March 30, 2020 — Police laid spike strips across the road leading to Murter, a small island off the Croatian coast. It has the dubious honor of being the country’s only fully-quarantined location. A triage ambulance stays on the island, creating a de facto mobile COVID-19 treatment center. Delivery trucks carrying food and medicine can only reach the border, then await a police escort.

How did the virus manage to shut down a relatively remote island of reportedly 2,500 residents?

The answer lies in the weeks before Croatia’s nationwide lockdown.

The Dalmatian coast experienced a surge in foreign visitors in early March, as well as continental residents flocking to weekend homes on the coast — Murter among them. The coronavirus outbreak loomed over the horizon, as confirmed cases rose every day before the government shut down all nonessential business on March 19.

“With the start of the preseason in Murter, there was obviously a mix-up with Western European populations," according to county head Goran Pauk.

Locals who spoke with Total Croatia News confirmed Pauk’s assertion. They recalled the island cars registered in foreign countries zipping around the island and locales filled with unfamiliar faces. Murter's patient zero was likely asymptomatic. Small villages breed closer encounters, with infected locals unwittingly spread the virus to their neighbors. The sources requested anonymity for fear of adding to a game of broken telephone often prevalent in smaller villages. 

A similar wave of visitors from Western Europe and continental Croatia hit many other islands and coastal villages, well before the government barred people from leaving their legal residence.

Residents along the coast reportedly complained it was a demographic shift at the wrong time. Similar migrations from affluent cities to vacation homes helped the spread of coronavirus in other Western European countries, notably Italy.

Reports of Slovenians and Italians posting up in their weekend homes on the coast began trickling — in particularly from islands off Zadar’s coast. Dugi Otok and Preko, two islands within the Zadar archipelago, asked authorities to help track the influx of foreigners. 

Many settled down to ride out the pandemic on the coast. Locals complained they violated the government’s strict self-isolation rules. Some reportedly weren’t registered through eVisitor, the Croatian government’s main tool for tracking guests within the country.

Zadar’s local police asked residents to help report any unregistered arrivals. By then, Murter was well on its way towards a quarantine.

“Murter is not big and we can see in recent days that there is an increased amount of cars with foreign license plates,” the island’s Tourist Board Director Mateja Bašić told Jutarnji List days before the quarantine. “There are a lot of people moving here who do not live here over the year. They are mostly domestic, but there are also foreigners who have decided to stay here since the whole virus story began.”

It’s not that Murter and other smaller settlements didn’t try to slow COVID-19’s spread. The town’s Civil Protection Directorate introduced rules limiting the number of customers allowed into closed spaces and closing all non-essential businesses on March 16, five days before the Croatian government’s own measures.

Murter has become a small-scale version of what could await larger cities and towns across Croatia, should they face a similar spike in infections.

Locals cannot leave the quarantined area. Roads leading to the island’s settlements are bookended by a police checkpoint. Delivery trucks need a police escort into and out of the village, and drivers are not allowed to leave their trucks.

Murter’s quarantine began on March 25, after 15 cases were recorded on the island. The municipality introduced the strictest limits on movement in the country. Teams were created to care for the elderly. Like many islands, Murter’s population is overwhelmingly elderly, with numerous health problems and sparse medical options. The smaller societal circle also means higher odds of exposure.

“We don’t know who was in contact with who,” said Toni Turčinov, Murter’s mayor in the days after the quarantine. “We were all in contact with some infected person. We don’t know what to do or who to address.”

For the latest on coronavirus in Croatia, check out the dedicated TCN section.

March 30, 2020 — The Croatian government’s proposal to track citizens’ locations during the coronavirus outbreak is taking shape. It would create a dedicated app or text messages for citizens ordered into isolation, according to one of Prime Minister Andrej Plenković's closest advisors.

ational Security Advisor Robert Kopal said tracking measures could include using location data provided by telecommunications companies, applications installed onto devices, or sending text messages to those who’ve been ordered into isolation. Those who refuse monitoring could be forced into quarantine.

