Beroš said that we still have a high number of fatalities which forces us to be on alert. “We expected that the number of deaths would start to fall but that has not happened. However, there are fewer hospitalised patients in a serious condition,” he said.
To date a total of 60,958 people have been vaccinated including 7,843 who have received both doses.
Beroš says that Croatia has not registered any cases of the new strain of coronavirus and that based on recommendations, it plans to increase the number of virus sequencing.
This was discussed yesterday at the European Commission’s Scientific Council because Europe is worried about the new variant of the virus and has recommended stepping up of sequencing genomes in those situation where a larger number of infected people emerges which was recently the case in Varaždin and Međimurje counties and with arrivals from high-risk countries like South Africa and Great Britain, he explained.
Beroš said that that sequencing will be conducted in institutions that have the equipment for that type of genetic analysis such as the infectious diseases hospital and that he believes that the scientific community will contribute as the majority of institutions have that equipment.
When it comes to relaxing measures in Croatia, the minister said that the number of new cases is just one of the elements relevant to decide on measures. However, the decisions are also influenced by other facts such as winter months, the epidemiological situation in our neighbourhood, the emergence of the new strain of the virus, increased mobility with school starting and so on.
“I think the worst thing now would be to consider steps that are not founded. Most of Europe is stepping up measures so it is not realistic to expect any relaxing until the epidemiological situation can guarantee safety,” said Beroš.
