ZAGREB, May 6, 2021 - In the last 24 hours, 9,069 tests have been conducted for coronavirus, and 18% of them, that 1,640, have turned out to be positive, the national COVID-19 crisis management team reported on Thursday.

In the last 24 hours, the COVID-related death toll has increased by 40 to 7,355.

There are currently, 11,942 active cases, and of them 2,106 are hospitalised patients, including 236 patients placed on ventilators.

Since 25 February 2020, when Croatia confirmed its first case of the infection with the novel virus, there have been 341,052 cases of the COVID infection, and of them 321,755 have recovered to date, including 1,793 recoveries in the last 24 hours.

More than 1.85 million tests have been conducted to date.

There are now 30,067 people in self-isolation.

Under its vaccine rollout plan, Croatia has so far administered 979,181 doses of the vaccination. Over 760,000 people have been given at least one shot, and 218,376 of them have received both doses of the two-dose vaccine.

For more about COVID-19 in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page

ZAGREB, 5 May, 2021 - The INA oil company will donate HRK 1.4 million to healthcare institutions this year, aware of the exceptional circumstances that the system is faced with due to the coronavirus pandemic, the company said in a press release on Wednesday.

In the wake of last year's earthquakes in Sisak-Moslavina County, INA has donated HRK 500,000 to the Sisak General Hospital and an additional HRK 900,000 to other institutions.

INA plans to donate HRK 150,000 each to the Oncology Department of the Hospital for Children's Diseases in Zagreb and the Clinical Hospital Centre (KBC) in Rijeka as well as HRK 100,000 each to KBC Osijek, the tissue and cell bank at the Sisters of Mercy Hospital in Zagreb, the Hospital for Infectious Diseases in Zagreb, the Cardiology Clinic in Split and two civil society associations.

The Sisak Health Care Centre and the Special Children's Hospital in Gornja Bistra will receive HRK 50,000 each.

The donations are intended for the improvement of diagnostics, procuring new equipment and improving accommodation for patients and working conditions for medical workers.

In addition to money donations, the hospitals will receive a total of 500 litres of INA's Dezinol disinfectant which was developed by INA during the pandemic.

In the past 10 years INA has invested HRK 6.5 million in healthcare in Croatia.

(€1 = HRK 7.5)

For more about business in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page

ZAGREB, 5 May, 2021 - Croatia has registered 2,494 new coronavirus cases and 51 COVID-related deaths in the last 24 hours, the national coronavirus response team reported on Wednesday.

The number of active cases currently stands at 12,135. Among them are 2,123 infected people receiving hospital treatment, of whom 246 are on ventilators.

Since 25 February 2020, when the first case was confirmed in the country, 339,412 people have been registered as having contracted the novel virus, of whom 7,315 have died and 319,962 have recovered, including 1,341 in the last 24 hours. Currently, 28,581 people are in self-isolation.

A total of 1,846,554 people have been tested for coronavirus to date, including 10,446 in the last 24 hours.

As of 4 May, 944,398 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered, with 734,556 people receiving the first dose and 209,842 receiving both doses.

For more about COVID-19 in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

ZAGREB, 4 May, 2021 - Health Minister Vili Beroš on Tuesday said that the solution to acute problem of the shortage of radiologists in two hospitals in Zagreb was within the responsibility of those hospitals and that he expects those institutions to provide patients with appropriate and immediate health services.

"The solution to the acute problem of the shortage of radiologists at the Sisters of Mercy hospital and the clinic for treating cancers, which is part of that health institution, is up to the administration at the hospital and I expect them to provide all the patients with the appropriate medical services, and in particular oncology patients and those with grave diseases," said Beroš.

He underscored that patients have to be above organisational problems of an institution.

Beroš underscored that patients must not be left without services because of organisational problems or human relationships.

"That's my clear message to directors and all their associates who are responsible for managing those processes in hospitals. Problems have to be resolved," said Minister Beroš.

He added that Croatia has an increasing number of younger radiologists with experience in working in clinical centres and health institutions that could be the core of creating a system based on the example of developed countries with advanced health systems.

