Due to the fairly low Covid numbers, which have reached a five-month low, Croatia's government announced on Thursday further easing of some coronavirus restrictions, starting on Friday.

“The limits on size of crowds at public events will be raised, and hospitality establishments will be allowed to stay open longer. Also, the rapid testing of children in schools will be scrapped,” Plenkovic said.

Events requiring Covid passes will have no restrictions on crowd size, and bars and restaurants will be allowed to stay open until 2 am now. In addition, pre-school children will no longer have to isolate automatically in case another child tests positive. Restrictions will also be eased for sports events, culture events, business fairs, and other events taking place indoors, as well as religious services.

Speaking at cabinet session on Thursday, Plenkovic said that the Omicron variant of the coronavirus seemed to lead to milder forms of the disease compared to the variants from earlier in the pandemic.

“However, we must stay on high alert, the virus is still here, and still it can have the gravest of consequences for some people,” he warned.