ZAGREB, Aug 14, 2020 - The national association of hospitality providers on Friday called for compliance with the latest measures and recommendations by the Civil Protection Authority related to bars, but considers that they are unfair to those who have adhered to the measures all the time.

The national COVID response team on Thursday adopted a decision whereby hospitality venues described as 'bars', which refers to night clubs, night bars, disco-bars, cafe bars and the like, will not be allowed to be open after midnight. The measure will remain in force as of today and for the next ten days.

Ahead of the coming public holiday weekend, the association of hospitality providers called on everyone in the hospitality sector to, as always until now, comply with all the measures and recommendations by epidemiological services and the civil protection authority.

However, coming to terms with the epidemiological reality, the association warns that that decision was adopted without considering the specific features of hospitality and the broad definition of the variety of enterprises that are considered to be bars.

"It is unfair that hospitality venues that have until now operated in accordance with all the recommended measures, and entire regions without a rise in new cases of the infection such as Istria and the Kvarner archipelago, to be penalised due to the negligence of some individual clubs. We object to limiting working hours, seeing that bars encompass too broad a number of hospitality venues, from peaceful cafe bars on the beach in Istria to the biggest clubs in the Adriatic. Our proposal is that each club and other venues identified as hotspots (of the infection)  to be immediately closed temporarily for 14 days and that their employees be tested," Marin Medak said on behalf of the association.

The association called for more frequent inspections and penalties for those venues that do not adhere to epidemiological measures, as they are causing damage to public health and to all those businesses that are operating in consistence with the authority's measures.

ZAGREB, Aug 14, 2020 - In the last 24 hours there have been 208 new cases of the infection with coronavirus in Croatia, and the infection took two more lives, the national COVID-19 crisis management team reported on Friday.

The number of active cases rises to  961, the head of the Croatian Institute of Public Health (HZJZ), Krunoslav Capak told a news conference in Zagreb.

This is the second day in a row with record-high daily numbers of new cases. On Thursday, the team reported 180 new infections.

Currently, 106 COVID patients are receiving hospital treatment, and of the 10 are placed on ventilators.

The latest two fatalities were a patient born in 1960 and a patient born in 1934 with underlying health conditions.

Since 25 February when the country reported its first confirmed case of this communicable disease, 6,258 have tested positive, and of the 163 have died, while 5134 have recovered.

Currently, 3,158 people in Croatia are self-isolating.

Since the outbreak of the disease, 134,742 people have been tested, including 1,249 in the last 24 hours.

The average age of the newly-infected patients is 31 and they usually develop mild symptoms, Capak said.

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August 14, 2020 - Citizens of Croatia, Bulgaria, Romania, and North Macedonia will have to take a negative PCR test no older than 48 hours to enter Serbia as of Saturday (August 15), the Serbian government's Crisis Headquarters said on Friday.

N1 reports that the decision applies to North Macedonia, Croatia, Bulgaria and Romania, and the validity of the test is calculated 48 hours from the day the reference laboratory issued the result, Crisis Headquarters member Darija Kisic Tepavcevic explained to Radio Television of Serbia (RTS).

The headquarters has decided that the restrictions that applied to the citizens of Montenegro will cease to be valid, and all measures will come into force on Saturday, August 15, and will be valid until the epidemiological situation changes.

According to Kisic Tepavcevic, these measures do not apply to Serbian citizens who come from those countries, for now.

She explained to RTS that the decision was made based on an assessment of the current epidemiological situation and the trend in the incidence of the infection in recent days.

She pointed out that the epidemiological picture in Serbia has been changing for the better in recent days, and hospitals are gradually leaving the COVID system.

"We want a stable epidemiological situation because we are going to school, the season of respiratory infections is coming, and we want to reduce the intake of potential points of infection in our country," said Kisic for RTS.

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ZAGREB, Aug 14, 2020 - Croatian Medical Chamber president Kresimir Luetic has said that Croatia has relatively few epidemiologists, 150, and that due to the scope of their work and their role in the fight against the coronavirus, it is necessary to relieve the burden of administrative work on them.

"We have been dealing with this crisis for five months, and of the 15,000 active doctors in the country epidemiologists have been working under a special regime during that period. Croatia has relatively few epidemiologists, 150, and several dozen interns who have chosen epidemiology for their specialisation. Compared to the extent of the epidemic, that is not an optimal number," Luetic told the N1 broadcaster on Friday.