The measures Kopal described in an interview with N1 come as governments across Europe consider monitoring their citizens to slow the virus’s spread. But forcing Europeans to voluntarily install digital monitoring tools onto their devices may be a tough sell, especially after the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) created a hullabaloo over data privacy.

The Croatian government's measure tries to skirt the line by targeting people directed into self-isolation and only tracking current location — not movement.

“There is no monitoring of location or movement, only for people who are in self-isolation,” Kopal said in the interview. “If they leave the perimeter, it is visible, nothing else.”

Kopal emphasized the focus on singular locations and not movement — a distinction meant to placate fears of a nanny state hoarding data and profiling citizens’ routines and encounters. It’s a sensitive issue for Croatians still wary of government overreach after life in the former Yugoslavia.

Kopal added the measures would be instated “only when the health and lives of citizens could not be effectively protected otherwise.”

The measure comes as civil society groups urge caution over the government’s current restrictions on freedom of movement, claiming cutbacks on freedoms must be proportional to the threat.

The proposed amendments to Croatia’s Telecommunications Act first must pass parliament, where it faces uncertainty. Social Democrats decry the measure, claiming it bypasses Constitutionally-prescribed procedures. 

The Croatian constitution allows personal freedoms to be curtailed in extreme circumstances such as war. The Parliament must enact these sorts of laws with a two-thirds majority vote, which some Social Dems argue applies to the government’s tracking ammendment.

The law may also run afoul of the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation. Plenkovic’s government pointed to the urgency of the pandemic and claimed the GDPR allowed such a bill. 

“Passing this Act is part of measures aimed at enabling urgent and adequate treatment of all competent authorities in newly emerged special circumstances in relation to a declared COVID-19 disease epidemic and the need to protect the lives and human health through the use of the said data,” the amendment states.

Others have suggested Croatia’s constitutional court must provide guidance on the proposal’s feasibility. The Constitutional Court can weigh in on its own, at the request of a citizen, or at the request of those proposing the law, Kopal said. It can also put a freeze on the law’s implementation until its constitutionality is weighed.

The proposed tactics follow’s Taiwan’s, which reportedly uses a phone-based “fence” to keep at-risk residents in their homes with some success. Whether that'll translate to Europe remains uncertain. Poland’s rollout of a similar tracking application has been reportedly panned as buggy.

Croatia’s daily press briefings on the coronavirus’s spread include a count of how many Croats ignored orders to self isolate. The number often approaches the triple digits. Kopal said such behavior can only hurt long-term efforts to slow the virus’s spread.

“The fact remains that the Government, in the explanation of the amendments to the Act, clearly stated the need to enact it in these exceptional and extraordinary circumstances and pointed out the proportionality of restrictions (among other conditions) for the protection of human health, which is a basic constitutional requirement.” Kopal said.

March 30, 2020 - Split entrepreneur and law student Mario Goreta, a 30-year-old who started the field of cosmetics a few years ago, is donating soap to KBC Split and the Institute for Public Health in the fight against the coronavirus. 

When we were kids, we were trumpeted by what was known as "hygiene is half of our health." And today, when the coronavirus rules our daily lives, we hear more about the importance of hygiene than we did in kindergarten. 

Dalmacija News writes that Split entrepreneur and law student Mario Goreta, a 30-year-old who started in the field of cosmetics a few years ago, has decided to donate soap to KBC Split and the Institute for Public Health in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic. 

It all started with the company Spartium, which produces natural cosmetics.

“We started with the production of natural soaps and marketed a line of soaps called 'Fragrances of the Mediterranean'. We have lavender, sage, basil, lemongrass, immortelle, orange and cinnamon, rosemary, lemon, mint, and pine-scented soaps,” Goreta started.

