US Department of Health and Human Services

The European Union recommended a pause on all non-essential travel from the US as Covid-19 cases surge.

This happens after the daily average for hospital admissions has risen past 100,000 for the first time since last winter in USA.

The recent wave, driven by the Delta variant, is most severe in the US South but cases are rising nationwide.

"Most often, we either cannot afford the necessary healthcare or the care we need does not exist in Croatia at all and there is no way of covering the costs of care in the countries where it does exist, or we face discrimination and human rights violations within the healthcare system," Topal told BIRN.

Surgery unaffordable for many