May the 23rd, 2021 - Croatian home coronavirus tests are coming. Much like in several other European countries where home coronavirus tests have been the norm for quite some time now, such as in the United Kingdom, Croatia is set to introduce such an option to take the pressure off testing sites and make the entire procedure much easier.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, Dolores Peruc, head of the microbiological department of the NZZJZ PGZ, announced the arrival of Croatian home coronavirus tests, which will make life easier for everyone wanting to see if they are infected with the novel virus or not.

“These are screening tests. They're actually designed to be positive in the first five days of illness. They must have a sensitivity of more than 90 percent and a specificity of more than 97 percent.

Another important point is how the sample is taken - this test that will arrive to Croatian pharmacies are intended for use as nasal swabs, nasopharyngeal swabs and those for the oropharynx, but we must say that the nasopharyngeal swab is the most sensitive of all and if the swab is taken correctly we can detect an active COVID-19 infection people,'' explained Dolores Peruc.

All testing tools come in a special package, and according to the announcements, Croatian home coronavirus tests will be sold in pharmacies without any need for a prescription at a price of about 100 kuna.

"In no European Union (EU) country are these so-called self-tests recognised as diagnostic, but if you prove yourself to be positive on one of them then you need to arrange to have a diagnostic test, if you're negative, the instructions also say that this test is not difinitive proof that you are indeed negative," stated the Croatian Institute of Public Health's director, Krunoslav Capak.

The first Croatian home coronavirus tests will probably appear on the shelves of wholesalers next week, and then will be made available for purchase by the general public in the country's pharmacies, Nova TV reports.

For all you need to know about coronavirus specific to Croatia, including travel, border and quarantine rules, as well as the locations of vaccination points and testing centres across the country, make sure to bookmark our dedicated COVID-19 section and select your preferred language.