“All our soaps are handmade and each is painted differently. They are very rich in composition, so along with extra virgin Hvar olive oil, coconut and castor oil, our soaps also contain unrefined shea butter,” he said.

Mario's soap production also turned into establishing his own brand of natural cosmetics.

“As the market for natural cosmetics is full of beauty products, as a man in the industry, I decided to launch a line of men's beauty products. After going to the barbershop, the idea of producing natural cosmetics for men was born.

We have created and launched a brand of men's natural cosmetics under the name MEŠTAR! With the advice of barbers all over Dalmatia and Zagreb, we designed natural and professional men's cosmetics,” Goreta said.

After learning about the production and the brand, Goreta spoke about the charity campaign he launched. 

“As we manufacture according to the principles of good manufacturing practice, we have disinfectants in our production facility. We listen to the news, read the newspaper, and concluded that there is a great shortage of disinfectants and protective equipment. We do not have protective equipment, but we have the means for personal hygiene and disinfection,” Goreta said.

Given the importance of soap in these moments, the young entrepreneur encouraged donations. 

“The ph of natural soaps is around 9, and this is great for destroying bacteria and viruses. We have enough of finished products in the warehouse, but the stores are not working, and it is not a time to make money. Let's help those who help us and who we most need right now. We have decided to donate the natural soaps and disinfectants in our production facility to KBC Split and the Public Health Institute. We do not need to produce at the moment because the stores are closed and all help to the medical staff is welcome,” he explained.

Others helped him realize this project - for free.

“The designer created the design for us for free, Bingo d.o.o. printed free of charge. We were able to get more disinfectants, crafts from Zagreb, TEHNOPROCES sent us extra alcohol for the production of disinfectants for free, all to donate to KBC Split,” Goreta pointed out, and then sent a message to fellow manufacturers.

“In situations like this, every soap and every drop of disinfectant is welcome. We would also like to invite all our fellow manufacturers to join us in donating to hospitals. Soaps, liquid soaps, disinfectants, face masks, protective suits, gloves, everything you have in production facilities, doctors need,” Goreta concluded.

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March 30, 2020 - On Sunday night, Croatians around the county supported health professionals, the police, the military and anyone sacrificing their health for citizens. At 8 pm, Croatians clapped and sang, perhaps its most famous patriotic song, ‘Moja Domovina’.

As Croatia is on lockdown and citizens are limited with movement, there isn't much we can do apart from heading to the store or pharmacy. Our day to day lives are much quieter, as we're mostly confined to the walls of our homes to obey the most important global message - "stay home".

Things looked a bit different on Sunday night, however, and balconies around the country were the most happening place to be. 

Namely, Croatians took to their balconies and windowsills at 8 pm on Sunday evening for thunderous applause and a group rendition of ‘Moja Domovina’ (My Homeland), which lasted about fifteen minutes. In this way, they symbolically thanked all health professionals, the National Civil Protection Headquarters, the police, the military, and all those making sacrifices under challenging times for the benefit of all.

One 11-year-old Ema Music played 'Moja Domovina’ on the piano from her balcony. The young Solin native is in her third year of the Josip Hatze School of Music, reports Dalmatinski Portal.

“When she heard on the news that everyone would pay homage to all those who were tirelessly fighting the coronavirus at 8 pm, she began to learn the song. So, it was just two hours before the performance. She asked us to bring the piano to the balcony. She was very proud that she, at least with her performance, contributed to the fight against the coronavirus. Her heart is like a house in the hope that her video will reach those who need it most,” said proud mom Nives.

A complication of videos from various parts of Dalmatia.

Source: Dalmacija Danas, Dalmatinski Portal

To read more about lifestyle in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

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March 29, 2020 — The chills hit shortly after lunch on March 9. I curled into a fetal position on the couch and threw a blanket over my shivering body.

It was the early stages of life during a pandemic. The deadly, still-mysterious and oft-dismissed coronavirus had lifted the handbrake on the global economy and was about to transform many hospitals into dens of tragedy.

