November 22, 2020 - At midnight, new COVID-19 measures in Croatia came into force. A list of what's changed starting today. 

The National Civil Protection Headquarters adopted new measures against the coronavirus on Friday after the previous measures did not reduce the number of infected. All measures are applied from the beginning of November 22 (midnight) to December 15, announced the head of the National Headquarters and Interior Minister Davor Bozinovic a few days ago.

Restrictive measures for weddings and private gatherings

The measures relate to limiting public events and gatherings to 25 people instead of 50, as has been the case so far, limiting wedding ceremonies to 15 instead of 30 people, while a maximum of 25 people instead of 30 can be present at funerals, and condolences must not be expressed in close contact. 

Private festivities are limited to 10 people instead of 15, and sports competitions are to be held without spectators and with adherence to measures as before.

Catering facilities can be open until 10 pm

Nightclubs, casinos, and slot machine clubs cannot work, and other catering facilities can be open until 10 pm, with a prominent notice regarding the largest number of guests that can be in the facility following the recommendations of the CNIPH.

The notice must be displayed by stores and shops, and it is mandatory that all stores and shopping centers take additional measures when more customers are expected, such as during discounts and pre-holiday shopping.

Additional restrictions have been introduced for gatherings that are not limited to 25 people, such as professional art programs, cinema screenings, religious ceremonies, and sessions of representative bodies. The number of persons present is limited to the size of the space, and four square meters of space must be provided for each person in compliance with the measures.

Ban on selling alcohol after 10 pm

A ban on the sale of alcoholic beverages from 10 pm to 6 am is also being introduced. The implementation of the measures will be controlled by members of the Civil Protection Directorate, police officers, and the State Inspectorate.

Thus, the necessary epidemiological measures imposed on the whole of Croatia are:

- ban on holding all public events and gatherings attended by more than 25 people in one place;
- a maximum of 15 people may be present at wedding ceremonies;
- a maximum of 25 people may be present at funerals, final farewells, and placing urns, and condolences must not be expressed through close contact;
- a maximum of 10 people may be present at other private ceremonies;
- it is mandatory that all stores and shops clearly display at the entrance the highest capacity of customers that can be in the store at the same time following the recommendations and instructions of the Croatian Institute of Public Health and strictly adhere to the permitted number of customers;

- it is mandatory for all stores, shops, and shopping centers to take additional measures during the expected arrival of more customers (discounts, rebates, pre-holiday purchases, etc.) so that more customers do not stay on their premises at the same time; they must ensure compliance with epidemiological measures;
- suspension of catering facilities such as night clubs, night bars, and disco clubs;
- suspension of casinos and slot machine clubs;
- it is mandatory for all catering facilities that have not been suspended to clearly display at the entrance a notice of the largest number of guests who can be inside the catering facility at the same time following the recommendations and instructions of the Croatian Institute of Public Health; they must strictly adhere to the limit;
- sports competitions can be held only without spectators and with strict adherence to all prescribed epidemiological measures and special recommendations and instructions of the Croatian Institute of Public Health, and the organizers are obliged to ensure that all competitors and necessary technical staff adhere to prescribed epidemiological measures;
- public events and gatherings and ceremonies of all kinds can last until 22:00;
- ban on the sale of alcoholic beverages between 22:00 and 6:00;
- mandatory use of face masks or medical masks outdoors when it is not possible to maintain a physical distance of at least 1.5 meters.

Anti-epidemic measures do not apply to:

- professional artistic performances and programs;
- cinema screenings;
- religious rites;
- exhibitions in museum, gallery and other exhibition spaces;
- sessions of representative bodies.

In places that include gatherings that are not subject to a strict number of measures, some other restrictions apply.

At such gatherings and ceremonies, the number of persons present is limited due to the size of the space, so that at least 4 square meters of distance must be provided for each person, in strict compliance with all prescribed epidemiological measures and special recommendations and instructions of the Croatian Institute of Public Health. It is mandatory to have a clear notice at the entrance to the facility where the gathering or ceremony is held regarding the largest possible number of people that can be present in the facility at the same time.

