ZAGREB, Aug 31, 2020 - Central European leaders gathered at the Bled Strategic Forum in Slovenia on Monday, saying that during the time of the coronavirus Europe needed more solidarity and should abandon double standards for its member states.

The Bled Strategic Forum, the most important foreign policy event in Slovenia, hosted a panel discussion on the topic "Europe after Brexit and Covid-19", with the prime ministers of Slovenia, Croatia, Italy, Poland, Czech Republic, and Bulgaria, the president of Serbia and the director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in attendance.

At the start of the discussion, Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic spoke about Croatia's presidency of the European Union in the first half of the year, underscoring that the maximum had been done in the circumstances of the pandemic, a crisis which "started as a health problem and grew into a crisis of all aspects of society."

Italy's Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, who participated via video link from Rome, said that the pandemic highlighted the value of solidarity and that the EU proved that it could respond as a community of interests inspired by common values.

He added that the present crisis was a great chance for a stronger and more cohesive Union.

IMF Director Kristalina Georgieva, who too participated via video link from Sofia, said that there was the reason for optimism. Together we created ground under the feet of the global economy by creating liquidity, she said.

She underlined that the second round of financial aid to the world economy has to be tied to investments in digitization, education, and the capacity to deal with climate change that will affect us even more strongly than the coronavirus.

She added that it was natural that at the start of the pandemic each country shut itself within its own borders. However, with its Next Generation package of financial support, the EU proved that that was history and that observers from outside Europe were pleased because Europe showed its solidarity.

Plenkovic said that in the months to come it was necessary to reach a balance between national measures, which once again showed the importance of the role of states, and a European and global response, adding that there was a consensus n European policy that it was necessary to fight the coronavirus together.

Democratic standards topic at Bled Strategic Forum

Hungarian PM Viktor Orban denied the accusations against his country, saying that democracy in Hungary was at the same level as that in Germany and Italy, but based on a Christian and not a liberal model. He added that Europe needed a joint army that would be the driver of technological innovations.

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said that inequality still existed in the EU as far as freedom was concerned because companies from the Union's east did not have the same opportunities as those in its west.

We have to retain solidarity and unity in Central Europe but also be a part of the European Union. The Central European dimension is different but it is not contrary to the EU, he said. 

Janez Jansa, the prime minister of the host country, accused European policy of being hypocritical in 2014 because it did not condemn "election thievery" in Slovenia when he was a "political prisoner", while today it is condemning countries where there are no political prisoners.

Serbia's President Aleksandar Vucic spoke about double standards in western Europe, citing as an example attempts to storm the parliaments of Serbia and Germany.

When that occurred in Belgrade 27 people were arrested and that was presented as a dictatorship, and when such an attempt was made in Berlin and more than 300 people were arrested, that was then proof of democracy, said Vucic.

Serbia wishes to join the European Union, but Brussels should show more respect, Vucic said, adding that in his country the EU is perceived as an institution that is creating pressure for Kosovo's independence which is why 40 percent of Serbia's population is opposed to that integration.

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ZAGREB, Aug 30, 2020 - In the period from 1215 hours Saturday to 0745 hours Sunday, 262 persons in Croatia were diagnosed with the coronavirus infection, and one more COVID patient died, the national COVID-19 crisis response team stated on Sunday morning.

The country's COVID tally shows that since the outbreak of the infection, there have been 10,123 cases.

Of them, 2,727 are still active, of whom 229 are being treated in hospitals, including 13 patients on ventilators.

So far, 184 persons have succumbed to the infection, and 7,212 have fully recovered.

Since 25 February when Croatia registered its first COVID case, 166,638 tests have been performed for this infectious disease.

Currently, 8,879 people are self-isolating.

As of this Sunday, the national COVID-19 management team starts issuing press releases on the daily new coronavirus infection cases every day at 10 am. Until now, press releases on COVID-19 numbers have been issued at 2 pm every day since the onset of the coronavirus outbreak.