He also noted that epidemiologists should be supported as much as possible and that the burden of administrative work on them should be relieved.

Commenting on the latest surge in the number of new COVID-19 infections, Luetic said that he was surprised by the latest figures about 180 new infections.

He said, however, that responsibility for the latest statistics rested with everyone and could not be shifted to any specific institution, and called for responsible behaviour.

August 14, 2020 - Director of the Civil Protection Headquarters and Assistant Interior Minister Damir Trut spoke about COVID-19 in Croatia. In an interview on Thursday evening, he explained why the Headquarters decided to tighten measures for cafes, bars, and nightclubs, and revealed just how many foreign tourists were infected in the country.

"The situation prompted us to make that decision. The infection comes from the Adriatic and young people are most affected, so it could be concluded that the most important factor could be nightclubs and cafes," he said as a guest for Dnevnik Nova TV, as reported by Index.hr.

Asked what will be achieved because the corona does not know the time, he replied:

"Yes, the corona does not know what time it is, but we have reduced the working hours by six hours and thus the possibility of infection."

He explained that the inspectors would control all activities and events throughout Croatia, and these are, in addition to clubs and cafes, weddings, and other events where more than 100 people are in one location.

He also said that people usually do not adhere to social distancing, but that they should also not be too harsh in sanctions.

“It’s like that in those locations, with alcohol and music, so people forget about keeping a distance,” he said.

When asked what he recommends, he answered:

"The recommendation is that the epidemic is here and among us, we have relaxed over the summer and we need to become aware of that. We need to be responsible so that it does not spread."

He also revealed that about 50 foreign tourists were infected in Croatia, and some had already returned to their countries.

Recall, Croatia recorded 180 new cases on Thursday, by far the most in the country since the beginning of the coronavirus epidemic.

So far, counting Thursday, Croatia has had more than 100 new infections in one day seven times. To date, the record day was July 11, with 140 newly infected, yesterday was the second-highest in terms of the number of newly infected - 130, and on July 15, there were 126.

Croatia first recorded more than 100 new cases on July 10. There were 116 newly infected at the time. The same number was recorded on July 18.

Now, for the seventh time, Croatia recorded over 100 newly infected people in one day - as many as 180 - and Thursday was the worst day since the beginning of the epidemic in Croatia.

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August 13, 2020 - Croatia recorded 180 new cases on Thursday, by far the most in the country since the beginning of the coronavirus epidemic. The director of the Croatian Institute of Public Health, Krunoslav Capak, commented on the situation and announced new measures for COVID-19 in Croatia.

"We have to keep in mind the fact that we have given in to all social and economic activities and we have given in to tourism and we are very successful in that. We have more than 800,000 people on the coast and we expected an increase. This is a higher number and, of course, we are concerned, but we hope that with our new measures, we will be able to suppress that figure and reduce it to an acceptable level," Capak said, as reported by Index.hr.

In a statement for Nova TV, he revealed that a new measure would come into force on Friday - restricting the work of clubs and cafes. Thus, bars and clubs will work until midnight.

"Yesterday we announced that the epidemiological service with the sanitary inspection could temporarily close clubs. Today, the Headquarters decided that will take effect tomorrow, and limiting the working hours of nightclubs, bars, and cafes will be valid for the next 10 days," Capak explained, and added that clubs will not be able to work after midnight.

"I have to point out a few related facts about these 180 newly infected. It is an even younger age group than yesterday, averaging 31 years. Most of them can be connected with gatherings on the Adriatic coast," Capak said. He added that the competent inspections would continue to control the work of caterers.

"As far as Slovenia is concerned, we are not on the red list. We spoke today with those responsible for the epidemiological situation in Slovenia," revealed Krunoslav Capak.

So far, counting today, Croatia has had more than 100 new infections in one day seven times. To date, the record day was July 11, with 140 newly infected, yesterday was the second-highest in terms of the number of newly infected - 130, and on July 15, there were 126.

Croatia first recorded more than 100 new cases on July 10. There were 116 newly infected at the time. The same number was recorded on July 18.

Now, for the seventh time, Croatia recorded over 100 newly infected people in one day - as many as 180 - and this is the worst day since the beginning of the epidemic in Croatia.

