September 22, 2020 - For six consecutive weeks this summer, the Martinska venue alone welcomed over 10, 000 international visitors to its music festivals in Sibenik. Zero cases of Coronavirus occurred.

Over recent years, three things have firmly placed Croatia on the international stage – Game Of Thrones, the World Cup and music festivals. Running for over a decade now, music festivals are the oldest of these. They have elevated places like Pula and Tisno to become among the most-Googled destinations in the country.

So popular now are Croatia music festivals, that many say the summer season of music festivals in Croatia has supplanted the famous hedonistic holidays of Ibiza as the hippest place to go. Incredible disappointment was therefore felt by tens of thousands of expectant party people earlier this year when most of the international Croatia music festivals decided to cancel their 2020 events. They did so in response to the Coronavirus pandemic.

One venue stood alone – Martinska, a 20-year-old site for music festivals in Sibenik. Over six consecutive weeks, all of their 2020 festivals took place. They did so under strict adherence to epidemiological guidelines. And, following a wait of two weeks after the final event (to cover any potential Coronavirus incubation period), site organisers Pozitivan Ritam have released their results - zero cases of Coronavirus.

“It's not only the five festivals and one concert event that we did,” Pozitivan Ritam director Vedran Meniga told TCN, “The Fortress of Culture in Sibenik had more than 30 events this summer and Project Vojarna in Sibenik had two parties this year with over 4000 people. On one RTL television show, they described Sibenik as the Croatian Wuhan when 3000 people were in the town for one techno party there. But, at the end of the season, none of these events resulted in a single Coronavirus infection. Not one.”

Following a successful lockdown earlier in the year, cases of Coronavirus were limited in Croatia at the start of the season. Yet, some were understandably hesitant to come. Music festivals in Sibenik still managed to attract visitors from Britain, France, the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany to Martinska. Even after the middle of August when cases began to appear in other regions and international visitor numbers dried up, the festival site was still busy with Croatians and partygoers from near-neighbouring countries. At the end of August, there were no more than five infected persons in Sibenik. None were music festival or music event attendees. Throughout much of the summer, Sibenik recorded zero cases.

“The music festivals in Sibenik are proof that it's possible to work doing events during the era of Corona,” Meniga tells TCN. “Of course, all of our events were open-air and no doubt that helped.”

"When cases started to reappear elsewhere at the end of July, I went to the civil authorities and epidemiologists immediately, before they came to us,” says Vedran. “The civil authorities and the police grant the license for the events. I presented them with a plan and they were satisfied. They allowed us to continue.”

“It helped that Martinska is across the bay from Sibenik. Festival attendees don't even need to go into the town to come, they drive here straight from the Magistrala (Croatian coastal highway). Also, Martinska's capacity is five times bigger than the numbers we were going to cater for. The site can accommodate six to seven thousand. We expected no more than 1500 daily. That was more than enough space to maintain physical distance. We carefully took all contact details for each attendee at the entrance, in case something appeared and we (or authorities) had to later contact people. We also took everyone's temperature. And in addition to the required epidemiological sanitization, we also installed disinfectant pillars at every single point where money or goods exchanged hands. All our staff wore not only masks but also gloves. Four times the civil authorities made surprise visits to the site for inspection along with epidemiologists and police. Each time they were completely satisfied.”

Current forecasts for the Coronavirus response predict that a vaccine will not be available to cover everyone until the autumn of 2021. This has serious implications for at least one more tourist season. Yet, with the incredible achievements seen this summer at Martinska's music festivals in Sibenik, we can all take hope that events, tourism, and even life itself may continue to be enjoyed in the near future, as long as we're all smart about it.



All photos 2020 Martinska © Seasplash / Pozitivan Ritam. 

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ZAGREB, September 22, 2020 - In the past 24 hours, 144 new cases of the coronavirus were detected in Croatia and two people have died, while the number of active cases is 1,894, the national civil protection authority said on Tuesday.

A total of 278 patients are in hospital treatment, with 24 on ventilators.

In the past 24 hours, 250 people have recovered and 5,165 have been tested, while there are 9,822 in self-isolation at the moment.

Since 25 February when the first case of the disease was detected in Croatia, there have been a total of 15,136 cases of the coronavirus registered, 255 of the patients have died, and a total of 12,987 people have recovered.

To date a total of 267,297 tests for Covid-19 have been conducted.

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ZAGREB, September 21, 2020 - Head of the Croatian Institute for Public Health (HZJZ)  Krunoslav Capak announced on Monday that isolation for people who have been infected with the coronavirus would be shortened from 14 to 10 days.

Talking to N1 commercial broadcaster, Capak said the the most important change relates to criteria to end isolation. HZJZ documents that were released today note that isolation lasts for ten days instead of the 14 as was the case until now.

"The latest data indicates that a person's infectiousness declines significantly after seven days. After ten days that person is no longer contagious. There is no need for them to be in isolation for more than 10 days. If they have not had a temperature or symptoms in the preceding 24 hours, they can come out of isolation, with the exception of serious cases," said Capak.

He underscored that people who had been positive or have evidence that they have recovered from the infections, do not need to go into self-isolation for a period of three months, upon their recovery, even if they come into contact with an infected person.

