 - All healthcare professionals who work with COVID-19 patients will receive a just bonus in line with the government's decision, the Health Ministry said on Saturday.

The ministry requested from all hospital directors a report on the implementation of the decision and Minister Vili Beroš said all must be justly paid for their work.

The ministry recalled that the government decided on 7 December that healthcare professionals who work with COVID-19 patients should receive a bonus amounting to 10% of the base pay.

The ministry also recalled that the base pay depended on the job complexity index and that this impacted the amount of said bonus.

ZAGREB, 16 January, 2021 - Croatia has recorded 763 new coronavirus cases and 38 infection-related deaths in the last 24 hours.

Currently, there are 4,711 active cases in the country, including 1,760 infected people who are receiving hospital treatment and 154 of them are on ventilators, the national coronavirus response team said on Saturday.

Since 25 February 2020, when the first case was confirmed in the country, 224,575 people have been infected with the novel virus, of whom 4,588 have died and 215,276 have recovered, including 667 in the last 24 hours. Currently, 17,861 people are in self-isolation.

A total of 1,113,856 people have been tested to date, including 5,969 in the last 24 hours.