January the 25th, 2020 - As soon as news of the potential epidemic spread of the new coronavirus broke in the international media, the Croatian public also started worrying about the deadly virus and started asking what has been done to prevent the spreading of the disease into Croatia.
DAILY UPDATES: Total Croatia News provides LIVE daily updates on the coronavirus epidemic here.
There is no clear answer to that question.
As soon as the situation on the international scale became clear, warnings that there's an increased probability of the virus coming into Croatia because of the number of Chinese workers working on Pelješac bridge surfaced, and that lead to Croatian journalists and columnists examining the imminent danger to the Croats and the state's health system. While it's not entirely clear how worried we should be about the emerging threat (with numerous scientists and publications saying that the mortality rate for the patients suffering from the coronavirus-caused pneumonia is significantly lower worldwide than the mortality rate related to seasonal flu, which nobody is really worried about), some of the institutions in Croatia have reacted to the potential threat.
The Croatian Ministry of Health has published their very brief set of recommendations (opens a .doc file in Croatian) for the travellers to and from China, and the Croatian Institute of Public Health has published their overview of the situation.
The Ministry warns those travelling to China to avoid sick persons, to avoid animals (both living and dead) as well as markets, not to eat any raw or semi-cooked animals, to wash their hands often (!) and to notify their doctor of their plans to travel to China.
For the travellers returning from the regions of China where coronavirus has been confirmed, and if you have a fever, cough or have trouble breathing, they want you to seek medical attention (but call before coming to your medical professional to inform them you've been to China), not to travel while sick, to avoid contact with other people, to cover your mouth with a handkerchief while coughing or sneezing and to wash your hands often (!).
The Croatian Institute of Public Health (HZJZ) has published a more comprehensive review of the situation, explaining more about the disease and its spread in the population. Their recommendations for the travellers to and from China (especially the Wuhan region) are similar, although they do provide the list of the epidemiologists on call to assist with any questions and worries.
At the same time, the Croatian Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs allegedly informed the public, and subsequently it was reported by the Croatian media, that four Croatian citizens are believed to be in the Wuhan region: three of them working there, and one visiting. All of them are reported to be healthy, but the Ministry doesn't recommend travel to certain Chinese regions (it hasn't been fully specified which) because of the dangers of the infection.
So far, the active measures of protection against the virus at the Croatian airports have not been introduced.
That means that people arriving to Croatia will not have their temperatures taken in order to determine which of them have a high temperature. The airports in Croatia are prepared, though, going through the passive measures and being vigilant, especially as we know that there are a number of managers working on Pelješac bridge expected to return to Croatia after having celebrated the Lunar New Year in China.
DAILY UPDATES: Total Croatia News provides LIVE daily updates on the coronavirus epidemic here.