Organizers are obliged to ensure that the premises where the gatherings are held are regularly ventilated, that no more than the allowed number are present at the gathering or ceremony, and that all present adhere to all prescribed epidemiological measures and special recommendations and instructions of the Croatian Institute of Public Health.

The decision on shortening working hours for catering facilities

A special decision was made for the operation of catering facilities, which can now operate until 10 pm, except for nightclubs and bars, which are banned, and catering facilities in Varaždin County, which are also not allowed to work.

Catering facilities that have not been suspended by a decision of the Civil Protection Headquarters of the Republic of Croatia may operate from 6:00 to 22:00.

The stated working hours also apply to providers of catering services in the household and family farms, except for accommodation services.

The stated working hours do not refer to catering facilities from the groups "Hotels", "Camps" and "Other catering facilities for accommodation", except for catering facilities of other groups that work in their composition.

At the proposal of the County Headquarters, the working hours of catering facilities and other providers of catering services may be additionally limited for the area of an individual unit of local and regional self-government.

The control of the implementation of this Decision will be carried out by inspectors of the Directorate of Civil Protection, inspectors of the State Inspectorate, police officers, and members of civil protection.

Source: Index.hr

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November the 22nd, 2020 - Minister Davor Bozinovic has stated that the most recently introduced anti-epidemic measures will be policed far more strictly than they have been in the past as the battle with the spread of the pandemic continues.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, Davor Bozinovic, Chief of the National Civil Protection Headquarters, was a guest recently for HRT and spoke about the newly introduced measures in the fight against the spread of the new coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2.

Davor Bozinovic said that he hoped that these new measures would lead to a slowdown in the infection and that was precsiely and solely why they were adopted.

"The measures depend on how many people will adhere to them. The measures imply the self-discipline of each one of us. The headquarters adopts measures, it will monitor the implementation of the measures and it will control them,'' he said.

Davor Bozinovic said the police were an integral part of the decision to monitor the implementation of the prescribed and introduced measures, and that things will be more strict now.

''The police, the State Inspectorate and the Directorate of Civil Protection and the Civil Protection Headquarters by county, city and municipality will all be involved. However, the police will now be much stricter in implementing these measures. Through the basic and criminal police, they will investigate the possible existence of misdemeanors and the criminal liability of legal and natural persons,'' the minister warned.

Davor Bozinovic said that the situation in Croatia and its neighbouring countries that have introduced stricter measures is being monitored all the time.

"We introduce measures rationally and thoughtfully and their implementation will be monitored. The epidemiological situation in the future and possible new measures will also decided upon,'' he said.

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ZAGREB, November 21, 2020 - Krapina-Zagorje County head Zeljko Kolar said on Saturday that the epidemiological situation in the county was very serious, with 104 new coronavirus cases and four fatalities in the last 24 hours.

The county head told a news conference that the county health system was functioning only owing to extreme efforts by medical workers.

"Forty-nine people have died since October 23. If that is not reason enough for people to get serious and start complying with epidemiological measures, I don't know what is. We do not want the scenario that is happening in Varazdin County to happen here," Kolar said in reference to Varazdin County being among the European regions with the highest seven-day incidence of coronavirus, with 944 cases per 100,000 inhabitants.

There are currently 1,043 active cases in Krapina-Zagorje County and 1,453 people are self-isolating, the local COVID-19 response team said.

ZAGREB, November 21, 2020 - A record-high 3,573 new coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Croatia in the last 24 hours and there have been 47 related fatalities, the national coronavirus response team said on Saturday.

Currently, there are 19,079 active cases in the country, of whom 1,981 are receiving hospital treatment, including 213 who are on ventilators.

Since February 25, when the first case was confirmed in Croatia, 100,410 people have been infected with the novel virus, of whom 1,304 have died.

A total of 80,027 people have recovered, including 2,640 in the last 24 hours.

A total of 45,150 people are currently in self-isolation.

To date, 667,749 people have been tested for coronavirus, including 9,877 in the last 24 hours.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 21st of November, 2020, the director of Zagreb's ''Dr. Fran Mihaljevic'' Clinic for Infectious Diseases, Prof Alemka Markotic, was a guest on Dnevnik Nova TV where she commented on Croatia's new measures to fight the spread of the new coronavirus.

