The national Covid-19 crisis management team has decided that masks will no longer be mandatory at events attended only by people with digital COVID certificates, its head Davor Bozinovic said on Friday.

“Thereby we are sending the message that digital Covid certificates will replace mask-wearing in more and more situations,” he said at a press conference.

For next week, he announced a dialogue with unions and employers on a decision that the vaccination of employees would be a requirement for businesses to continue to receive financial support from the government.

“The government’s duty, in protecting lives, is to go for solutions that must take into account broader social interests. It’s necessary to discuss whether all state benefits are unconditional always and in every situation,” Bozinovic said.

Countries that vaccinate their population faster will have a smaller fourth wave of the epidemic and less economic damage, he said. “I expect understanding from all because we have a common interest… The government won’t scrap the support, but we expect everyone else to do their part in the crisis.”

Beros surprised by some creating a front against vaccination

Commenting on making financial support to businesses conditional on vaccination, Health Minister Vili Beros said solidarity and responsibility were useless if they were one-sided.

“We expect everyone who received compensation, I won’t say to return the favor, but to contribute so that we come out of the crisis. Health and economic reasons go together,” he said, adding that “with vaccination, we can enable normal work and normal functioning… I’m surprised that some are creating a front against vaccination.”

Beroš underlined the need to continue with vaccination as the target of immunizing 50 percent of the population by the end of June was not met. “It’s the most important health process currently going on in the country.”

Markotic: Number of hospitalised Covid patients is very small

The director of Zagreb’s Infectious Diseases Hospital, Alemka Markotic, said it was good news that the number of hospitalised Covid patients was now very small.

She noted, however, that hospitalizations could increase again due to the insufficient number of vaccinations and the rapid spread of the Delta variant, which she said accounted for 95 percent of all positive samples.

Croatian Institute of Public Heath director Krunoslav Capak said Zadar County currently had the highest and Istria County the lowest incidence in Croatia which, he added, ranked 12th in the EU in terms of the 14-day incidence.

He said 2.1 percent of the tests done today came back positive, and that 4,125 reports of vaccine side-effects had been reported to date – 2,194 to Pfizer, 410 to Moderna, 1,480 to AstraZeneca and 37 to Johnson&Johnson.