ZAGREB, April 17 (Hina) – Over the past 24 hours, 23 new COVID-19 infections have been confirmed in Croatia, 71 persons have recovered and one has died, the national civil protection authority said on Friday.

The total number of patients in Croatia stands at 1,814, Health Minister Vili Beros said at the daily briefing.

The latest fatality is a 47-year-old woman with “considerable” underlying conditions who died in Osijek, he said, adding that the death toll was 36.

The average age of patients is 50 and 52.2% are women.

Beros said 20,953 persons had been tested, including 796 in the past 24 hours, and that the percentage of positive cases among those tested continued to decrease and was now 8.66%.

Thirty patients are on ventilators and 372 are hospitalised in total.

“We’ve had 359 recoveries, 47 more than yesterday(in hospitals), 241 have recovered at home, which is 24 more than yesterday. The total number of recoveries is 600,” said Beros.

The head of the national civil protection authority, Interior Minister Davor Bozinovic, said the epidemiological measures in force against COVID-19 would be extended but that the authority would “embark on easing” them “thoughtfully and cautiously.”

“Most epidemiological measures expire on Sunday at midnight and we will certainly extend most of those measures. But we are definitely moving towards the stage in which some measures will be eased,” he said at the daily press briefing.

Bozinovic said Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic had asked all ministers to prepare for today a review of important economic activities, after which epidemiologists would give recommendations on how to organise compliance with the measures.

“Any easing carries a certain risk. This virus has shown that it can spread fast in uncontrolled conditions. The road map is clear. We haven’t given specific dates much in advance. But I think our approach, with today’s (coronavirus-related) numbers, has shown its justification,” said Bozinovic.