I stabbed a thermometer under my tongue and checked the news: Italy was fumbling its early response. Fresh cases were trickling into Croatia via returnees. 

The World Health Organization in a press conference said, “Now that the virus has a foothold in so many countries, the threat of a pandemic has become very real. But it would be the first pandemic in history that could be controlled.”

My temperature was 37.6℃ (99.7℉) — ignorable in almost all circumstances. 

Two days later, the WHO declared COVID-19 a pandemic. I reached for my thermometer.

A Smorgasbord of Maladies

I developed a cadre of symptoms over the next 24 hours — some obvious, others I ignored then later added to the tally.

First came chills and body temperature fluctuations of up to 37.8℃ (or 100℉). Then diarrhea, dizziness, nausea, and an intense one-day headache, debilitating fatigue which felt like gravity doubled its force on my body. 

I didn’t cough.

A doctor assured me over the phone it was a stomach bug. I agreed. She suggested I stay hydrated and call back in three days if the symptoms didn’t clear up.

While she spoke, I Googled “fever diarrhea + coronavirus”, aware of the perils of patient self-diagnosis and the “worried well.”

The less-obvious symptoms arrived one-by-one over the first 48 hours. All food became tasteless. I couldn’t smell anything. My nasal passages, sinuses, and throat felt drier than gravel. 

The fatigue and lethargy became all-consuming. A trip from the restroom to the couch felt torturous. Sustained movement lasting more than 90 seconds required hours of nap time.

It rendered me useless to my wife and our three dogs, who seemed to roll their eyes at me. 

I’m hypersensitive to all maladies. An odd mole has me planning my funeral. An unexpected cough has me Googling “early lung cancer symptoms” (which runs in the family).

I’m arguably not mentally equipped for an undiagnosed mild fever in the middle of a global pandemic. 

Croatia had 13 confirmed coronavirus cases by the end of the day.

The Limited Testing Commandment

In Croatia and many other countries, coronavirus was — and in some places still is — treated like a game of tag: You can’t be “It” unless an already-infected person or surface touches you. 

Vili Beroš, the steadfast Croatian health minister who has become an unexpected hero, has repeatedly downplayed the efficacy of widespread testing. Isolation, tracking, treatment and social distancing are key, he says.

“If we continue to fight in this way against the epidemic, we will see fewer harmful consequences,” he said at the Civil Protection Directorate's Sunday’s press conference. “Responsible behavior is the key to success.”

The assertion runs contrary to the practices of larger and richer countries like Germany and South Korea. They credit their outcomes and low death rates to widely-available tests, social distancing and high-quality healthcare systems. Croatia arguably has only one of those three options, hence Beroš’s pleas for cooperation. 

The novel coronavirus needs to stop encountering novel people.

Being a low-level recluse on a nearly-abandoned island prevents these sorts of collisions. So who would even infect me?

I could only think of a dinner four days before my first symptoms with a group of friends visiting from Zagreb. But none had visible signs of COVID-19.

Yet my fervent Googling of my symptoms pointed to anecdotal evidence that my supposed stomach bug might be something else. Researchers in China documented cases of COVID-19 with gastrointestinal symptoms, without the telltale cough.

The Mrs. and I were supposed to head home to a bucolic little island off the Dalmatian coast with an overwhelmingly geriatric population: a deep pool of diabetics, pulmonary patients, walking cardiac problems, and a slew of alcohol and tobacco-related issues.

If I was carrying some unorthodox version of COVID-19, I’d arrive on that island like a gatling gun of death, single-handedly turning it into a ghost town.

I needed to be sure I didn’t have the virus. I didn’t want to kill my neighbors. After four days of bland food, mud butt, and lethargy, I called my doctor again.

The nurse answered, and I blurted out, “It’s me. Orovic, Joseph. I need to know I don’t have the coronavirus.”

A pause. “Are you still having stomach problems?”

