Croatia on Thursday reported 3,082 new cases of COVID-19, the highest daily number since the global pandemic hit the country nine months ago, though Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said the overall rate of increase was slowing.
The southeast European nation of four milion people has registered a total of 75,922 cases of the respiratory disease with 925 fatalities to day. There are now 16,388 active cases.
Plenkovic, in remarks at a cabinet metting, appealed to citizens to respect protective measures.
"We are in the toughest period of the epidemic, but a good thing we see is that a rise in the number of newly infected is slowing down (over the course of the past week)," he said.
Croats are obliged to wear face masks in indoor public spaces and on public transport while companies are urged to organise work from home wherever possible. But the conservative government has said it will try to avoid a blanket lockdown or a curfew to avoid crippling the economy.
(Reporting by Igor Ilic; Editing by Mark Heinrich)
