ZAGREB, July 27, 2020 - Croatia's health and IT sectors have developed and on Monday presented the Croatian version of the Stop COVID-19 app which uses temporary and anonymous data to inform users about exposure to coronavirus.

The app is available for Android and Apple mobile phones and uses Bluetooth technology.

The success of the app is based on the conscientious and solidary participation of citizens, said Health Minister Vili Beros.

After the pandemic is over, it will no longer be possible to use the app, which is secure and uses temporary and anonymous data.

The app's cross-border interoperability has also been ensured.

The app was designed under a government decision by the APIS IT agency for support to information systems and technologies.

"All data exchanged between two devices, i.e. two persons, is recorded only on mobile devices," said Sasa Bilic, chairman of APIS IT's management board.

Every user is informed anonymously that they have been in contact with infected persons sometime over the past 14 days. Users will be notified by text if the contact has been high, medium or low risk based on precisely defined parameters.

"We took distance into account. A text about a high risk is when a person has been two meters away for more than 15 minutes over the past 48 hours," said epidemiologist Tomislav Benjak.

The user will receive a text saying they have been in high-risk contact, to stay home and contact their family doctor. Texts about medium and low-risk contacts are created similarly.

A dozen EU member states (Austria, the Czech Republic, Italy, Latvia, Germany, Poland, Denmark, Ireland, France, and Hungary) have designed mobile apps to track contacts and inform users about exposure to COVID-19.

Bozinovic: App is secure, has all the necessary certificates

Interior Minister Davor Bozinovic, who heads the national COVID-19 response team, said the Stop COVID-19 app had all the necessary certificates.

"The European Commission said the health authorities in each member state should manage the app. Simply put, it's communication between two mobile phones. The person who possibly receives a text that they have been near an infected person doesn't know who this person is, and the infected person can activate the app only if they want to," he told press.

No third party can know anything about that communication, he said. "It couldn't be more secure. After all, the app has all the necessary certificates."

ZAGREB, May 27, 2020 - Health sector unions on Wednesday did not sign an annex to the collective agreement for public sector employees, expressing disappointment with the government's offer and noting that they had enabled the relaunching of the economy and the reopening of borders and were against the restriction of their rights.

Considering the crisis caused by coronavirus pandemic, the government had proposed that the planned 2% base pay increases in June and October, and the holiday allowance for public and government sector employees be suspended.

"Most public sector and government employees' unions have said that they will accept the government's annex. We are against it. The doctors' union, the nurses' union, the independent union of healthcare and social workers, the Preporod teachers' union, and some of the government employees are against signing such an annex," HLS doctors' union leader Renata Culinovic Caic said.

She added that the unions could not agree to any restriction of previously agreed entitlements.

"I particularly want to warn that the government has completely forgotten about medical workers, it has forgotten that we were the ones who created conditions for the relaunching of the economy, the reopening of borders and for salvaging tourism," she stressed.

The leader of the nurses union, Anica Prasnjak, said that nurses had asked to be rewarded rather than see their rights restricted.

The leader of the SSZSS independent union of healthcare and social welfare workers, Stejpan Topolnjak, said that the government's offer was unacceptable while the leader of the Preporod teachers' union, Zeljko Stipic, said that his union was the only teachers' union to refuse the government's offer.

"There are 11 representative unions of public sector workers, six did not accept the government's offer and five did. According to the law on representativeness, this is a borderline result but sufficient to have the offer accepted. One should consider finally amending the law on representativeness," said Stipic.

He added that the government would pay the holiday bonus to all public and government sector employees as had been the case so far.

ZAGREB, May 27, 2020 - Unions representing workers in the health and welfare sectors said on Wednesday, ahead of a meeting with government officials, that their members were against a government proposal for the suspension of planned base pay increases of 2% in June and October and of the holiday allowance.

Renata Culinovic Caic of the HLS doctors' union told reporters that it was owing to the work of medical and social workers that the relaunching of tourism and economy after the crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic had been made possible and that given the circumstances, doctors could not accept the government's proposal.

The Preporod union of school employees said earlier in the day that most of their members were against the government's proposal while a representative of the NSZVO union of employees in the science and higher education sectors said the union's central body had accepted the government's offer.

Talks between government negotiators and union representatives about the signing of annexes to collective and basic collective agreements for the public sector and government employees continued at the Labour and Pension System Ministry today.

The negotiations will be held separately with representatives of public sector unions, unions of employees in the science and higher education sectors, teachers and high school employees, and unions of government employees.