Croatia to conduct serological survey considering asymptomatic COVID-19 cases

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

ZAGREB, April 8 (Hina) – The head of the Croatian Institute of Public Health, Krunoslva Capak said on Wednesday that the institute will perform a serological survey to determine a portion of asymptomatic patients among Croatians infected with the coronavirus.

He underlined that it would be a sample survey and it would not be conducted throughout the entire population.

Currently, several possible platforms for the survey are being taken into consideration, he said at a news conference by the national COVID-19 crisis management team.

Serological surveys are often used by epidemiologists to determine the prevalence of a disease in a population. These surveys are sometimes performed at random, anonymous sampling from samples taken for other medical tests or to assess the prevalence of antibodies of a specific organism or protective titre of antibodies in a population.

Capak said that the situation was under control in the Dalmatian town of Knin where there were nine positive cases, including two patients in the local hospital. Due to these developments, 25 health workers in that town have been placed in self-isolation and the hospital is being disinfected.

He said that the situation was also being addressed in the Stubicke Toplice Special Hospital where four patients and two nurses had tested positive for the virus.

The head of Zagreb’s Fran Mihaljevic Hospital for Infectious Diseases, Alemka Markotic, said that two of the hospital’s staff had tested positive for coronavirus, and one of them was a nurse and the other a non-medical worker. Consequently, eight doctors, 39 nurses and 11 non-medical workers have to self-isolate.

61 newly infected Croats, 12 recovered from COVID-19, one more death

There have been 61 new cases of COVID-19 in Croatia in the past 24 hours, 12 persons have recovered and one patient in a Split hospital died due to the infection, Croatia’s COVID-19 crisis management team said at a news conference on Wednesday afternoon.

The number of COVID-19 positive cases since the start of the outbreak on 25 February has risen to 1,343.

Doctor Maja Grba-Bujevic informed that currently there were 359 patients in hospitals, including 36 on ventilators.

Since the outbreak of the infection, 179 Croatians have recovered from the disease.