“Yes, and I read that might be a symptom of…” I stammered. “Look, I’m about to go to an island with a bunch of old people who will die if they get coronavirus. How can I get tested?”

***

The on-call epidemiologist picked up the phone after two tries.

“Hi, I need to know I don’t have coronavirus.”

She sniffled. “What are your symptoms?”

I rattled off my condition. She paused.

“And where did you come from? Italy? China?”

“Iž, an island off the coast, but I’m in Zadar now,” I said. “That’s why I’m calling. I don’t want to go back and infect the people there.”

“Did you spend time with anyone who came from those or other countries? Austria maybe?”

“I had dinner with some guys from Zagreb,” I said, feeling stupid as the words slipped past my lips.

The epidemiologist giggled.

“You can’t get infected unless you came from Italy or China or one of those countries,” she said with authority.

“So there’s no community transmission in Croatia?” I asked, with tales of South Korea’s “Patient 31” echoing in my head.

“No, no community transmission,” she replied. “Relax, whatever you have will go away.”

The “no community transmission” edict was central Croatia’s early response to the coronavirus. All confirmed cases were Croats returning from western Europe or were closely related to the confirmed patients.

The notion that the virus was already within the population and spreading was gently dismissed in earlier press conferences. 

My doctor sent me in for blood work and samples to rule out a bacterial infection. All came back negative. I was a sick man without a diagnosis in the middle of a pandemic.

My flustered wife told me ride out the rest of my mystery ailment on the island.

Instead, I called a doctor.

“Can I go to an island if I’m not sure I don’t have the coronavirus?” I asked while the doctor read over my file.

“Did you say ‘island?’ Go! Now!” he said, suggesting 14 days of voluntary isolation and to call if my symptoms worsen. I obliged.

By this point, Croatia had 39 confirmed coronavirus patients.

Mysterious changes on a little island

The island spurred an odd fluctuation in my symptoms. 

The stomach issues waned after the first week. My body temperature still rose and dipped at odd moments. My complete disinterest in food and constant lethargy caused close to six kilos (13 lbs) of weight loss.

I finally noticed our dog’s pillow smells like a burning garbage dump — so my nose was working again.
No cough.

Then on the seventh night, a tingling sensation in my chest woke me. It was as if someone rubbed toothpaste on my lungs. 

I asked the same question almost every Dalmatian islander recites during a medical quagmire: What are the odds I will die before the next ferry to the mainland?

This is our reality. Medical helicopters remain an oft-promised but never-delivered pipe dream. Emergency boats sometimes take over an hour to arrive, with the trip back to the hospital lasting just as long.

The odds of surviving a life-threatening emergency like internal bleeding, heart attack or stroke are demonstrably lower here. What about chest pain during a pandemic? 

I gambled on sleeping it off. Had I been on the mainland, I might have called an ambulance.

The pain subsided by the next morning and I dismissed it as a panic attack. But the temperature and lethargy lingered. Slowly, the lulls between my body temperature spikes and fatigue grew. I felt healthier more often and slept less.

On St. Joseph’s Day, ten days after my first symptoms, I declared myself “better.”

Croatia then had 105 confirmed coronavirus cases, with five patients fully recovered.

An Unwelcome Return To Abnormal

The morning of Zagreb’s earthquake, I tapped out a news brief on my phone, sent it to an editor in London then felt heat sizzle up from my chest to my jaw.

The thermometer read 37.4℃ (99.3℉) and rising. The ensuing, unexpected four-hour nap on the couch confirmed I celebrated too soon.

I was 13 days into a demoralizing stupor, my energy whittled down to slow-churning despondency. A radioactive sensation emanated from my torso. Life in the house changed.

My wife and I often took awkward, broad steps around each other like opposing gunslingers at a saloon. We avoided contact even though, ostensibly, I only had “some virus.” I wiped down faucet handles and hit light switches with my sleeve. She didn’t seem to notice.

