ZAGREB, 24 January, 2021 - Over the past 24 hours, Croatia has registered 352 cases of the infection with the SARS-CoV-2 virus, and there have been 28 related deaths, the national COVID-19 crisis management team said on Sunday.

The number of active cases in Croatia currently stands at 2,996, including 1,474 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, 138 of whom are on ventilators.

Since 25 February 2020, when Croatia registered its first case of the infection, 228,920 people have contracted the novel coronavirus, and 221,097 have recovered, including 560 in the last 24 hours. The COVID-19 death toll is 4,827.

There are currently 15,729 people in self-isolation.

To date 1,154,033 people have been tested, 4,342 of whom in the last 24 hours.

January 24, 2021 - The strict control of passengers from countries marked as epidemiologically high-risk countries began in Germany on Sunday. Germany no longer considers Croatia an epidemiologically high-risk country.

Index.hr reports that checks have been carried out systematically at all airports since Sunday morning, and individual checks are being carried out at road and rail border crossings.

"Today, we conducted a check of passengers from 17 aircraft that flew in from one of the high-risk countries," a Federal Police spokesman at Frankfurt Airport said.

Travelers from these countries must present a negative coronavirus test upon arrival in Germany. Despite the negative test, all passengers coming to Germany must spend 10 days in self-isolation.

Before traveling to Germany, all passengers are required to report to the German health authorities online, and carriers are required to check whether passengers have a negative test on hand before traveling.

The Robert Koch State Epidemiological Institute currently treats 25 countries as high-risk.

The high-risk area is a new category that applies to countries where the seven-day incidence exceeds the value of 200.

Among these countries are almost all Southeast European countries, with the exception of Croatia. The list also includes Spain, Portugal, the Czech Republic, and the Baltic countries.

Croatia is still treated as a risk area, which means that travelers from Croatia do not have to present a negative test immediately upon arrival in Germany but must present it within 48 hours after their arrival.

Over the past 24 hours, Croatia registered 352 new COVID-19 cases and 28 related deaths, the Civil Protection Headquarters announced on Sunday.

The number of active cases in Croatia is currently 2,996, including 1,474 COVID-19 patients in hospital, 138 of whom are on ventilators.

Since 25 February 2020, when Croatia registered its first case of the infection, 228,920 people have contracted coronavirus, and 221,097 have recovered, including 560 in the last 24 hours. The COVID-19 death toll is 4,827.

There are currently 15,729 people in self-isolation.

To date, 1,154,033 people have been tested, 4,342 of whom in the last 24 hours.

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January the 24th, 2021 - The Croatian Government and the National Civil Protection Headquarters, as well as Croatian epidemiologists, are set to meet today to discuss what is to come after the 1st of February when the country's anti-epidemic measures are set to be reviewed. Is the relaxation of the current measures on the cards?

Many have their fingers crossed that some concessions when it comes to the currently very restrictive measures will be made. The measures, while harsh, have yielded success, with Croatia's new daily cases of coronavirus infection tumbling on an impressive downward trajectory for weeks now. While some government ministers, including the Prime Minister, have voiced their desire for a relaxation, some in the profession have been firm in their answer to that - no. 

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, today, members of the Croatian National Civil Protection Headquarters and government ministers will meet to discuss possible easing of the current epidemiological measures, as was confirmed Interior Minister and Civil Protection Staff Chief Davor Bozinovic at a government session held this week.

At the end of the month, more precisely, on the 31st of January, the current Decision on epidemiological measures restricting gatherings, rules for crossing the Croatian border for various categories of passenger and the work of cafes, restaurants and the like ceases to be valid. In order to see Croatia continue on its current path of success in controlling the spread of the novel coronavirus, new measures and rules will need to be introduced to replace those now expiring ones.

Whether or not Croatia's good epidemiological picture will result in any of them finally being relaxed to allow for a little more normality is yet to be seen, but it is certain that much more will be known today, and what becomes known will likely be followed with just as many questions, as has been the case to date.

