Croatian Public Health Institute deputy head Ivana Pavic-Simetin said on Wednesday that the latest surge in new COVID-19 infections called for a return to the basic epidemiological rules, noting that a fourth wave of the epidemic would depend on the rate of vaccination against coronavirus.

There have been 3,162 new coronavirus infections in the country in the past 24 hours, and Pavic-Simetin said that such a situation had not been recorded for a long time.

“After we had three stable weeks, with a mild increase in the number of infections, for the past three days we have had a major increase – today the number of infections was 27% higher, yesterday it was 70% higher and the day before yesterday it was 30% higher compared to the previous week. It is a bigger increase that requires a return to the basic measures, notably vaccination,” she told a news conference.

She said that the European Commission envisages that the countries with higher vaccination rates and relaxation of measures should not expect a deterioration concerning hospitalisations and deaths, while the countries with a lower share of immunised people, such as Croatia, could expect higher hospitalisation and death numbers as well as more patients on ventilators, and even more severe symptoms among the vaccinated people if the share of the unvaccinated remains high.

We are facing the ascending curve of the fourth wave present in Europe, and the peak and intensity as well as the duration of this wave depends on the rate of vaccinated persons and on what kind of anti-epidemic measures are being taken, she said.

Croatia has not reached collective immunity, colder weather can be expected and the new school year has begun, and all of that has contributed to the current developments, she added.

3 in 4 new cases on Wednesday unvaccinated

Commenting on today’s new 3,162 cases of the infection with coronavirus, she said that 74% of them were not inoculated. Of 98 COVID patients admitted to hospital today, 73% were unvaccinated, she said.

Of those under 55 who died of COVID-19, all were unvaccinated, she said.

As for those vaccinated who succumbed to this infection, the epidemiologist said that they were mainly senior citizens with underlying conditions.