37% fewer infections week on week, more than 1,2 million vaccine shots administered

The decrease in new coronavirus cases in Croatia is continuing, with a 37% drop week on week today, and restrictions could be somewhat relaxed on 1 June, the national COVID-19 response team said on Friday, extending the restrictions at national level until 31 May. 

"The trend is good, promising, but these are still not the numbers to make us feel comfortable," Interior Minister Davor Božinović told the press.

Not yet time to relax restrictions at national level

Although we've had a positive trend for a month now, we think it's still not time to relax restrictions at national level. A certain relaxation could occur on 1 June, he said.

The only change in the national level measures concerns the temporary ban on crossing the border as the exemption from having to produce a PCR test result is being extended to six months since vaccination.

Measures are being relaxed regionally because of better epidemiological conditions.

Speaking of trial events with more people attending, Božinović said the goal was for coronavirus numbers to continue to fall so that Croatia was not talked about as a tourist destination with a high incidence.

"All the measures combined, including faster vaccination by the Health Ministry, will create conditions for a better tourist season than last year."

Bernard Kaić of the Croatian Institute of Public Health said that although the number of new cases kept decreasing, the 14-day incidence remained high at 433 per 100,000, with only five other EU countries having a higher incidence.

But the rise in new cases in Croatia started later, so the fall will also occur later, he said.

Varaždin, Međimurje and Zagreb counties and the City of Zagreb have the highest incidence, while Virovitica-Podravina and Istria counties have the lowest. "The situation is expected to improve as we are vaccinating more," Kaić said.

Over 1.2 million vaccines administered

To date over 1.2 million vaccines have been administered, with 24% of the population receiving one shot.

As for side effects, 3,202 have been reported - 1,569 to the Pfizer vaccine because it the most widely given, 1,380 to AstraZeneca and 244 to Moderna. Only 19 side effects are considered serious, it was said.

Kaić also commented on recommendations that vaccinated people need not wear masks. He recommended wearing them, saying the situation in Croatia was still such that there was a big chance of being near someone who was infected.

Health Minister Vili Beroš said it was no time to relax because 21 people were put on ventilators yesterday. He said 366 COVID-19 patients were currently hospitalised in Zagreb's Dubrava hospital, including 63 in intensive care, 55 of them on ventilators.

He said 29% of adults had been vaccinated and that this was a good percentage. The number of those vaccinated at mass vaccination points has jumped 45% in the past nine days, he added.

Beroš said 88% of citizens to date had been registered for vaccination by their family doctors but that now more and more people who had signed up online were being vaccinated. He said 243,012 people had registered online and that 123,012 were yet to be vaccinated.

Text: Hina

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