ZAGREB, Dececmber 4, 2020 - The coronavirus pandemic has resulted in Croatia having a serious problem with citizens' lack of trust in state institutions, the Jutarnji List daily says in its Friday issue.

Croatians are more or less satisfied with the work of the national COVID-19 response team even though only 30% of respondents who took part in a survey conducted in August and September this year said they were satisfied with it.

Citizens are even less satisfied with the work of other relevant institutions, and they are the least satisfied with the work of parliament (only 12% are satisfied) and the government (20%).

Since the autumn and winter of 2020 are a particularly challenging period in terms of the spread of the coronavirus infection, since citizens are exhausted by the process of dealing with the crisis and the government and other relevant stakeholders are expected to make responsible and demanding decisions to protect public health while preserving the economy, it is of key importance to invest effort to make citizens trust the relevant institutions and call on them to cooperate.

This is the conclusion of the first comprehensive survey of the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the nation's mental health and its social consequences.

The survey, financed by the Croatian Science Foundation and covering 1,060 respondents, was conducted by a team of psychologists, sociologists and political scientists as part of a research project dedicated to social recovery following the coronavirus crisis.

The project is headed by Professor Dinka Corkalo Biruski from the Psychology Department of the Zagreb Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences.

A rather interesting finding is that roughly the same percentage of respondents said that they do not worry at all (15.3%) or worry very much (14.1%) about getting infected with coronavirus.

Also, two in three respondents said their current standard of living is the same as before the crisis, which makes it seem that in the period before the survey was conducted the crisis did not have a major impact on people's assessment of their standard of living.

The poor fear the consequences of the pandemic the most.

The special circumstances citizens had to deal with during the pandemic are perceived as moderately stressful, with the uncertainty regarding the duration of the pandemic being the factor that causes the most stress, the daily says.

ZAGREB, Dec 2, 2020  - Croatia registered 3,539 new cases of coronavirus in the past 24 hours and 55 people have died as a consequence of COVID, the national COVID response team said on Wednesday.

The number of active cases is 22,610, including 2,408 hospitalized patients, 252 of whom are on ventilators.

Since 25 February, when the first case was registered in Croatia, a total of 134,881 people have been infected with the virus and 1,916 have died.

A total of 110,355 have recovered, of whom 2,124 in the past 24 hours.

There are currently 52,079 people in self-isolation.

To date, a total of 769,091 people have been tested for coronavirus, with 10,077 tests conducted in the past 24 hours.

ZAGREB, Nov 11, 2020 - Police have brought charges against the 27-year-old organizer and leader of the Anti-COVID protest rally that called for the dissolution of the national COVID-19 crisis response team for failing to ensure law and order and violating epidemiological rules.

They said that the 27-year-old man had not taken measures to ensure law and order, which resulted in the violation of measures introduced by the crisis response team, namely those related to keeping a safe distance and using protective face masks when that is not possible. In addition, the man did not warn protesters or stop the rally when he saw that they were not adhering to the measures in place.

Police said that the 27-year-old man had been informed about his duties as the organizer and leader of a public gathering when he reported the protest rally, and he had been warned to adhere to all epidemiological measures.

They added that the City of Zagreb's crisis response team had sent the instructions to the organizer of the  Anti-COVID protest rally.

Citizens dissatisfied with the work of the national coronavirus response team gathered at Zagreb's Central Railway Station on Sunday and walked towards the main square Trg Bana Jelacica where a dozen speakers addressed the demonstrators.

During their march, they did not adhere to epidemiological measures, such as keeping a safe distance or wearing protective masks.

Demonstrators carried banners with different messages, including those reading: "How dangerous is a virus if you need a test to know you have it?" and "This is not a matter of virus, but a matter of control."

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ZAGREB, Oct 28, 2020  - In the last 24 hours 2,378 new coronavirus cases have been registered in Croatia and 23 persons have died, the highest daily number of fatalities since the start of the epidemic, the national COVID-19 response team said on Wednesday.

On Tuesday, a record 18 coronavirus-related deaths were reported.

The number of active cases is 12,736, including 932 hospitalized patients, of whom 68 are on ventilators.

Since February 25, when the new virus was first registered in Croatia, 40,999 persons have been infected, of whom 493 have died and 27,770 have recovered, including 930 in the past 24 hours.

Currently, 14,924 persons are self-isolating.

To date, 466,315 persons have been tested, including 8,589 in the past 24 hours.

ZAGREB, Oct 21,  2020 - The head of the national Covid response team, Davor Bozinovic, said on Wednesday that as long as the number of people infected with coronavirus continued to grow they would concentrate on punishing violations of epidemiological measures, in particular legal entities.

Bozinovic visited the National Civil Protection Authority's warehouse in Jastrebarsko and told reporters that new measures would not be needed to curb the spread of coronavirus if measures already adopted were adhered to.

"We are monitoring the situation. The numbers are growing. They are growing outside Croatia too," said Bozinovic and underlined that they will concentrate the most on the measures in place, in particular the obligations of legal entities that organize events or other commercial acclivities where people fluctuate.

In that regard, he said, "we will punish any behavior that is not in accordance with the epidemiological measures."

He claimed that they had invested a lot of effort, including the Croatian Institute for Public Health which adopted detailed recommendations for all commercial and social activities so that they would not have to shut down.

"That effort has been transformed into specific recommendations by the response team," said Bozinovic, calling on all citizens to adhere to all measures as the only way to slow down the spread of the virus in Croatia.