"Creating an efficient system of radiology services at the country level that could provide efficient, quality and financially rational services to a larger number of health institutions that are faced with a shortage of staff such as radiologists, which surfaced in the Sisters of Mercy hospital, are an inevitable step towards resolving this and similar problems," he underscored.

He underscored that as Minister of Health he has already "launched certain activities to provide organised radiology services based on the experiences of other countries that have proved to be efficient and economically justified and are appropriate to our needs and capacities.

For more about health in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

ZAGREB, 4 May, 2021 - Parliamentary opposition parties have filed a joint motion for a vote of no confidence in Health Minister Vili Beroš over the accumulated problems in the healthcare sector and scandals related to the minister, Social Democratic Party (SDP) leader Peđa Grbin said on Tuesday.

"The reasons for this move are clear to all citizens - the accumulated debts in the healthcare system resulted in the suspension of deliveries of medicines to hospitals at the height of the pandemic. There are also huge problems with the vaccination system, and we have learned of favourable treatment in the development of the cijepise.hr vaccination registration system," Grbin said.

"The development of this non-functioning system was awarded to people connected with Minister Beroš. There are also suspicious public procurement procedures at the Health Ministry such as one where IT services were awarded to a florist and tenders were fixed for former HDZ health ministers Andrija Hebrang and Neven Ljubičić, which have been cancelled but only after media started writing about them," he added.

"The Health Ministry is simply not functioning. There are no reforms, and the extent to which this affects people's lives could best be seen in a recent case at the Clinic for Tumors where citizens suffering from malignant diseases could not receive adequate care," Grbin said, naming Beroš as the person most responsible for this.

"We want Beroš to go because right now he has done nothing positive for the healthcare system, and all the negative things he has done pose a direct threat to people's health and lives," the SDP leader said. "His departure, however, will not be enough and we will all have to come to grips with the accumulated problems together."

Grbin said that a discussion on Beroš must be held within 30 days, and whether it will be held before or after the 16 May local elections "depends on Prime Minister Andrej Plenković and Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandroković."

The initiative was signed by all opposition groups in parliament except the Croatian Sovereignists, but they have announced that they will vote in favour Beroš's resignation, Grbin said.

MOST's Nikola Grmoja said that his party had been warning for a long time about the problems faced by the healthcare system, including huge debts to drug wholesalers and long waiting lists.

"Beroš, of course, is not the only one to blame, the whole government is responsible. With our signatures we also want to encourage a reform of the healthcare system. All of us in the opposition agree that changes are necessary and should be launched urgently," Grmoja noted.

Sandra Benčić of the green-left We Can! platform said that they supported all the reasons for a no-confidence vote in Beroš, but stressed that the responsibility for the crisis in the healthcare system and the poor management of the coronavirus pandemic mostly lay with Prime Minister Andrej Plenković.

"None of the ministers, and certainly not Minister Beroš, makes decisions on their own. They were not chosen as competent persons in their departments but were chosen based on their loyalty to the prime minister who ultimately makes all decisions. The prime minister cannot be exonerated by his purported unawareness of the scandals for which we seek Beroš's resignation. That's why we ask whether the country can be run by a prime minister who does not know or who does not get key information," Benčić said.

Homeland Movement MP Stjepo Bartulica said that the Croatian healthcare system was too politicised. "There are countless problems and the possible resignation of Minister Beroš will not change things much. We have insisted from the start that the healthcare system should be governed by market principles because now we don't see any mechanisms that will bring about change to the system as this government resists structural reforms," he said.

For more about politics in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

ZAGREB, 4 May, 2021 - In the past 24 hours, 1,396 new cases of coronavirus have been detected in Croatia while 46 people have died as a consequence, the national COVID response team reported on Tuesday.

There are a total of 11,033 active cases in the country, including 2,169 hospitalised patients, 259 of whom are on ventilators.

Since 25 February 2020, when the first case was confirmed in Croatia, there have been 336,918 registered cases of the novel coronavirus, 7,264 people have died as a consequence and 318,621 have recovered, including 1,695 in the past 24 hours.

There are currently 27,733 people in self-isolation.

A total of 1,836,108 people have been tested for the virus to date, with 9,040 tests conducted in the past 24 hours.

