The coronavirus disease is new and Croatia has to be prepared for all possible scenarios. Caution is needed in treating potential patients coming to the country and the ministry is coordinating and implementing all the measures that are required through its emergency headquarters, Beros said.
He noted that current information indicates that there are 28,280 people infected with the disease worldwide, 257 being in China. So far there have been 565 fatalities, and all but two have been recorded in China. The disease has been identified in 24 countries.
There have been 28 people in the EU registered with the disease in France, Germany, Finland, Italy, Spain, Sweden, Belgium, and Russia.
Beros underscored that the characteristics of the disease are not that alarming yet for it to be considered to be an exceptional threat however certain caution is required with potential patients who are coming to Croatia.
"Just upon the outbreak of the epidemic an expert team in the ministry was activated and the emergency team has networked the entire health system, also through telemedicine and video links, and personnel are on call," Beros said.
Health monitoring for all passengers arriving from China
All mechanisms in the emergency headquarters have been set into motion and the emergency team will send a notice to all cities and counties of the need to monitor the health situation in their region.
Detailed instructions have been compiled for all health workers how to deal with suspicious cases as well as instructions for border police and health inspectors at the border.
The Civil Aviation Agency has sent instructions to all airlines that come to Croatia and established cooperation between the relevant state institutions.
The Croatian Public Health Institute introduced special health inspection measures on February 2 for all passengers arriving from China or who had been in China within the incubation period of 14 days.
That proved to be a good measure because the very first day the measure was introduced a female passenger was identified who had been Wuhan just 12 days prior to landing in Zagreb, Beros recalled. She was then advised to remain in quarantine for the next two days at least.
Bill on state statistics sent to parliament
The government on Thursday put forward to the parliament the bill on state statistics which regulates procedures of appointing and dismissing chief personnel at the State Bureau of Statistics (DZS), establishes a committee for official statistics and envisages that DZS will take over the Zagreb Statistics Office.
The legislation on official statistics is part of the government's action plan related to introducing the euro as the official currency in Croatia, Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said.
"The law will enhance the independence of the State Bureau of Statistics (DZS), which is vital for us and the state in general," said Plenkovic.
Public Administration Minister Ivan Malenica explained that the bill was prepared in order to introduce new measures and instruments and align them with the European statistical system and harmonise them with the European acquis as well as to introduce a simpler standard solution of organisation and operations related to statistics in Croatia.
According to the bill and in accordance with European legal acquis the DZS is to be managed by a general director as a senior public servant and not state office-holder.
The general director shall be appointed and dismissed by the government pursuant to a public job advertisement and shall be in chosen for a five-year term.
The bill foresees that as of September 1, DZS will take over the tasks that are currently managed by the City of Zagreb statistical office that has 11 employees. DZS is supposed to take over all of the Zagreb statistical office's equipment, archives and other documents as well as working resources and all the rights and obligations related to the tasks taken over.
An additional HRK 256,824 has been earmarked for these activities this year, and a little less than HRK 1 million for 2021 and 2022.
Text: Hina