She says the first results of the new measures are expected in two to three weeks

"The first results of these new measures should become visible by then. If the numbers don't fall, then all options are to be considered. If we manage to all pull together we believe that with these newly introduced measures we'll see an improvement. The measures can't do anything on their own if people don't adhere to them,'' Prof Alemka Markotic said.

Prof Alemka Markotic: We're worried about the increase in the number of dead and sick people

In addition, she added that the National Civil Protection Headquarters is concerned about the increase in the number of sick and dead people.

"We're worried about the increase in the number of sick and dead people. Especially since spring is far away. The winter period is on its way and we expect to have to fight this virus for the next two to three months. Everything is being done with different measures and with the exchange of knowledge on how best to treat and take care of patients,'' added Prof Alemka Markotic.

She stated that this is a continuous process. "We're trying to do everything in our power to reduce these trends [of the virus]," she added.

She noted that about 4,000 healthcare workers have now successfully recovered from coronavirus and that there are thoughts about reducing the number of days people need to spend in isolation

Prof Alemka Markotic also revealed how, when the isolation period was shortened to 10 days, a dose of risk was also taken, but also how now they are thinking about shortening this period even more.

"What Croatia did back in September to reduce the isolation period down to ten days has also been done by many countries over the last month," Markotic said, adding that a dose of risk was taken into account in regard to this move.

"One study and review analysis of more than 5,000 people showed that, regardless of the amount of virus particles, after 9 days from the onset of the disease, the virus can no longer cause infection, it ceases to be infectious," Markotic explained, adding that this is very good news indeed.

"Further studies are needed, so we're thinking and discussing reducing it to even less days, but with additional testing implied. This is being discussed at several levels across Europe. We assume that some common recommendations for all European countries could be made,'' concluded Prof Alemka Markotic.

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November the 21st, 2020 - The famous 22 billion euros from Brussels has an additional sum attached to it in the shape of aid for the negative consequences caused by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, and this marks a truly historic chance for the Croatian economy.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Iva Boban Valecic writes, after two months of painstaking negotiations at a summit in the Belgian capital, Plenkovic announced that 22 billion euros will flow into Croatia when the new seven-year EU budget was finally agreed in July.

In addition to this budget, a fund has been agreed from which the financing of the consequences of the coronavirus crisis will be financed. The total value of both documents are eyewatering amounts, but what made this deal be immediately referred to as historic is not the dizzying amount itself, but the fact that massive joint EU borrowing was agreed for the first time.

In the arduous negotiations that preceded this agreement, the frugal quartet, Austria, the Netherlands, Denmark and Sweden, which were called European misers for opposing joint borrowing, had to be broken.

At the insistence of these countries, the ratio between grants and loans that will be available to EU member states in favour of borrowing has changed, so about half of the total money to overcome the economic, health and other consequences of the coronavirus crisis will be allocated non-refundable funds and half soaked up by borrowing.

Almost 6 billion euros in grants and another 2.35 billion euros in soft loans will be available to Croatia from the new recovery instrument, which is an unpecedented opportunity for the Croatian economy. The good news for Croatia was also brought about by the agreement on this new financial perspective.

Over the next seven years, additional money is planned for less developed regions and rural areas, but also for demographics, which Croatia insisted on during the negotiations. An additional benefit is that the earlier rate of the co-financing of projects from the European budget of 85 percent for less developed regions has survived, although some countries have insisted that it be reduced and the national component raised to 30 percent. According to some calculations, Croatia will therefore save 6 billion kuna over the next seven years.

There is also the famous "N + 3" rule, according to which money can be absorbed three years after the year in which the budget commitments are made, which also goes in the Croatian economy's favour.

The realisation of this agreement, however, is going through difficult trials. The final adoption of the package in the European Parliament is currently being blocked by Hungary and Poland, dissatisfied with the fact that project funding is linked to the rule of law in EU member states.

The realisation of the European budget will probably be delayed because of that, but there is no doubt that an agreement will be reached in the end.

