ZAGREB, November 6, 2020 – Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said on Friday that the government’s scientific council had assessed that the current measures were proportionate to the threat of the spread of coronavirus.
“We have ascertained that there is a very clear common denominator that the measures we are taking are appropriate and proportional to the threat that the epidemic currently represents to the health of our citizens,” Plenkovic told reporters after a meeting of the scientific council in the government.
He underscored that if necessary, the council would recommend further measures while the National Civil Protection Authority, that is the COVID-19 crisis management team, would ramp up the current measures.
Council’s common stance: No lockdown or curfew
Plenkovic said that it was the common stance both of the government and the scientific council that a complete lockdown will not be introduced nor a curfew, reiterating that that “was never on the cards.”
“We assessed that the overall fight against Covid-19 until now was good. It is good that we can see that the dynamics of the infection over the past few days has decreased significantly compared to the preceding weeks,” said Plenkovic.
Asked whether anyone in the scientific council had suggested more stringent measures, the prime minister said that a margin existed to further sharpen measures and that the government was open to anything that could slow down the spread rate 0f COVID-19.
In response to reporters’ claims that oncology patients in some hospitals will not be receiving their medication due to the debt to drug wholesalers, Plenkovic said that the budget revision is in the parliament and as soon as it is adopted certain funds will be paid to wholesalers but also that he has instructed Health Minister Vili Beros to investigate the situation.
“He has been in contact with the relevant health institutions today. I don’t believe that that will be reflected in the broader context. If a shortage of a certain medication has occurred, I think that is more an exception than the rule in the health system,” he said.
Referring to claims that numerous doctors are sending dramatic messages and that the health system seems on the verge of caving in to the epidemic pressure, the prime minister said that Minister Beros was talking with doctors right at this moment and that everything was being done to improve the quality and preparedness of the entire health system.
“The thing that is good and we spoke about that – is that a series of professions within the public healthcare system will additionally be engaged with a strong motivation to care for the health and welfare of our citizens,” added Plenkovic.
