So far, 60 cases of the UK coronavirus strain, three cases of the South African strain and two cases of the New York variant have been confirmed in Croatia, Croatian Public Health Institute (HZJZ) head Krunoslav Capak said on Monday, noting that there was not much information on the New York strain for now.

There is not much information on the New York variant, about which reports appeared at the end of last week, except that it spreads faster and that its share in the total number of infections in New York has been rising, Capak said at a news conference held by the national COVID-19 response team.

South African strain appeared in three people who had travelled to Zanzibar

Three people who have been infected with the South African strain went on an excursion to Zanzibar.

“We received confirmation for two persons who were in Zanzibar at the end of January, they ended up in quarantine and there was no transfer of the disease. As for the third person, we are waiting for confirmation, the person was in Zanzibar on 16 February and returned home before the end of the excursion. We suspect the South African variant and are waiting for confirmation form the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control,” said Capak.

He added that all persons arriving in Croatia from South Africa and Zanzibar had to undergo the same procedure as persons arriving from the UK and Brazil.

The period of quarantine is again being extended to 14 days because the reasons no longer exist for it to last 10 days – previously the number of infected medical workers was high and that is no longer the case, while dangerous strains that spread faster have appeared, he said.

“The percentage of people who fall ill after 10 to 14 days poses a greater risk now than before. As for isolation, the period of isolation for those who are ill will continue to be ten days as there is growing evidence that a person is no longer contagious after the tenth day,” said Capak.

He announced that by the end of the week 23,400 doses of the Pfizer vaccine and 7,200 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine would arrive in Croatia.