New measures for schools and sports as of midnight

ZAGREB, 29 January (Hina) – New epidemiological measures for schools and sports will enter into force as of midnight, the head of the national COVID response team Davor Božinović said on Friday, adding that he hopes that owners of hospitality venues and gyms will not resort to protests because they will remain in lockdown.

Compared to the previous decision, now all pupils in elementary schools will go back to in-person classes, and sports activities will be allowed outdoors, in swimming pools, and in sports balloons. However, fitness centres and hospitality premises will remain closed.

Addressing a regular COVID press conference, Božinović said he hopes there will be no protests by owners of hospitality venues and gyms and that they will not open their doors on 1 February as has been announced.

“I don’t see that anything has changed regarding solidarity. Nobody in the world has found a recipe for the hospitality industry. In the EU such facilities have been closed since October,” said Božinović.

Interior Minister Davor Božinovic (Photo: HINA/ Daniel KASAP)

Caution is required due to new variants of the virus and the complications that have arisen in obtaining vaccines.

New measures will be discussed before 15 February if the trend continues to be favourable and continues to decline and new strains of the virus do not appear.

The head of the Public Health Institute, Krunoslav Capak, said that Croatia has used almost 80,000 doses of vaccine, and so far there have been 409 complaints of side effects to Pfizer’s vaccine and 11 to Moderna’s vaccine.

He added that the AstraZeneca vaccine should be endorsed by the EU today and that by the end of February Croatia should receive 156,158 doses in three tranches.

 “Croatia has reserved 900,000 doses of Johnson&Johnson’s vaccine which is taken in one dose,” added Capak.

Capak said that the restrictive measures introduced have curbed the emergence of seasonal flu and that not one case has been registered yet.