Over the past week 390 people have died of Covid-19 in Croatia and 273 of them (70 percent) had not been vaccinated at all, Health Minister, Vili Beros, said at a government session on Thursday, state agency Hina said.

The largest numbers of Covid-19 patients in hospital care are currently in Split, Rijeka, and Zagreb’s Dubrava hospital. Dubrava, Split, and Osijek hospitals have the largest number of patients on ventilators, he said. Hina did not report the exact numbers.

Hospital capacity for Covid patients is “being increased as needed” while other non-essential procedures are being reduced, and in the coming weeks an influx of severe cases is expected, which means “further reduction of services for non-Covid patients,” Hina quoted Beros as saying.

“The increased interest in vaccination has continued, and more than 120,000 people have received their first shot over a period of one week,” he said.

So far 3.8 million doses have been administered, and 61.15 percent of Croatia’s 3.3 million adults have been vaccinated. A total of 98,024 persons have received a third, booster shot, he said.

Mandatory testing helps identify 1,411 positive cases

After mandatory testing was introduced for unvaccinated employees of government and public institutions earlier this week, over the past few days 64,462 people were tested and 1,411 positive cases have been identified.

“We are continuing to register a large number of new infections due to the prevalence of the fast-spreading Delta and Delta plus variants,” Beros said, noting that the introduction of Covid-19 certificates was a measure “proportional to the current epidemiological situation.”

Minister of the Interior Davor Bozinovic said that the decision on mandatory testing for employees in government and public services did not mean compulsory vaccination and that the first day of the Covid certificate mandate had passed well.

“Even though there were individual incidents and protests, the first day went well and I believe that the quiet and conscientious majority has accepted it with understanding,” he said.