He underscored that as long as the epidemic lasts, citizens have to avoid any large gatherings, private parties, and meetings.

He noted that the measures in place were intended for public events and not for events in people's homes. He warned, however, that it is in those circumstances that citizens forget themselves the most which then results in the virus spreading when they go home or back to work.

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ZAGREB, Oct 21, 2020 - Over the past 24 hours, Croatia has registered a record high of 1,424 new coronavirus infections and there have been 11 deaths, the national COVID-19 response team said on Wednesday.

Currently, 622 COVID patients are being treated in hospitals, and 38 of them are on ventilators. The number of active cases stands at 6,459, and there are 24,242 people in self-isolation.

Since February 25, when Croatia registered its first case of the infection, 28,287 people have contracted coronavirus, 393 of them have died, and 21,435 have recovered, including 473 in the last 24 hours.

To date, 411,947 people have been tested for the virus, including 8,255 over the past 24 hours.

This is the third time in a week that the number of single-day cases has exceeded one thousand.

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ZAGREB, Sept 30, 2020 - Over the past 24 hours 213 new coronavirus cases have been registered in Croatia, bringing the number of active cases to 1,256, and five persons have died, the national civil protection authority said on Wednesday.

Currently, 288 patients are hospitalized, including 23 on ventilators, and 8,155 persons are self-isolating

Over the past 24 hours, 6,592 samples have been tested for the virus and 110 persons have recovered.

Since February 25, when the new virus was first registered in Croatia, 16,593 persons have been infected, including 280 who have died and 15,057 who have recovered.

To date, 307,084 persons have been tested for coronavirus.

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ZAGREB, Sept 15, 2020  - Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said on Tuesday that Split Mayor Andro Krstulovic Opara enjoys his support when asked if Krstulovic Opara would run in the next local election, set for May 2021.

Plenkovic made the statement for the press after meeting with Krstulovic Opara and Split County head Blazenko Boban, also a member of the HDZ party.

HDZ has a lot of candidates for local election

Asked who could be the HDZ's candidate for the mayor of Zagreb, Plenkovic said that "the HDZ has a lot of candidates."

"We will have good candidates, there is enough time left for that. The HDZ has a lot of candidates," Plenkovic said, denying speculation by some media outlets that Finance Minister Zdravko Maric was a likely candidate for the post of Zagreb Mayor.

Plenkovic also commented on the Constitutional Court's decision of Monday that laws on the powers of the national COVID-19 response team, passed by the parliament, were in line with the Constitution and that most of the team's decisions were lawful.

Constitutional Court's support very good in terms of legal security

"The COVID response team and the government yesterday received support from the Constitutional Court which either dismissed (complaints) or declared that practically all of the team's decisions were constitutional and in line with relevant laws. I believe this is very good in terms of legal security and the fact that our actions were based on Article 16 of the Constitution and we made decisions in the context of a declared epidemic, to protect citizens' health," he said.

If the fight against COVID-19 in the spring had not been successful, we would not have achieved 50% of the results of last year's tourist season, which was the best ever, he stressed.

Commenting on the HDZ's pre-election promise about a Sunday trading ban, and the fact that the Constitutional Court ruled that the COVID-19 response team's decision to ban Sunday trading was not in line with the Constitution, Plenkovic recalled that some surveys showed that as many as 80% of Croatians were in favor of a Sunday trading ban.

Gov't to put forward balanced law on non-working Sunday

"We believe it would be good and in the interest of the family and a healthy balance between work, rest, and spending time with one's dearest ones. During this term the government will put forward a bill that will seek a balance between a non-working Sunday and a certain number of working Sundays," he said.

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ZAGREB, Sept 15, 2020 - Over the past 24 hours 151 new coronavirus cases have been registered in Croatia, bringing the number of active cases to 2,107, and three persons have died, the national COVID response team said on Tuesday.

Currently, 299 patients are hospitalized, including 22 on ventilators, and 8,598 persons are self-isolating.

The death toll has risen to 230.

Since February 25, when the pandemic began in Croatia, 13,749 persons have been infected with the virus and 11,412 have recovered.

To date, 230,585 persons have been tested, including 5,571 in the last 24 hours.

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ZAGREB, Sept 14, 2020  - HND protests against the Constitutional Court's decision not to allow reporters to attend its session discussing decisions of the national COVID-19 response team.

"The Croatian Journalist Association strongly protests against the Constitutional Court's decision which prevents media from covering its session focusing on the lawfulness of decisions made by the national COVID-19 response team on epidemiological measures during the coronavirus pandemic," the umbrella journalists' association said in a statement.

It noted that the court's decision was contrary to democratic standards, media freedoms, and the right of the public to be informed of all court decisions, notably the latest one.

Earlier in the day, the Constitutional Court decided that its session discussing the legality of measures introduced to fight the coronavirus epidemic would not be attended by media representatives.

Court secretary-general Teodor Antic said that once the court made a decision, it would issue a statement, and once its decision was published and sent to the parties that had put forward the proposal for a public debate, the court president would hold a news conference.

The HND said it did not believe the Constitutional Court's promise that all questions from the press would be answered fully and in a timely manner, noting that preventing reporters from following the court session "leaves one with a strong impression that the Constitutional Court is hiding something from reporters and the public."

"And all of that is happening in an EU country which until recently chaired the EU," the HND said.

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