In the meantime, it is important for Croatia to prepare well for the withdrawal of money that should be available to it, because this very generous envelope requires additional effort from the usually ill-prepared domestic administration, which must work on concluding projects from the financial perspective and prepare strategic documents for withdrawing money from the Mechanism for recovery, as well as 12.7 billion euros from the EU budget.

As a first precondition for withdrawing this money, the Croatian Government recently identified a proposal for a National Development Strategy for the next ten years.

The National Recovery Plan, which will enable the withdrawal of money from the Recovery Mechanism, should also be based on this strategy. It should be borne in mind that such plans will also be adopted by other member states, and large and economically developed countries will certainly incorporate the interests of their own producers.

Although agreement at EU level is largely in favour of less developed members, their technological backwardness is a burden, especially given that a high share of green and digital transformation projects will be required from projects in the Recovery Mechanism.

Therefore, as economist Zeljko Lovrincevic recently warned, the Croatian economy is threatened by a scenario in which as much as two thirds of that withdrawn money could flow to the west through technology, and to the east through labour, which is also very much insufficient in Croatia.

The government will therefore have to take care to support the interests of the Croatian economy as much as possible through the National Recovery Plan and the policies that will result from it, because the historic chance that Croatia has through these mechanisms could otherwise turn into yet another historic fiasco.

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ZAGREB, November 20, 2020 - A total of 2,958 new coronavirus cases and 57 related deaths have been confirmed in Croatia in the last 24 hours, the national coronavirus response team said on Friday morning.

Currently, there are 18,193 active cases in the country, of whom 1,992 are receiving hospital treatment, including 217 who are on ventilators.

Since February 25, when the first case was confirmed in Croatia, 96,837 people have been infected with the novel virus, of whom 1,257 have died and 77,387 have recovered, including 2,522 in the last 24 hours.

A total of 43,265 people are currently in self-isolation.

To date, 657,827 people have been tested for coronavirus, including 8,321 in the last 24 hours.

November 20, 2020 - Even stricter COVID-19 measures in Croatia will take effect from midnight on Sunday, November 22, and will last until December 15.

UPDATE: The measures are in effect from midnight on Sunday, November 22. The initial information Davor Bozinovic stated in the press release was incorrect.

"Since the beginning of the epidemic, 657872 people have been tested, and in the last 24 hours, 8321 people have been tested. The average age of those tested is 43. We have 1992 people in hospital, 217 are on a ventilator. That's 29 new patients compared to yesterday. 279 people were admitted to the hospital, and 186 people were discharged.

We have 57 deaths, and a total of 1257 people have died since the beginning of the epidemic in Croatia.  >We can say that we have high numbers, but we do not have an increase. Croatia currently has a 14-day incidence rate of 837.7, which puts us in 22nd place on the list of EU countries," said the head of the Croatian Public Health Institute, Krunoslav Capak, at a press conference of the National Civil Protection Headquarters.

"Following this situation with a growth rate that has stabilized to some extent, we concluded that we did not decline, and recording a decline is important to relieve the hospital system within the entire health system," commented the Chief of the Headquarters, Interior Minister Davor Bozinovic.

"Public gatherings are now limited to 25 people instead of 50, wedding ceremonies to 50, private ceremonies to 10 instead of 15. At funerals, the number is also reduced to 25 people. Sports competitions will be held without spectators, and all public events will have to end at 10 pm. At 10 pm, all catering facilities will have to close," said Božinović.

"Like shops, catering establishments must write down how many people are inside the space," he explains. There is also ban on the sale of alcoholic beverages from 10 pm to 6 am.

"For art performances and cinemas, additional restrictions have been introduced, and at least 4 meters must be maintained for each person present," he added.

"These decisions come into force at midnight," concluded Božinović.

More soon...

Source: Slobodna Dalmacija

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November the 20th, 2020 - Trends in life outside of big cities triggered by the pandemic had a greater impact on the decline in the sale of Zagreb property than the consequences of the earthquake did, according to the author of an expert article published on HNBlog on Monday.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, the authors of the expert article "The impact of the pandemic and the earthquake on the property market in Zagreb in the first half of 2020" saw the CNB's Davor Kunovac and Karlo Kotarac analyse the simultaneous impact of the earthquake which occurred back in March this year and the pandemic declared on March the 11th.