Outside my home, life shrunk to a miniature version of itself. The government limited public gatherings to groups of five. Only private enterprises selling food, drugs, diapers, cigarettes, newspapers or gasoline remained open. 

The ceremonial stop at the cafe between bursts of toil — the social lifeblood of this region — became verboten. People were told to remain in their neighborhood no matter how much the ground shook.

In Italy, nearly 1,000 people were dying every day. I watched in quiet distress as my hometown Queens, New York became the pulsating center of the United States’ coronavirus battle. 

All this happened as I laid on a couch, pathetically knocked out by a middling fever and fatigue caused by a mystery virus.

The day of Zagreb’s earthquake ended with 254 confirmed COVID-19 cases in Croatia.

Two weeks after my first fever, I began recognizing my unorthodox symptoms in new reports.

New evidence suggested anosmia — a loss of sense of smell — seemed to be a symptom. Fatigue also made the list. Then finally, sitting down on the toilet more often than usual, without a dry cough, became an anecdotal sign of some alternate manifestation of the virus.

First-hand accounts from confirmed COVID-19 patients offered a picture of life with a “mild” version of the virus. Coughing and fever were the telltale signs of infection for most. But some bypassed that phase altogether and suffered other ailments.

One friend asked me a brutal question: “How many more people like you are out there?”

I couldn’t say.

I checked the newest stats. There were 495 confirmed COVID-19 infections in Croatia, and two deaths.

I’m now 20 days removed from that first shivering on the couch. I’ve had four full days of symptomless life. For all intents and purposes, I’m back to normal. I still don't know if I had COVID-19.

This island appears to be infection-free as well. We’re hoping it stays that way.

Croatia now has 713 confirmed cases of coronavirus of 5,900 tested, with six deaths, 26 patients on respirators and 52 recovered.

Wash your hands and stay at home.

March 29, 2020 - HNK Hajduk Split and fan charity ‘Bilo Srce’ have joined forces to launch the ‘Breathe as One’ campaign for KBC Split. 

HNK Hajduk’s statement in full:

“Aware of the moment we are all experiencing, the importance of combating the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus pandemic and ultimately the impact of the pandemic on the Club's functioning, HNK Hajduk and the Hajduk Fan Charity “Bilo Srce“ are launching the "Breathe as One" campaign to equip the Department of Orthopedics and Traumatology at KBC Split, which serves the care of the most severe coronavirus infected patients.

HNK Hajduk, its first team and club employees have already raised the funds needed to buy two sterilizers, which are currently most necessary to the employees of the Split hospital. The original intention was to raise funds to purchases ventilators, but due to the length of the delivery time, in agreement with the KBC Board, the idea was dropped.

Excess funds from buying the sterilization devices will be donated for the second part of the action, in which we invite all our fans, veterans, sponsors and all the big-hearted people who are able to participate in the fundraising campaign to equip intensive care (beds, monitors, pumps, suctions and all the other equipment necessary to function in these most difficult moments).

We want to help KBC Split and our entire community to ensure that all those who need it receive the highest quality healthcare in the fight against coronavirus SARS-CoV-2.

According to his or her ability, anyone can make personal payments to the account listed below, especially for humanitarian purposes:

USER: HNK HAJDUK Š.D.D.

IBAN: HR9124070001500328067

SWIFT: OTPVHR2X

Model: 00

Call number: 00

Description: Humanitarian action

In advance, we thank everyone for their contribution, solidarity and demonstration of social responsibility, and in the interest of all of us and our loved ones, our fellow citizens and all those who unfortunately will not be able to avoid hospitalization.

Let's breathe as one: Hajduk and Bilo Srce for KBC Split! #ostanidoma”

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March 29, 2020 - The City of Split has a clear message for citizens during the coronavirus crisis in Croatia - STAY HOME! 

