ZAGREB, Nov 4, 2020 - Head of the Croatian Institute of Public Health Krunoslav Capak on Wednesday said that more stringent epidemiological measures, like a lockdown or a curfew that have been introduced in neighbouring countries, have proved to be ineffective and that the current measures in Croatia are good.

"We think that our measures are good. We appeal to citizens to adhere to them and if they do, we are certain that we will curb these numbers," Capak told reporters.

Despite doctors calling for more stringent measures, Capak claimed that the curfews and lockdowns that have been introduced in other EU countries are not bringing any results one week after they were introduced as the numbers in those countries are continuing to grow.

"We think that those measures are not effective," he underlined.

Six doctors' associations today called on the government to urgently introduce more stringent epidemiological measures, otherwise the health system could collapse, seeing that hospitals are already at the "breaking point."

Capak claimed that the problem of a possible lack of equipment or shortage of staff can be resolved with redistribution to those areas where they are more needed.

"We have a sufficient number of ventilators, there are more than 70,000 people working in the health system. I am certain that we will protect the health of our citizens," said Capak.

ZAGREB, Nov 4, 2020 - Social Democrat MP Pedja Grbin on Tuesday asked whether Croatia would reconsider its HRK 40 million intended for the remdesivir purchase since a World Health Organisation report questioned its efficiency in treating COVID-19.

Grbin raised the issue during a parliamentary debate on the report by Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic on the meetings of the European Council in October.

Grbin also wondered whether there was a plan for vaccination against coronavirus since the vaccine will not be available to all Croatian citizens.

He welcomed the EU-wide agreement on lockdown, wondering how it would affect the freedom of movement and the functioning of the Schengen border regime.

PM Plenkovic said that he was satisfied with the EU's joint action and the European Commission's support to efforts to strengthen the economy and protect jobs in the coronavirus pandemic as well as resilience to possible future crises.

MP Stephen Bartulica of the Homeland Movement said that Croatia was facing an 8% GDP drop and a budget deficit of more than HRK 30 billion.

"The economic reality is grim and difficult, and green policies cost and require big investments. Our industry should stay competitive and transition should be equal and balanced," he said.

He also asked what was being done to prevent Islamist fundamentalism or would European leaders continue to just express condolences to innocent victims' families.

Regarding the latest terrorist attack in Vienna, PM Plenkovic said that work was underway on joint activities to prevent such incidents.

MP: Croatia should be represented by the president, PM

MP Dalija Oreskovic (SSIP, Pametno, GLAS) warned that the law was not being respected because Croatia should be represented in the European Council by the president of the republic and the prime minister, which is now not the case.

The rule of law cannot be based on what leaders of big parties agree because if the law and the Constitution stipulate that the president of the republic and the prime minister create foreign policy together, that should then be so, said Oreskovic.

Hrvoje Zekanovic of the Croatian Sovereignists asked the PM how much Croatia's contribution to the EU budget would increase, noting that Croatians should be aware that the country would have to pay a billion kuna more.

He believes Croatia should therefore be entitled to greater EU assistance, warning that it would have to borrow money.

Plenkovic said that Croatia's annual contribution to the EU budget was €400 million and that the amount would increase by around €100 million a year.

He explained that HRK 28.5 billion (€3.8 billion) had already been taken and that in the next ten years Croatia would get HRK 173 billion (€23.06 billion) from the EU budget.

For the latest travel info, bookmark our main travel info article, which is updated daily. 

Read the Croatian Travel Update in your language - now available in 24 languages

Join the Total Croatia Travel INFO Viber community.

ZAGREB, Nov 4, 2020 - In the last 24 hours, 2,480 new coronavirus cases and 26 related fatalities have been confirmed, the national COVID-19 crisis management team said on Wednesday.

There are currently 14,843 active cases, including 1,221 patients who are receiving hospital treatment and of whom 118 are on ventilators.

Since February 25, when the first case of coronavirus infection was confirmed in Croatia, 56,567 people have been infected, of whom 654 have died and 41,070 have recovered, including 1,690 in the last 24 hours.

Currently, 29,404 persons are in self-isolation.

To date, 523,382 people have been tested, including 9,206 in the last 24 hours.

ZAGREB, November 2, 2020 - Croatia on Monday reported 1,165 new coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours and 32 related deaths, the largest number of fatalities in a single day.

The number of active cases in the country is 14,734. Of them, 1,127 are hospitalised, including 94 who are on ventilators, the national coronavirus response team said in a regular morning report.

Since February 25, when the first case was confirmed in Croatia, 52,660 people have been infected with the novel virus, of whom 594 have died and 37,332 have recovered, including 2,293 in the last 24 hours.

Currently, 25,925 are in self-isolation. To date, 507,163 people have been tested, including 5,115 in the last 24 hours.

ZAGREB, November 1, 2020 - In the last 24 hours, of 8,026 coronavirus tests conducted in Croatia, 27% , that is 2,179, have returned positive, the country's COVID-19 crisis management team stated on Sunday.

