Number of new infections declining, Croatian Public Health Institute head says

Krunoslav Capak (Photo: HINA/ PIXSELL/ POOL/ Goran Stanzl)

ZAGREB, April 21 (Hina) – Speaking about the reopening of schools in the context of the coronavirus epidemic, Croatian Public Health Institute head Krunoslav Capak said on Tuesday that all further decisions would be made by the government, in consultation with the national authority for the coronavirus crisis.

Capak, who is a member of the national authority managing the coronavirus crisis, told reporters that online classes functioned well and that there was no reason why the current school year could not be completed online.

He said that there was a slight decline in daily figures on the number of new infections but that other parameters were also being monitored so as to be able to make decisions on a possible easing of epidemiological restrictions.

Capak also commented on entrepreneurs’ request that they pay for the PCR testing of their employees.

He explained that to test negative in a PCR test did not mean that one could not test positive a few days later.

Capak pointed to the possibility of serological testing which would show, based on a certain level of antibodies, that someone has recovered from COVID-19.

“Someone might get a certificate that they have recovered from COVID-19 based on the presence of antibodies but they would not be able to get it based on a PCR test,” he said.

He added that a possibility was being considered to allow some private laboratories to test seafarers waiting to board vessels.

Minister: Health system to go back to normal, waiting lists to be managed

Health Minister Vili Beros said that the health system was slowly going back to normal.

He said that once the epidemic was over, he would start dealing with the problem of waiting lists for specialist examinations to compensate for delays, including for diagnostic procedures.

Beros said that he had a few new tools for the problem of waiting lists, such as the central management system.

It will help obtain exact information on how many examinations are performed in a medical institution in a certain period of time and on the number of devices used for those examinations.

“We will be able to compare performance between individual medical institutions, and we will also consider extending working hours for those institutions that have the necessary infrastructure and human potential,” he said, confident that waiting lists would be a smaller problem than the coronavirus epidemic.