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ZAGREB, Aug 29, 2020 - Over the past 24 hours 312 new coronavirus cases have been recorded in Croatia, bringing the number of active cases to 2,654, the national COVID-19 response team said on Saturday.

Currently, 211 patients are hospitalised, including 12 on ventilators, and three more persons have died, raising the death toll to 183.

Since February 25, when the first case was recorded in Croatia, 9,861 persons have been diagnosed with the new infectious disease, and 7, 024 have recovered.

Currently, 9,148 persons are self-isolating.

To date, 165,716 persons have been tested, including 3,415 over the past 24 hours.

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ZAGREB, August 27, 2020 - In the last 24 hours, of 2,849 tests performed for the coronavirus infection, 304 turned out positive, and Croatia currently has 2,420 active cases, the national COVID-19 response team reported on Thursday.

Of those active cases, 194 are in hospitals, including 13 patients placed on ventilators.

In the last 24 hours, Croatia's COVID-related death toll has risen by two more fatalities to 177.

Since the outbreak of the disease on 25 February, Croatia has performed 160,236 tests, and 9,192 persons have been diagnosed with the disease, of whom 6,595 have recovered.

Currently, 8,388 people throughout the country are self-isolating.

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ZAGREB, Aug 27, 2020 - Health Minister Vili Beros told the government on Thursday that during the past seven days, Croatia experienced the biggest spike in coronavirus cases, and that the numbers are not good, however, the clinical status of people infected with the virus is milder than at the onset of the epidemic.

Since the outbreak the epidemic of the coronavirus on 25 February,  8,889 people in Croatia have been diagnosed with this infectious disease, and 157,387 people have been tested for it.

Currently, there are 2,352 active cases, Beros said.

Of those active cases, 174 are receiving hospital treatment, and this is 7.4% of all those currently infected. There are 10 patients on ventilators or 0.4% of the infected, Beros said.

Responsible behaviour can markedly reduce the spread of the infection, and the minister called on Croatians to strictly comply with epidemiological measures.

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ZAGREB, Aug 27, 2020 - The Croatian chamber of public health officials on Thursday called on the authorities to hire more specialists from sanitary engineering in crisis situations such as the current COVID-19 epidemic.

The chamber says that the shortage of epidemiologists could be offset by actively engaging more certified sanitary engineers who are currently out of work.

The chamber believes that, when it comes to the implementation of epidemiological measures, a major part of the practical work required, could be performed by sanitary engineers. Therefore the association has appealed for more these professionals to be hired in the fight against the spread of the coronavirus infection.

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ZAGREB, Aug 26, 2020 - Head of the national COVID-19 management team and Interior Minister Davor Bozinovic said on Wednesday that the new measures for Split-Dalmatia County, announced by the county's team, would come into force at midnight.

"Split-Dalmatia County has decided to make wearing masks mandatory in bars and restaurants before consuming drinks and food, the number of people at weddings will be limited to 50, wakes are banned, and owners of restaurants are obliged to supervise their facilities more closely. Also, gyms will close, and sports competitions can take place but without spectators," Bozinovic said.

Broken down by counties, the number of new cases of the infection is the highest in Split-Dalmatia County - 136, followed by the City of Zagreb (58), Sibenik-Knin County (33), Primorje-Gorski Kotar County (20), Zagreb County (19), Zadar County (15), Varazdin County (11), Brod-Posavina County (11), while other counties have recorded fewer than 10 new cases.

Asked whether the national COVID-19 response team was considering a complete closure of Split-Dalmatia County, Bozinovic said that was not the case.

"We are not considering that this is the only way to avoid that, and I am convinced there will not be any lockdown. We are keeping the situation under control this way," he said.

Asked about the possibility of the spike in number due to the recent Feast of the Assumption, Bozinovic said that they had assigned local teams to conduct epidemiological surveillance, and they believe the prescribed measures had been implemented.

"Split-Dalmatia County is a hotspot and new measures are being taken there. We will have meetings with others on Thursday, so it is possible that some new measures may be introduced then in some counties," Bozinovic said.