As of 3 May, a total of 921,527 doses of vaccines have been administered and 716,861 people have been inoculated. Of that number 509,580 have received one dose and 204,666 have received both. For 2,615 people there is no data as to how many shots they have received.

For more about COVID-19 in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

ZAGREB, 30 April, 2021 - In the last 24 hours, of 9,282 tests performed for coronavirus, 21%, that is 2,007, have returned positive, the Croatian national COVID-19 crisis management team reported on Friday, underscoring that the portion of positive tests today was by seven percentage points lower than last Friday.

In the last 24 hours, the COVID-related death toll has increased by 41 to 7,081.

Currently, there are 14,507 active cases, including 2,237 hospitalised patients of whom 253 are placed on ventilators.

Since the first confirmed case of the infection with the novel coronavirus in Croatia on 25 February 2020, as many as 1.8 million tests have been performed showing that 332,183 people have contracted the virus. Of them 310,595 have recovered so far, including 2,337 recoveries in the last 24 hours.

There are currently nearly 34,000 Croatians in self-isolation.

Under the vaccination rollout plan, 872,726 shots against this infectious disease have been administered. The national COVID-19 crisis management team reported today that 682,757 people had got vaccinated. As many as 490,230 people have received the first shot, and almost 190,000 have been inoculated by both doses.

For more about COVID-19 in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

ZAGREB, 29 April, 2021 - In the past 24 hours 2,439 new cases of the coronavirus infection have been reported in Croatia, putting the number of active cases at 14,878, while 39 people have died, the national COVID-19 response team said on Thursday.

A total of 2,239 patients are in hospital, including 245 on ventilators.

Since the first case of the disease was reported on 25 February 2020, 330,176 people have contracted it, and 7,040 have died.

A total of 308,258 people have recovered, including 2,126 in the past 24 hours.

Currently 34,690 people are in self-isolation.

To date a total of 1,794,905 persons have been tested, including 10,358 in the past 24 hours.

As of 28 April 825,839 doses of COVID vaccines have been administered, inoculating 648,709 people.

Of that number, 469,143 people have received the first dose and 177,130 have received both doses, while for 2,436 people it is not known which of the two doses they have received.

For more about COVID-19 in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

ZAGREB, 28 April, 2021 - In the past 24 hours a total of 12,032 coronavirus tests were conducted in Croatia, with 2,904 returning positive while 44 people died in that period, the national COVID-19 response team said on Wednesday.

There are currently 14,604 active cases, with 2,278 patients who are in hospital, including 253 on ventilators.

The number of positive cases in the number of tests done in the past 24 hours is slightly above 24%, around 5% down from last Wednesday.

Since the first case of the disease was reported in February 2020, 327,737 people have contracted it, and 7,001 have died.

A total of 306,132 people have recovered, including 1,586 in the past 24 hours.

To date a total of 1,784,547 persons have been tested.

As of 27 April 812,984 doses of COVID vaccines have been administered, inoculating 639,564 people.

Of that number, 463,710 people have received the first dose and 173,420 have received both doses, while for 2,434 people it is not known which of the two doses they have received.

For more about COVID-19 in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

ZAGREB, 26 April, 2021 - In the past 24 hours a total of 3,417 tests were conducted in Croatia, with 410 returning positive to coronavirus while 51 people died in that period, that national COVID response team reported on Monday.

There are currently 13,432 active cases in the country, 2,315 of whom are hospitalised patients and 259 of them are on ventilators.

Since the first case was identified in Croatia, there have been 323,036 registered cases of coronavirus in the country and 6,905 people have died as a consequence.

A total of 302,699 people have recovered, with 2,207 recovering in the past 24 hours.

The share of positive cases among those tested in the past 24 hours is about 12%, which is 3% less than last Monday.

There are currently 31,841 people in self-isolation.

To date a total of 1,762,625 persons have been tested.

As of 25 April 795,597 doses of COVID vaccines have been administered, inoculating 627,216 people.

Of that number 456,398 have received the first dose and 168,381 have received both doses, while in 2,437 cases it is not sure which of the two doses they have received.

For more about COVid19 in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.