March 13, 2020 - Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic addressed the press on Friday morning to announce the closure of all schools in Croatia from next week.
“The whole world is at war with the virus. The responsibility of every citizen is an essential discipline that will affect the spread of the epidemic. I call on everyone to be accountable and to listen carefully to the instructions and to all public health professionals. The headquarters will continue with all its activities as before, twice a day at 9 am and at 4 pm.”
"Everybody is thinking about closing schools. Our health experts say that a very small percentage of those infected are below the age of 20. But children are especially important, and we will stop teaching from Monday for two weeks."
Plenkovic said that all schools, from kindergartens to colleges will close from Monday, reports Index.hr. He added that schools will, however, be open in case there is no one to care for the child at home during those hours.
After this meeting, Minister Zdravko Maric will meet with businesses and representatives of retail chains.
The number of cases of coronavirus in Croatia rose from 27 to 31 overnight, Health Minister Vili Beros announced at a 9am press conference in Zagreb.
There were two new cases in Istria, bringing the total there to 6, and two more in Zagreb, bringing the total to 12. the two Zagreb patients were from the close circle of existing patients, while one of the Istrian cases had returned from Italy, and the other had been in contact with someone from Zagreb who had returned to Switzerland.
Beros said that he expected that number to rise in the coming days, but that there was no need to panic, and indeed the spreading of panic would have more serious consequences. Taking personal responsibility was crucial - avoiding public gatherings and things that are not necessary. He confirmed that some 500 people had been tested so far.
TCN is producing a comprehensive daily update of the situation in Croatia, with an updated map of the cases, stats and locations. You can read yesterday's thorough update here, as well as view the latest map below, which will be updated later today.
Currently there are no infections in Dalmatia at all, and the three entry points by air of Dubrovnik, Split and Zadar are free of the virus. Flights are functioning, although there have been cancellations. An overview of the flight situation from a couple of days ago can be found here - we will try and update the situation later today.
Borders remain open, apart from some with Serbia, although the ferry connection to Italy has been suspended. In addition to the daily TCN briefing, you can follow all aspects of TCN's coronavirus coverage in the dedicated COVID-19 section by clicking here.