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ZAGREB, Aug 13, 2020 - In the last 24 hours 180 new cases of the coronavirus disease have been reported in Croatia, the number of active cases stands at 811 and one person has died, the national COVID-19 response team said on Thursday.

This is a record-high number of new cases in a single day since the outbreak of the epidemic.

Of the active cases, 115 are undergoing hospital treatment, including 10 who are on ventilators.

Since February 25, when the first case of the infection was detected in the country, 6,050 people have contracted the disease, 161 of them have died and 5,078 have recovered.

Currently, 2,752 people are in self-isolation. To date, 133,493 people have been tested for the virus, including 1,201 in the last 24 hours.

ZAGREB, Aug 12, 2020 - In the past 24 hours, Croatia registered 130 new cases of the coronavirus and there are currently 686 active cases in the country, the national COVID-19 response team informed on Wednesday and added that night clubs where the disease emerges will be shut down.

"There are no particular new hot spots at the moment. People are returning from vacations and we have quite a few young people infected with the disease. The average age of newly infected people is 34 and these are mostly young people who have attended certain gatherings at different locations," said Krunoslav Capak, the head of the Croatian Institute for Public Health.

When it comes to night clubs and hospitality venues, Capak underscored that new recommendations have been issued for night clubs according to which all closed premises in clubs should be closed and patrons need to gather in open areas of clubs.

Dance floors should be closed down and tables should be set up at a physical distance of 1.5 metres and that will all be checked by members of civil protection authorities.

Stepping up checks and inspections

Inspections will be stepped up. Epidemiological and health inspectors will have the authority to shut down a venue if they determine that someone had been infected there. They will be able to reopen the venue after disinfection and all employees have been tested for the virus. That recommendation has been sent to all local authorities who will inform club and hospitality venue owners.

"That however does not refer only to hospitality premises but to everyone. If it is determined that someone has been infected in whatever premises, such as banks or museums, they too will then be closed. This is a temporary measure and will be in force until it is determined that it is no longer necessary," said Capak.

With regard to the most recent cases of the infection in night clubs, Capak said that there was no precise data of how many people were infected in them "however, a good portion of them are related to several night clubs." There are a lot of cases of the infection connected to clubs on Pag, Vir, in Makarska, Novalja and Vodice.

Capak underlined that at the moment no one who attended the celebrations in Knin (on 5 August) and Sinj this past weekend has contracted the virus.

As far as infected foreign citizens are concerned, there have been 28 reports through the European information system of infected tourists who have been from four countries, mostly from Austria, Italy, Germany and Slovenia. "We have a few foreign citizens who have been infected, fewer than 15," he said.

ZAGREB, Aug 12, 2020 - The head of Zagreb's Hospital for Infectious Diseases, Alemka Markotic, told a press conference on Wednesday that Croatia had preordered 1.5 million doses of vaccines, the procurement of which would be organised by the European Union.

She said that according to the World Health Organisation's data, there were currently 28 vaccines in a clinical trials, with only six in phase 3. Two are from China, the others are from America and England, while the Russian one is not on that list.

"It will be necessary to obtain additional scientific information on their (Russian) procedure. But there is suspicion at the level of the entire professional community that the procedure was too fast and that phase 3 was not carried out to the extent it should be," Markotic said.

ZAGREB, Aug 12, 2020 - In the past 24 hours, there have been 130 new cases of the coronavirus infection in Croatia, and currently there are 686 active cases, the national COVID-19 crisis management team said on Wednesday.

There are now 117 COVID patients in hospitals, and eight of them are placed on ventilators. There have been no new deaths in the last 24 hours.

Since the first confirmed case of the infection on 25 February in Croatia, a total of 5,870 persons have been diagnosed with the coronavirus infection, and of them 160 have died, while 5,024 have recovered.

Currently, there are 2,279 persons in self-isolation. To date, 132,292 persons have been tested for, including 1,604 in the last 24 hours.

"There are currently no significant new hotspots. What is characteristic is that people are returning from their holidays, and a lot of young people have become infected. The average age of new coronavirus patients is 34, these are predominantly younger people who have mostly been to different gatherings and places where young people have fun," Croatian Public Health Institute head Krunoslav Capak said.

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