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January 24, 2021 – First President of Croatia makes a Covid-era comeback, as new Franjo Tudman face masks become a hit on social media

So far, the nationally specific Covid-era face masks seen on the streets of Croatia have been rather divisive. The logos of the country's bigger football clubs look good but could land you in grief if you travel to the other side of the country while wearing one. The outlawed slogans and insignia of Nazi-allied independent Croatia are a rather more gruesome reminder of the minority of fascist sympathisers that sadly linger in the village. Thankfully there are few tourists here right now to be appalled at such.

Three cheers, then, for the arrival of a distinctly Croatian covering of which the whole country can approve. Though released relatively recently, the new Franjo Tudman face masks have already proved to be a Covid-era hit on social media.

The Franjo Tudman face masks were designed by nationally recognized Rijeka singer-songwriter Dražen Turina, best known by the nickname Šajeta, which is also the name under which his music is released. Along with Pula singer Alen Vitasović and his band Gustafi, Šajeta is a key composer of contemporary Croatian music that uses the Chakavian dialect. Dražen Turina revealed the Franjo Tudman face masks on his Twitter social media account, where they became instantly popular.

Distancing himself from any misunderstanding that the Franjo Tudman face masks had been inspired by sentiments of nationalism, Šajeta instead playfully bemoaned the wearing of masks by young Croats that feature the images of foreign figures. He said he deliberately choose a photo of the former Croatian president smiling for the Franjo Tudman face masks.

It is not yet clear if Šajeta plans to make the Franjo Tudman face masks widely available. Followers of the singer on Twitter were keen to ask if he would be making other masks featuring nationally famous figures.

The Franjo Tudman face masks are far from the first tributes to be paid to the first President of Croatia. There are more statues dedicated to Franjo Tudman in Croatia than any other person. Following Croatia's independence from Yugoslavia, Franjo Tudman became the first President of Croatia and served in the position from 1990 until his death in 1999.

All images from the Twitter account of Šajeta

January the 24th, 2021 - Will Croatian cafe owners finally be permitted to serve coffee to go as the country's epidemiological measures are reviewed on February the 1st? 

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Ana Blaskovic writes, in the coming days, the state will present the new epidemiological measures for the economy after February the 1st in detail, during which consultations will be held with all those whose work has been suspended, such as Croatian faces, according to Labour Minister Josip Aladrovic.

"Certainly, as has been the case previous times, there will be consultations with all those who are involved. Of course, there is a special emphasis being placed on those in the hospitality and catering industry because of their number and because these measures have a significant impact on them,'' said the Minister.

He added that no measure will be adopted without consultations with all those whose work has been suspended.

When asked by journalists about the announcement of the National Association of Caterers, which, citing sources close to the Civil Protection Headquarters, said that hotels would be opened first, then restaurants would be next, opening their doors from early March, with Croatian cafes being allowed to open their doors few weeks later, Aladrovic said that in early February, a new set of measures would be announced.

Croatian cafe owners and others in the hospitality and catering sector are asking to be given the opportunity to sell coffee to go about which the minister said that there is definitely room for conversation and agreement, and finally some concessions.

For the increasingly frequent remarks that the payment of job support subsidies for November and December have arrived late, Aladrovic said that he admitted that there were delays for November, but that there were no more complaints and that the CES paid out a total of around 400 million kuna.

Almost 300 million kuna has been paid out for the month of December 2020 so far, and Aladrovic doesn't expect any further technical problems in that particular regard.

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ZAGREB, 23 January, 2021 - In the last 24 hours, 4,872 coronavirus tests have been performed in Croatia, and 599, that is 12.3%, have returned positive, while there have been 29 COVID-related deaths, the country's coronavirus crisis management team reported on Saturday morning.

There are currently 3,232 active cases of whom 1,468 are receiving hospital treatment, including 142 patients placed on ventilators.

Since the outbreak of the infection in Croatia on 25 February, 1,149,691 tests have been conducted for this novel virus, and 228.568 people have tested positive.

Of them, 220,537 have recovered to date, including 659 recoveries in the last 24 hours. The death toll stands at 4,799.

Currently, 16,114 persons are self-isolating.

ZAGREB,  23 January, 2021 - The COVID-19 pandemic is perceived as the top business risk in Croatia in 2021, cyber incidents rank second, while changes in legislation and regulations and lack of skilled labour force share the third place, according to the Allianz Risk Barometer.