Asked why gyms were closing in Split-Dalmatia County while bars remained open and Masses were allowed, Bozinovic said that the new measures would be in place for 14 days.

He underscored that measures could be dropped or extended. Fines for violating the measures are also possible, he added.

"There is always the possibility of penalizing. We hope there will be no need for that because our intention is that as many people as possible accept the recommendations by the Croatian Public Health Institute. The point is for people to follow the recommendations because then we will achieve the main goal, to reduce the number of new infections and control the situation," he said.

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ZAGREB, Aug 26, 2020- In the last 24 hours, there have been a record high 358 cases of infection with coronavirus in Croatia, and currently there are 2,352 active cases, the national COVID-19 response team said on Wednesday.

Health Minister Vili Beros informed a news conference that 184 COVID patients were currently being treated in hospitals, which is 7.4% of all active cases, and 10 of those patients are now on ventilators.

In the last 24 hours, 26 new patients have been admitted to the hospital, while 19 have been discharged.

Also, 7,993 people are now in self-isolation.

Croatia's COVID-related death toll stands at 175, and a total of 6,362 have recovered.

Thus, since the onset of the epidemic on 25 February,  8,889 people in Croatia have been diagnosed with this infectious disease, and 157,387 people have been tested for it.

Currently, 130 healthcare workers are positive for COVID.

In Split-Dalmatia County where 136 people have been diagnosed with this infection in the last 24 hours, new hotspots have appeared in fitness gyms.

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ZAGREB, Aug 25, 2020 - The government's Scientific Council on Tuesday recommended introducing new epidemiological measures in places where there are more infected persons in order to reverse the current negative trends ahead of the new school year.

"The number of new infections has been growing over the past two weeks and we have concluded that that was a risk that we accepted when we opened the border for the tourist season, but now we agree that it is time again, in places with an increase in the number of new infections, to take measures to reduce those numbers and have as few infections as possible before the start of the school year," epidemiologist Branko Kolaric said after a session of the Scientific Council.

The new epidemiological measures will be made by the national COVID-19 response team, and the Scientific Council has only advised it on what should be done, he said.

"Our advice is to introduce new measures regionally, locally and depending on the current epidemiological situation. There will be no horizontal measures for the entire country, in the communities with a larger number of infections masks will have to be worn indoors and awareness of the importance of physical distancing will have to be raised," said Kolaric.

He added that due to a shortage of epidemiologists additional personnel would be hired to help primarily in the search for the contacts of infected persons.

Asked about the Russian vaccine against the coronavirus, Kolaric said that he knew very little about it and that he believed it was an adenovirus vaccine. He stressed, though, that on the list of the World Health Organisation there were six vaccines in an advanced stage of research and that he was optimistic in that regard.

The head of Zagreb's hospital for infectious diseases "Dr Fran Mihaljevic", Alemka Markotic, said that one should prepare for the autumn and winter months when more severe cases of the disease and greater pressure on the health system were expected.

"Nobody expects any major lockdown but one should be able to cope with the situation and find the right measures," Markotic said, concluding that so far, Croatia had been dealing well with the pandemic.

As for the tourist season, she said that there had been no significant number of infections in hotels and camping sites and that there were around 300 entries on international platforms with data on infected tourists.

"There has been no explosion of the infection so far but now that people are returning to their workplace and children start school, one should be aware of the need to adhere to epidemiological measures and be disciplined," she said. 

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ZAGREB, Aug 25, 2020 - In the past 24 hours, 219 new cases of the coronavirus were detected in Croatia bringing the total number of cases to 2,231, the national Covid-19 response team said on Tuesday. 

Currently, 167 patients are hospitalised, nine of whom are on ventilators. Two more patients have died.

Since 25 February, when the first case of the infection was detected in Croatia, a total of 8,530 people have been infected, 175 of whom have died while 6,124 have recovered.

There are currently 7,815 people in self-isolation.

A total of 154,159 people have been tested for the virus to date, including 1,977 in the past 24 hours.

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