July 21, 2021 - Will strict measures in Croatia return by the end of the month? High-risk gatherings are in question.
Less than two months after most measures were eased, new, stricter measures are increasingly likely to await us in Croatia. As Jutarnji List unofficially learned from a source close to the National Civil Protection Headquarters, new measures are being prepared, which should enter into force before the current measures expire and which have been announced to last until July 31.
Although it is not strictly said what the measures would refer to, it is most likely related to gatherings considered the riskiest for transmitting the virus. After the entire Croatian coast was marked orange a few days ago, which is a kind of warning, the Headquarters seems to have decided to move in the direction of tightening measures to ensure the season lasts as long as possible.
Namely, Jutarnji List reports that it is almost impossible to avoid a larger increase in numbers, and they also do not want to stop the season. Therefore, they are trying to find the best possible balance between the pandemic and the season, in fact, two incompatible poles.
They expect that more tourists will enter Croatia than the local population, so it is unrealistic to expect that some will not be infected. The plan is to prevent large hotspots because this would almost automatically lead to putting Croatia "in the red," and thus, we would become an epidemiologically undesirable destination.
An additional problem is created by the new Delta strain, which has become dominant and spreads rapidly. Although the numbers in Croatia are still stable, on Tuesday, it was about three percent positive compared to those tested, so the epidemic is considered to be under control. However, we are still seeing an increase in those infected.
An additional fear is the complete opening of Great Britain, which, despite the high percentage of vaccinated, is recording a significant increase in the number of patients. Therefore, it can be expected that this number will also increase with the abolition of epidemiological measures.
Some European countries have already tightened the conditions for Brits crossing the border, and Croatia is expected to do the same.
In particular, British tourists will no longer cross the border if they have not been tested. Unlike the current practice of testing only those who have not been vaccinated or have not recovered from Covid, a mandatory test should also be introduced for the vaccinated.
Although the most desirable tourists are vaccinated, the fact is that they can be asymptomatic carriers of the virus, which is a problem in Croatia where vaccination is still insufficient, especially in Dalmatian tourist hotspots.
Experts believe that it would be good for Britons who have not recovered from Covid or have not been tested to spend 14 days in self-isolation in addition to taking the test. But, as Jutarnji learned from a source close to the Headquarters, this is not considered because Croatia would be left without guests. Namely, there is almost certainly no one who can afford two weeks of self-isolation in addition to their holiday.
Bernard Kaić, head of the Epidemiology Service of Infectious Diseases at the CNIPH, was asked if British tourists were a threat.
"Of course, they are, like anyone else who comes to the country. Many guests enter Croatia, and, logically, the virus is transmitted in a pandemic," says Kaić.
According to data from Tuesday, there were 146 newly diagnosed cases, of which almost 60 percent were in Split-Dalmatia County (34), Zadar County (26), Šibenik-Knin County (11), and Dubrovnik County (15).
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