The tenth annual edition of the barometer, issued recently, is based on the findings of a survey conducted by Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty (AGCS) following interviews of 2,769 specialists and experts from 92 countries and territories. Some of the respondents are Chief Executive Officers, risk consultants, underwriters, senior managers, claims experts in the corporate insurance segment of Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty and other Allianz entities.

The survey was conducted in Croatia before the 29 December devastating earthquake in the Petrinja region.

As many as 54% of the respondents in the country cite the pandemic as the biggest risk, while cyber incidents follow (31%), and changes in legislation and regulations have been stated as a business risk in 26% of the answers. In the previous four years, this was identified as the top business risk, according to this barometer.

The shortage of a skilled labour force is also mentioned as a business risk in 26% of the interviews in Croatia.

Allianz Croatia CEO Daniel Matić was quoted as saying that the impact of the pandemic and the COVID disease on doing business in Croatia is perceived in the same way as in most countries.

Matić speculates that had the survey been conducted after the quakes in Petrinja and Glina, the risk called "Natural catastrophes" would have had climbed to a higher position on the barometer.

Matić underscores the labour shortage as a high risk for doing business in Croatia.

Many industries, including tourism and the ICT sector, are faced with this problem, he said.

The importance of this issue can be seen in the example of the necessary labour force for rapid repair response in the aftermath of the quake in Petrinja, Sisak and Glina, he explained.

"Given the unprecedented disruption caused by the coronavirus outbreak, it is no surprise that business interruption and pandemic outbreak top the 2021 Allianz Risk Barometer," according to the explanation given on the Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty web site.

"The pandemic is the biggest climber this year (up 15 positions), with cyber incidents ranking a close third. All three risks – and many of the others in this year’s top 10 – are interlinked, demonstrating the growing vulnerabilities and uncertainty of our highly globalized and connected world, where actions in one place can spread rapidly to have global effects. Looking forward, the pandemic shows companies need to prepare for a wider range of business interruption triggers and extreme events than previously. Building greater resilience in supply chains and business models will be critical for managing future exposures."

The top ten business risks globally identified in the barometer are: Business Interruption, Pandemic outbreak, Cyber incidents, Market developments, Changes in legislation and regulation, Natural catastrophes, as well as Fire and explosion, then Macroeconomic developments, Climate change/increasing volatility of weather, and Political risks and violence.

January 23, 2021 - The anniversary of the Wuhan lockdown a year ago today recalls a moment in time in the crazy timeline of 2020, when Wuhan tourists continued to visit Croatia. 

They say that time is relative. 

But that pearl of wisdom was coined before 2020. 

Ordinarily, a single year would pass in the blink of an eye in the history of mankind, but 2020 lingered, its timeline so skewed, and totally different depending on your location.  

We watched with incredulity as China imposed the Wuhan lockdown a year ago today, shutting down an entire city of 11 million people for weeks and confining them to their homes. 

Closer to home, the images and daily death toll coming out of Italy were beyond belief. That could never happen to us, surely? I remember reading A letter to the UK from Italy: this is what we know about your future in March and feeling a chill go through my body. Ten months on,and the statistics speak for themselves.  

The horror of the pandemic aside (and I don't think I was the only one to underestimate it), what struck me most about last year was the way time moved at various speeds. After Croatia had been in lockdown for some time in Spring, I received an angry email an American from Illinois. He was due to go on a cruise in Split the following month and could not get any information on whether or not it was going to happen. 

His 2020 timeframe was a lot different to mine. For the realisation had not yet hit home. At time of writing, there were 5 deaths due to the virus in Illinois. Ten months later, more than 20,000. There have been no recent emails about cruise departures. 

That concept of 2020 time was something I noted after the Zagreb earthquake when I recorded a piece for Robert Tomic Zuber's excellent R+ channel in late March. One of the only two certainties I noted was that everything in the video would be irrelevant the following week, as the world would have moved on. Again. And so it did. 

As the Wuhan lockdown anniversary occurs, it is interesting to reflect on where things were in Croatia exactly one year ago, on January 23, 2020.

