Health Minister Vili Beros said on Thursday that the experts form Croatia's COVID-19 crisis management team were making all the necessary preparations to ensure the country was ready to address new epidemiological challenges in the autumn.

“The expert group from the COVID-19 crisis management team is analysing the current situation and possible scenarios in Croatia and in the European Union. They are planning further steps in the preparation of the healthcare system and the implementation of the vaccination scheme against COVID-19,” Beros tweeted.

Croatia has recently been experiencing a new wave of highly infectious subvariants of coronavirus that have increased the share of positive cases among those tested to as much as 30 percent, with the daily number of new infections exceeding 1,000, according to the Croatian Public Health Institute (HZJZ).

Omicron subvariants BA.2, BA.4, and BA.5 are currently in circulation in Croatia, mostly affecting people aged 30-69 while children are less affected given the current school vacation, HZJZ said.

The new wave of the epidemic in Croatia started in late June, when the share of positive cases in the number of tested persons started to rise.

The largest number of new infections has been reported in the City of Zagreb and in Split-Dalmatia and Primorje-Gorski Kotar counties, while Virovitica-Podravina County has the most favourable situation, with only three new cases having been reported.