August 9, 2020 - The director of the Clinic for Infectious Diseases "Dr. Fran Mihaljevic" Alemka Markotic was a guest on RTL Today, where she commented on the coronavirus in Croatia and the number of patients in recent days.
"The numbers are a bit better or worse, but the trend is downward; you'll see that we have a downward trend from the beginning of the second wave. Every couple of days, we have some new peaks related to different hotspots," she said, as reported by Index.hr.
She also commented on how tourists should behave.
"It's almost a month and a half into the season, and it's clear that we are a safe country. There were no major jumps among tourists, obviously, those who come are very responsible, and tourism workers are convinced that a lot depends on the season," she said, and added that the problem is in younger people who become infected by going out to enclosed spaces at night. Measures are planned to be taken in this regard.
"These hotspots are not that big; they are gatherings like weddings, bachelor and bachelorette parties and some nightclubs. We will try to introduce new measures and security checks in places where there are hotspots to prevent this from happening again," she added.
She also commented on the rise of young infections.
"These were larger private gatherings, such as weddings and bachelor and bachelorette parties, and individual nightclubs. We must take into account that there are hundreds of those who make sure that all measures are implemented properly. So we cannot punish everyone, but we will try in places where outbreaks appear, introduce additional security checks and see how to improve the situation so that new outbreaks no longer occur in those places," she said.
The age of the infected has also dropped, so there are more and more of them among the young.
"Young people are definitely not among the most at-risk groups. But a large number of them have now relaxed with the measures. There are a lot of movements, activities and the like. Of course, the higher the number, the greater the chances of serious infections. Young people must understand that they can contribute a lot and help the health system and each other. They have been the vanguard many times in difficult situations; I believe that young people will understand this, and you will soon see. A group of enthusiasts and professors from Osijek and Slavonia is preparing a very interesting school program that will relate to biosafety, biosecurity and COVID. I believe that young people will wholeheartedly accept it and help all of us in that," she said.
And to end - did the German graduates become infected on Pag?
"They had symptoms around the third day in Croatia, so it is unlikely that they became infected in our country. They became infected either during the bus trip or before," she added.
She also commented on vaccines and said that America and Russia are in the running.
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