Even though TCN has written more than 1,800 articles on COVID-19 in the last year, there was no mention of the virus on the site on this day last year. That first mention came two days later, with Iva Tatic's What is Croatia Doing to Prevent the Spreading of the New Coronavirus? TCN was the first English portal in Croatia to write about coronavirus - by contrast, for example, there was no mention of it on the Ministry of Tourism's website until May.

That day, January 25, was notable in Croatia for another reason related to the pandemic. While the Wuhan lockdown was taking effect back home, Chinese tourists, including from Wuhan, were touring Croatia. It seems incredible looking back after the events of the last 12 months, but a party of 29 tourists landed in Milan on January 22, before heading to Plitvice Lakes, Zadar, overnighting in Neum in Bosnia (see video) and then on to Dubrovnik. 

Ironically, last week I stopped at the same Neum restaurant on a business trip. After weeks of life in Croatia with no cafes or restaurants open, the chance of a mixed grill and a cold one was just too tempting. As I savoured my first restaurant meal in months, I reflected on the craziness of it all. A year later, so many opinions and expert voices, and we still could not agree on a uniform approach to battling the pandemic. As Bosnia, Montenegro and Albania had open restaurants and cafes, as well as a 22:00 curfew, everything remained shut without curfew in Croatia. Just one of the many differences in approach in just a handful of countries.

Whether or not the Wuhan tourists should have been allowed into Croatia is an easy debate to have with hindsight, but it is clear that the government's eye was not 100% on the health threat. Weeks later in March, Croatia would win global plaudits for its decisive intervention to control the pandemic, and new Health Minister Vili Beros was hailed a national hero for his pragmatic, no-nonsense approach. But a year ago, as the Wuhan lockdown started, Beros was a virtual unknown. Although he has rarely been out of the media since, he had not yet spent a year in the job. This time last year, the then Health Minister Milan Kujundzic, was spending most of his efforts trying to deflect attention away from his undeclared property portfolio. Efforts which were unsuccessful and ultimately cost him his job, paving the way for the start of Beros' ministerial career. 

One year after the Wuhan lockdown, life has returned to relative normality, while in Croatia and most of the rest of the world, life is anything but normal. Just as we looked at incredulity at the Wuhan lockdown a year ago today, let's hope we are not looking at life in Wuhan today with pure envy 12 months from now. 

Read more on the 2020 timeline in Croatia through Chinese eyes, with Zagreb resident Sisi (published on April 4, 2020) - Foreigners Self-Isolating in Croatia: Do You Feel Safer? Sisi from China in Zagreb. 

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

January the 23rd, 2021 - PM Plenkovic has made it clear on several occasions that he is in favour of gradually loosing Croatia's currently fairly strict epidemiological measures up again after the current ones expire at the end of this month, but the profession isn't in agreement with him.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, PM Plenkovic and government ministers from various economic departments want to start gradually opening Croatia up again after the existing restrictive measures expire on January the 31st, since the trends in regard to new coronavirus infection cases over recent weeks have been more than good, but the Civil Protection Headquarters and Croatia's epidemiologists are very careful about the new strains of the virus which have emerged. They are not yet ready to open Croatia's doors yet again and are pushing for the existing measures to be extended for another month to two.

That's why today's meeting will be absolutely crucial, during which PM Plenkovic and his ministers will talk to members of the Civil Protection Staff and epidemiologists, and at which it will be decided in which direction the current measures will be relaxed. Interlocutors from the Croatian Government have revealed to Jutarnji list that the gradual easing of the measures should go in the direction of all students going to school, allowing recreational sports, as well as the opening of fitness centres, gyms and sports centres with strict measures implied. Epidemiologists will talk to representatives of the catering and hospitality sector who will discuss the possibility of allowing the opening of terraces for restaurants and cafes.

If, on the other hand, members of the Civil Protection Headquarters are asked about the possibility of easing restrictive measures on February the 1st, they say that this will only be discussed, but that they will take the position that greater concessions shouldn't be made for as long as the risk of a mutated form of the virus remains present. The mutated virus has emerged elsewhere in Europe, primarily in the UK, which is why many countries are prolonging or even tightening their measures.

