Croatia to introduce new meaures to curb surge of COVID-19 cases

Croatia

ZAGREB, Nov. 5 (Xinhua) -- Croatia plans to introduce new measures to try to curb the surge of COVID-19 cases which reached a record 6,932 cases Friday, the highest daily number since the beginning of the pandemic.

On Thursday, the country with a population of 4.2 million also reported 6,310 new cases and 36 COVID-19 related deaths.

Croatian Interior Minister Davor Bozinovic said at a press conference that the new measures will include the ban to hold public events and gatherings attended by more than 50 people, unless it is attended by people with EU digital COVID-19 certificates.

At all public events, wearing a medical mask would be mandatory, Bozinovic said, adding that the ban to hold open-air gatherings attended by more than 100 people was still in force, unless they had EU digital COVID-19 certificates.

Moreover, COVID-19 certificates would be applied to all civil servants and employees, as well as companies founded by the state or local government, as a condition of performing duties, the minister said, adding that the new measures will take effect on Nov. 15.

As of Friday, the number of active cases in Croatia is 28,541, among whom 1,711 are in hospital and 231 are on respirators. Since the beginning of the pandemic in February 2020, there have been 490,074 cases and 9,400 deaths.