The COVID-19 pandemic has forced many countries to take a number of measures to combat it. There has been no lack of criminal response, either by applying the existing normative framework to behaviours that can be described as leading to contagion or by prescribing new criminal offences. Numerous European countries criminalise the transmission of disease in certain circumstances in their criminal laws, and widely prescribing criminal behaviour during the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in the possibility of applying sanctions of a different legal nature. The question arises of the role of criminal law in preventing the spread of disease and combating the COVID-19 pandemic, the scope and range of criminal responsibility, and the implications for human rights and freedoms. Although the immediate threat demands a legal response to the violation of measures aimed at combating the COVID-19 pandemic, it should be borne in mind that criminal law is the ultima ratio societatis, even when it comes to preserving human health. The first part of the paper considers administrative measures and misdemeanour and penal provisions that have been adopted in the Republic of Croatia in respect of the prevention of and social reaction to the spread of the COVID-19 virus The second part examines the scope and manner of the application of the relevant provisions of criminal law and individual and general administrative measures adopted in individual European countries in the context of the COVID-19 virus. To conduct the study, relevant domestic and foreign literature was analysed, as was the normative regulation of the subject matter in individual countries belonging to the continental legal tradition.