The two experts looked into the formation of real estate prices in Zagreb and have constructed a number of specific indicators of the Zagreb property market using data from the Tax Administration on the sale of said property.

A reduction of 10 percent

"The analysis showed that during May and June, the prices of Zagreb property being sold in the very centre and in Donji Grad, where buildings seriously damaged during the earthquake was the most densely distributed, decreased by 10 percent compared to the same period last year," the authors say.

According to that same data, "the number of properties sold in Zagreb in the first half of 2020 is approximately 22 percent lower when compared to what was sold in the same period last year and for now, it doesn't seem dramatic if we take into account the usual trends in transactions in previous years.

Namely, Kunovac and Kotarac note that the intra-annual dynamics of the number of sold properties changed back in 2017 with the introduction of the housing loan subsidy programme and a large number of transactions are now concentrated within a short time interval in which subsidy applications are opened.

However, unlike the previous two years, the decline in the number of transactions this time has lasted significantly longer, until May 2020, when, in parallel with the easing of epidemiological measures and a new round of housing subsidies, the number of transactions again approached the average recorded over the previous two years.

"The number of properties sold within the city and especially in Donji Grad, where the properties damaged in the earthquake was most densely distributed, has halved in recent months," said Kunovac and Kotarac. However, they also pointed out that the reduced tendency to buy Zagreb property in the very heart of the city center should not be entirely attributed to the earthquake.

"The indicators illustrate that the number and share of transactions related to the earthquake-damaged zone begins to decline a few weeks before the earthquake actually struck. This decline in activity in the real estate market coincides with the beginning of the pandemic when the process of buying and selling real estate was significantly hampered by the introduction of epidemiological measures.

The reduced activity in this area is in line with the increased attractiveness of living outside of the city centre and new trends in people's lifestyles which were triggered by the pandemic, such as social distancing or working from home,'' the authors of the article emphasised.

Not only newer apartments are desired...

The pandemic, as they further state, is closely related to the reduced demand for tourism in Zagreb. As a result, there is less demand for Zagreb property in the heart of the city that would otherwise have had a tourism-related purpose, while, at the same time, the supply of apartments for long-term rent or purchase in that part of the city is indeed growing.

Their analysis also suggests that a change in buyer ''preferences'' for living outside the city centre after the earthquake is not, as is sometimes claimed, largely determined by increased demand for newer properies built after 1964 when the first earthquake-building regulations were enacted in the city.

Namely, a comparison of the price index of older properies in Zagreb showed that the price of these buildings located in the old part of the city fell in the analysed time, while the price of propertoes built before 1964 in other parts of the city rose in that period.

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ZAGREB, Nov 19, 2020 - Croatian Medical Union (HLS) leader Renata Culinovic Caic told Hina on Thursday that it was a matter of hours when the county hospital in the northern town of Cakovec would be filled to capacity.

She noted that secondary schools were one of the major sources of infection and that they should switch to online classes.

Culinovic Caic said that more patients were being admitted to the county hospital in Cakovec than were being released.

"Of the 102 available places, 97 are occupied and more and more younger people with a difficult clinical condition are being admitted, requiring intensive and long treatment," she said, warning that it was a matter of hours when the hospital would be filled to capacity.

Culinovic Caic also noted that one should not consider the lower number of detected infections among high school students to be reliable, warning that there were probably many who were infected but do not have symptoms or have very mild symptoms, which made it possible for the disease to spread.

Representatives of medical organisations and associations in Medjimurje County have said that the northern county is at the top of the national ranking in terms of the number of persons tested and that in the past two weeks the share of positive cases in the total number of persons tested had grown from 24% in October to 34%.

Local medical associations on November 6 urged the county coronavirus crisis management team to introduce stricter epidemiological measures, a demand that has been met to some extent.

They also called for stricter control of compliance with proposed restrictions and for taking a firmer stand towards the national COVID-19 response team as well as for the timely introduction of additional restrictions at the county level.