ZAGREB, Jan. 28 (Xinhua) -- The Croatian government announced here Thursday that starting from Monday, all primary schools will reopen for pupils, while some sports activities, mostly those outdoors, will be allowed.
Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic explained that the epidemiological situation in the country is better than several weeks ago, but that caution is still necessary.
Schools in Croatia have been opened since Jan. 18, but only for the first four grades in primary schools and the graduating classes in high schools.
Restaurants and gyms will remain closed, and a new decision will be made by the government in mid-February.
The Croatian Employers Association urged the government to extend measures to help the economy for as long as the consequences of the crisis are present.
In the last 24 hours, Croatia has registered 619 new cases of the coronavirus infection and 30 related deaths, Croatian Institute of Public Health reported on Thursday. Since Feb. 25 last year, when Croatia registered its first case, 230,978 people have been infected, while 4,943 have died.
As the world is struggling to contain the pandemic, vaccination is underway in some countries with the already-authorized coronavirus vaccines.
Meanwhile, 236 candidate vaccines are still being developed worldwide -- 63 of them in clinical trials -- in countries including Germany, China, Russia, Britain and the United States, according to information released by the World Health Organization on Jan. 26.
So far, 76,129 doses of vaccines have been administered in Croatia, and 17,635 people here have been vaccinated with the second dose. Enditem