Split-Dalmatia County currently has 52 coronavirus cases, a number that will likely change after the Croatian Civil Protection Headquarters press conference on Sunday. Behind Zagreb and Pula, Split has the third-highest number of infections, which includes citizens from Brela to Solin.

In contrast to the first days of the new measures banning gatherings in public areas, the citizens of Split, meanwhile, have been quite disciplined. They also seem to be adhering to the restrictions on moving between cities, which was announced earlier this week. 

I did an article the other day outlining my shopping experience at Spar in the Firule neighborhood, which is otherwise bustling with grocery stores, bakeries, and cafes. On Thursday, however, the neighborhood was a ghost town, with citizens strictly following the hygiene measures in place by supermarket chains and pharmacies. You can read more here. 

Apart from the constant warnings about the importance of sticking to these measures, there is no doubt that the disciplined citizens of Split have helped to control the spread of the virus in the city. 

And now, the citizens of Split will be reminded to stay home thanks to an illuminated #oSTanidoma (‘Stay Home’) light display set up on the west side of the Riva, at the end of Marmontova. The ‘ST’ is cleverly capitalized as the abbreviation of the city's name.

The City posted a photo of the new sign on their Facebook page Saturday night, and as Dalmacija Danas learned, the winter decorations were donated to Split by Zima, reports Dalmacija Danas.

It didn't take long before Mayor Andro Krstulovic Opara posted his thoughts on Facebook. The Mayor shared the photo with a short message: Thank you for staying home!

We can only hope this new attraction doesn't attract groups of Instagrammers.

To read more about lifestyle in Croatia, follow TCN’s dedicated page.

March 27, 2020 - Hajduk Split and Croatia basketball are the latest to join the Croatian humanitarian chain, which includes more and more athletes and clubs by the day.

Namely, Hajduk players and employees have decided to raise money for the needs of KBC Split, reports 24 Sata.

The humanitarian action is in the beginning phase, and details are still unknown, but it is alleged that about 250,000 kuna was raised immediately at the start of the first day, and that amount will surely increase when all club leaders, coaches, players, employees are involved.

The intention at first was to raise funds to buy one respirator and then to launch a bigger action to buy at least one more. However, because of the high demand globally and the lengthy delivery, Hajduk instead decided to raise money to be used for the needs of KBC Split.

Just last week, Hajduk employees collected all the remaining food in the closed club restaurant and donated it to the MoSt Association, which takes care of the homeless. The club also regularly responds to the actions of Split sports journalists '4N', who once a year collect donations for social services. A few months ago, a campaign involving numerous Split clubs raised 110,000 kuna.

There are also numerous individual examples at Hajduk, like player Stefan Simic who donated to the Crisis Headquarters in Supetar on Brac to combat the coronavirus in Croatia. Mayor Ivana Markovic publicly thanked him. 

Furthermore, the players and staff of the Croatia basketball team decided to raise funds collectively and paid over two million kuna to fight the coronavirus and repair damage at Petrova Hospital in Zagreb.

"We want to support the most sensitive part of the system at the moment - the health sector, so that patients and medical staff who are on the front lines of defense in this crisis are taken care of. We initiated this action with the hope that we would help in the fight against the coronavirus, as well as with the renovation and rehabilitation of the Petrova Hospital building, as well as procuring necessary apparatus, medicines, or anything assessed to be primary. Although we are not physically together at the moment, our hearts are in the same place - with Croatia and Zagreb,” said the players and the staff of the national team.

Many national team members, some of them former, as well as members of the staff, took part in the action.

GNK Dinamo also decided to help fight the coronavirus pandemic and the aftermath of the Zagreb earthquake, Narod.hr reported a few days ago.

The club will donate 250,000 kuna for the reconstruction of the Zagreb Children's Disease Clinic on Klaićeva Street, which was damaged in the earthquake, as well as 250,000 kuna for the KBC Zagreb, a clinic for women's diseases and childbirths in Petrova Street, which also suffered in the devastating earthquake.