In the last 24 hours, there have been 16 COVID-related fatalities, bringing the death toll to 562.

Currently, there are 15,894 active cases, including 1,097 patients who are being treated in hospitals. Of them, 81 are placed on ventilators.

Since February 25, when the first case of the coronavirus infection was confirmed in the country, 51,495  people have tested positive for the novel virus and  35,039  of them have recovered, including 2,221 in the last 24 hours.

Currently, 29,338  people are self-isolating.

To date, 502,048 coronavirus tests have been conducted in Croatia.

ZAGREB, October 31, 2020  - In the last 24 hours, 2,769 new coronavirus cases and 15 related fatalities have been confirmed, the country's COVID-19 crisis management team said on Saturday.

There are now 15,952 active cases, including 1,049 patients who are receiving hospital treatment, of whom 82 are on ventilators.

With the 15 latest fatalities, the death toll has climbed to 546.

Since February 25, when the first case of the coronavirus infection was confirmed in the country, 49,316 people have tested positive for the novel virus and 32,818 of them have recovered, including 1,908 in the last 24 hours.

Currently, 27,940 people are self-isolating.

Since the onset of the epidemic, Croatia has conducted 494,022 tests.

ZAGREB, October 30, 2020  - The Croatian Medical Chamber on Friday welcomed the Health Ministry's initiative to establish call centres for tracing contacts of COVID-19 patients and suggested hiring over 1,200 medical staff registered with the Employment Service for contact tracing.

As a first step, the Chamber suggests that call centres at public health institutes hire over 1,200 nondoctors who are awaiting internship for contact tracing.

This month, due to the sudden surge in the number of COVID patients, the contact tracing system is bursting at the seams, so the Chamber welcomes Minister Vili Beros's initiative for urgently establishing call centres to step up contact tracing.

An efficient system of testing, tracing and isolating contacts is a prerequisite for establishing as normal a life as possible without the need to impose the strictest measures, the Medical Chamber said.

According to their proposal, non-doctors and non-medical staff would undergo the necessary training before being hired to work at public health institute call centres under epidemiologists' supervision.

ZAGREB, October 30, 2020 - Doctors and nurses at Zagreb's KB Dubrava hospital held a protest rally on Friday because the hospital would be fully converted into an institution for the treatment of COVID positive patients.

Ivana Suton, the representative of the Nurses' Union at the hospital, said that the protest was not organised by any of the unions but by staff gathering spontaneously to express their discontent over the difficult situation considering the large influx of patients and the shortage of staff.

The protesters were also addressed by Silvio Basic, the new chairman of the hospital's management board and state secretary at the Ministry of Health. He said later that the protesters had drawn his attention to the problems troubling them, such as care for their own health and the health of patients, and the lack of information.

Basic said that all 80 or so patients not suffering from COVID would be transferred to other hospitals across the city so that KB Dubrava could become a COVID hospital when necessary, which would depend on the number of new cases.

Responding to a reporter's remark that this was precisely why the staff were protesting, because they did not want the hospital to become a COVID institution, Basic said he sympathised with them. "We are seeing this disease for the first time, no one is trained to treat it and, of course, people are scared. But we must be aware as medical workers that we have taken on this risk."

Basic said that efforts were being made to ensure the sufficient number of staff. "Five anaesthesiologists have arrived today, and four more pulmonologists are coming in the afternoon. More nurses are also coming. This is a dynamic process," he said, adding that the hospital had enough ventilators.

ZAGREB, October 30, 2020 - In the last 24 hours, of 9,287 tests performed for coronavirus in Croatia, 30% of them, that is 2,772, have returned positive, the country's COVID-19 crisis management team stated on Friday.

Friday was the second consecutive day with more than 2,700 cases after on Thursday the daily tally of the new cases was 2,776.

In the last 24 hours 20 COVID patients have died, bringing the death toll to 531.

There are now 15,106 active cases, including 1,027 patients who are receiving hospital treatment, and of them 74 are placed on ventilators.

Since February 25, when the first case was confirmed in the country, 46,547 people have tested for positive for the novel virus and of them 30,910 have recovered.

Currently, 29,098 people are self-isolating.

Since the onset of the epidemic, Croatia has conducted 485,281 tests.

ZAGREB, October 29, 2020 - A total of 2,776 new cases of coronavirus infection have been confirmed in Croatia in the last 24 hours, the largest number in a single day since the outbreak of the epidemic, and 18 people have died, the national coronavirus response team reported on Thursday.

The number of active cases currently stands at 14,031, including 985 people being treated in hospitals for COVID-19. A total of 71 hospital patients are on ventilators.

Since February 25, when the first case was confirmed in the country, 43,775 people have tested for positive for the novel virus and 511 of them have died. A total of 29,233 infected persons have recovered, including 1,463 in the last 24 hours.

Currently, 21,592 people are in self-isolation. To date, 475,994 people have been tested for coronavirus, including 9,679 in the last 24 hours.