Although the Minister of Science and Education Radovan Fuchs says that he expects and believes that all schools will open on February the 1st, ie that classes will be attended live, the members of the Civil Protection Staff advocate the thesis that we should be patient for another month or two when Croatia will enter the "safe zone". .

In the event that even after February the 1st, children in the upper grades of primary and secondary school continue to attend classes online, according to the Headquarters, they would be allowed to go to sport-related extracurricular activities.

The interlocutors from the economic part of the Government also confirm that they are uncompromising in Civil Protection Headquarters regarding the gradual easing of the measures. Although they are constantly talking to the them about about it, they are, as they say, quite firm in their beliefs that it shouldn't yet happen.

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January the 23rd, 2021 - Should Croatian tourism workers, who are among those who have suffered the most damage throughout the duration of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic be prioritised for vaccination? According to the Ministry of Tourism and Sport, the answer is yes.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Marija Crnjak writes, the Ministry of Tourism has asked the Croatian Institute of Public Health to place Croatian tourism workers on the priority list for vaccination against the novel coronavirus in order to maximise the safety of tourists and further fuel the perception that Croatia is a safe holiday destination in 2021.

To this end, in cooperation with professional associations, a large survey is currently being conducted across all parts of the aforementioned sector in order to determine the interest among Croatian tourism workers.

This was confirmed recently by the Minister of Tourism, Nikolina Brnjac, explaining that this activity was defined at the beginning of this week at the meeting of the Council for the Recovery and Development of Tourism, where they talked about the realisation of Croatian tourism in 2021.

We don't want a Covid ''passport''

Brnjac reiterated that Croatia is not thinking about using Covid passports, which are being talked about more and more on a global and European level. Namely, after Greece raised the issue with numerous European institutions last week, this week Spain also announced that it would introduce vaccination certificates and a kind of register of those who have been vaccinated, in order to speed up the return of tourism.

"Croatia won't go in that direction, but we'll continue to work on the introduction of safety protocols and health standards, and we'll use that in our promotional campaigns. As it is known, in addition to the Safe Travels label we received from the World Tourism Council (WTTC), we're also introducing our national Safe stay label, with detailed protocols in all segments.

70 percent of the bloc's total population could be vaccinated by the summer, according to European Union plans

All those interested will be able to get this tag for free, and use it in their own promotion. With all these measures, the vaccine is a remarkable thing for tourism, which will contribute to the return of normal tourist traffic. That's why we talked to the members at the Council, to see what the interest of the tourism sector is.

Namely, as hoteliers have organised voluntary flu vaccinations for their employees, they're now busy surveying how many Croatian tourism workers are interested in receiving the new coronavirus vaccine, so that figures that can be talked to the CNIPH about can be obtained. This will help us prepare well for this season and send out the message all those who want to be vaccinated in the Croatian tourism sector should be vaccinated, ie that, in addition to healthcare workers and other professions, Croatian tourism workers should also be a priority,'' explained Brnjac.

No restriction of movement

The survey is also promoted and conducted on its website by the Croatian Chamber of Commerce (HGK). "As the Ministry of Tourism and Sports has received several requests from employers on the importance of vaccinating Croatian tourism workers who are in direct contact with guests, members of the Council were asked to conduct a survey of company interests to be included in the vaccination process for coronavirus protection and an estimate of the number of workers who would opt for vaccination as soon as possible.

On behalf of the Croatian Chamber of Commerce, the presidents of the Association and the Communities of the Department of Tourism have been appointed as members of the Council, and we've been asked to conduct a survey among the members, which is still open,'' the Chamber pointed out.

The European Union's tourism sector, as well as the national governments of member states, are intensively considering the best way to promote vaccinated travellers and tourists in some way, without discriminating against travellers who, for various reasons, will not be vaccinated until spring or summer, when the European Union plans for 70 percent of its total population to possibly be vaccinated.

The meeting of the heads of national governments of the EU held a few days ago also discussed the introduction of a kind of health certificate, but Brnjac believes that the unified position of the Union will not go in the direction of any restriction of movement.

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