It will also allocate funds to purchase two fully-equipped ambulances, valued at half a million kuna, so the donation totals one million kuna

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March 27, 2020 - So, what is Split like one week into the Croatian "lockdown"? A closer look.

Last Thursday, March 20, the Croatian Civil Protection Headquarters announced the strictest measures yet in the fight against the coronavirus. 

Restaurants, bars, and cafes were forced to close until at least April 19, parks are taped off, and you’ll notice police breaking up any gathering of more than a few people -  especially if you’re not two meters apart. 

The strict measures continued not even one week later, when the Civil Protection Headquarters announced restrictions on moving between cities, and citizens cannot leave their respective local government units, save for a few exceptions.

No, Croatia is not on total lockdown like Italy or Spain. We can still freely walk to the store and pharmacy (so long as we’re not in groups). Some of us are still setting out on solo walks in nature, while others are enjoying walks along the coast with their dogs. Depending on where you are, you may run into the police. We’re certainly urged to stay at home and to leave our homes only if necessary, which seems like Croatians are mostly adhering to.

Being the only one fit in my household to head out during these strange times, I documented my Split shopping experience one week after Croatia mostly shut down. 

As you can see, the streets are empty - and I live in the Firule neighborhood right next to the hospital, which is usually bustling with grocery stores, bakeries, and cafe-goers. 

Walking by the pharmacy, a line of 5 people waited outside, as only a few customers are allowed in at a time.

Onto Spar, where I did my shopping. The first thing I noticed: an ad offering help to neighbors in need, as we have seen circulating quite often in Croatia over the last week.

A Spar employee was parked at the entrance to the store, ushering shoppers in two at a time. I waited for about 8 minutes.

A sign on the door reads that only 35 shoppers can be inside the store at a time.

Spar itself was fully stocked, with enough toilet paper to carry us through the next few months. 

No shelf in the store was empty, with the meat panic buying of a few weeks before long gone.

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March 27, 2020 - According to Oxford University, Croatia has the strictest coronavirus measures in the world. 

Although some members of the Croatian Civil Protection Headquarters are dissatisfied with citizens' behavior and threatening even harsher measures, judging by the state measures tracker in the fight against the coronavirus, Croatia is currently implementing the most rigorous measures in the world, according to Oxford University.

Namely, British researchers are looking at basic criteria such as school closures, travel bans, and public gatherings bans, and then compares these measures to the number of people currently infected, thereby obtaining an index of the rigor of the measures implemented.

The purpose of the meter is to offer transparent insight into the measures taken by world governments to combat the coronavirus, and the published data will be updated frequently.

Judging by the coronavirus meter, Croatia is currently implementing the most rigorous measures in the world, with Serbia and Syria not far behind. Thus, it should be kept in mind that countries with few cases that responded quickly were highlighted.

Croatia closed schools, playgrounds, banned public gatherings, closed cafes, restaurants, and all shops that were not necessary very early on, and public transport was suspended. Croatia urges citizens to stay at home and some parts of the country, such as Murter, are quarantined.

While Croatia is at the top, some countries, such as the United States, where the infection is expected to explode, as well as the United Kingdom and Canada, are below the midline of austerity measures.

Health Minister Vili Beros commented on this analysis for RTL Danas, saying that Croatia is at the European top because of these measures.

"Our results so far show that we are among the countries that have slower growth in the number of patients. I think the measures are introduced on time and very carefully balanced. We have announced a certain reduction in these measures relating to shops around the markets that provide supplies because life should not and will not stop. We need to carefully balance the preservation of normal life flows and the possibility that the infection continues to spread," he said.

We also must remember, however, that the Oxford tracker does not have country-specific data such as India, which has become the world's largest quarantine. Namely, 1.3 billion people must stay in their homes, and the media is flooded with videos of the police attacking everyone who they find on the street. 

You can see the Oxford Government Response Tracker here.

Source: Direkno.hr

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