Due to the "deterioration of the Covid-19 situation" five major associations of physicians called the government on Thursday to "urgently adopt six key measures" to slow down the spread of infection and prevent what they called the "collapse of the hospital system," state agency Hina said.

“The request was made due to the marked and rapid deterioration of the situation, the big pressure on the health system, the risk of hospital overload and the undermining of their ability to treat both Covid and other patients,” Hina explained, without naming the five organizations involved.

They asked for mandating Covid passes for all employees in businesses as well as public administration, and making them mandatory to enter public spaces succh as shopping malls, cinemas, theaters, restaurants, and bars. They also called for restricting indoor gatherings to a maximum of 50 people.

They also suggested the introduction of online classes “for the next two weeks” for all levels of education, and also for postponement of elective procedures in hospitals. They also said that vaccinations should be made available in all major cities seven days a week, 12 hours a day.

The five unnamed organisations said that “the inevitable result of the rise in Covid hospitalizations and the numbers of Covid patients in intensive care will be that neither Covid nor any other types of patients would be able to get quality health care.”

On Thursday Croatia registered 6,310 new Covid cases, the highest single-day number to date. Over the past two weeks the number of hospitalizations and patients on ventilators has jumped by 72 percent.

“Unless the necessary measures are urgently taken, there will be no specialized doctors to treat serious Covid cases,” Hina quoted the five organizations as saying..