The epidemiologist added that the criteria for testing will not change significantly except for students in dormitories and for people attending medically related courses and they will be treated as medical staff. Medical staff, people at risk and people who work in aged care facilities will continue to have priority for testing, he added.

Capak explains that today's figure of 70 new cases of the virus does not match the reality as Covid clinics work shorter hours during the weekend with less staff and fewer tests are conducted, however, it is a good sign that for two days the numbers have been declining.

As far as the spike in numbers over the summer is concerned, Capak said that this was more manifest at the end of August. "It takes some time for more complicated cases of the disease to appear and for someone who needs to be put on a ventilator to succumb to the disease," he said.

People with grave symptoms, with chronic diseases or some other underlying conditions are hospitalised, he said, adding that there were about 2,500 such cases while a little under ten percent of those with such grave symptoms die.

Currently there are no clusters anywhere in Croatia but we will need to follow the consequences of the folklore festival in Vinkovci and the pride parade in Zagreb which were held last weekend, where a lot of people gathered, he said.

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September 21, 2020 - As a guest on N1 television, the Director of the Croatian Institute of Public Health Krunoslav Capak announced three new rules for testing and isolation.  

Index.hr reports that Capak commented on the current situation with the coronavirus epidemic in Croatia and, among other things, outlined the priorities for testing and revealed the criteria for breaking isolation.

The document is ready; what is changing?

"Isolation will last 10 days. So far, we have had 14 days. The latest data show that a person has significantly lower infectivity after the seventh day. After day 10, the person is not contagious. There is no need to be in isolation for more than 10 days. If they did not have a temperature and symptoms in 24 hours, they can come out of isolation. The exception is severe cases.

As for the testing criteria, they do not change significantly, except that we have introduced pupils and students in dormitories and those who go to schools and colleges of the medical type, who will be treated as the medical staff.

The third important news is that so far, a positive person, a person who has proven confirmation that they have overcome the disease, does not have to go into self-isolation for three months even if they are in contact with an infected person.

Priority groups for testing are the elderly and those who work with them."

Will there be new measures?

"Today, we had 70 new cases, that is not a realistic number. We have fewer cases on Mondays because there are fewer tests on weekends. The number will surely be higher tomorrow. We have had a downward trend for two weeks now, and hopefully, it will continue."

The situation in counties

"There are no significant hotspots, this weekend we had the Gay Pride Parade and Vinkovci Autumn Festival, these are events that need to be followed."

Can you determine the sources of infection with certainty?

"It is usually easy to determine the source of the infection; in some 10 percent, we cannot know it immediately, but it is determined over time. In 90 percent of cases, we manage to find out the source of the infection. It is very difficult to determine if a person became infected in a club or restaurant.

Risky gatherings are weddings, family gatherings, and public gatherings."

About the fatalities

"At one time, at the end of August, we had several new cases. It takes time for a more severe form of the disease to develop and for a person to go on a ventilator and for a negative outcome to occur. Mortality and death always accompany new cases for three to four weeks. We now pay tribute to several patients during August.

People who are hospitalized are those who have more severe symptoms, chronic illness, or some other comorbidity. There are about 2,500 of them, and since the beginning of the epidemic until today, slightly less than 10 percent of those seriously ill have died."

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ZAGREB, September 21, 2020 - Over the past 24 hours 70 new coronavirus cases have been registered in Croatia, bringing the number of active cases to 2,002, and five persons have died, the national COVID response team said on Monday.

Currently 297 patients are hospitalised, including 24 on ventilators, and 9,159 persons are self-isolating.

Over the past 24 hours, 3,296 persons have been tested for the virus and 201 patients have recovered. To date 262,132 persons have been tested.

Since February 25, when the first case of infection was recorded in Croatia, 14,992 persons have been infected with coronavirus, 253 of whom have died, while 12,737 have recovered.

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Sometimes the big solutions are in the little things. Dr Alemka Markotic, the director of Zagreb's Fran Mihaljevic Clinic for Infectious Diseases is also trying to check whether this is the case with the new virus that saw the world grind to a halt through a new study.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 20th of September, 2020, while the world's pharmaceutical companies and the most prestigious scientists are busy working on the production of vaccines against the new coronavirus, Dr Alemka Markotic has stated that even some simple procedures such as maintaining good nasal hygiene can help fight respiratory infections in general.

The observations she cites are still in their initial controlled study phases, but this finding cannot certainly be harmful to anyone. The idea for the study, she explained, was born out of trying to help asymptomatic infected people who had been in isolation for weeks because of a positive swab test that was no longer in line with their state of health because they were feeling well. The key is in saline solutions that the new coronavirus, much like other viruses, finds hostile.

''From the very beginning of the pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2, scientists and doctors have noticed that in a number of patients, but also in people who have been diagnosed with the infection but haven't developed symptoms, we can detect the virus in the nasal mucosa for a long time. Cases of over two months of positive swabs have been reported in some individuals. In the first few months of the pandemic, while we didn't know how long the virus could be infectious for, it was associated with the long-term stay of positive people in isolation, which led to certain psychological problems, but also existential ones due to long-term isolation and the inability to return to work,'' said Dr Alemka Markotic in conversation with 24sata. She is exploring the possibility that in a number of people, slowing down or preventing the spread of the virus from the nose to the lungs could be done with the simple use of saline.

''During the spring and early summer, some people with long-term positive swabs turned to me for help. Since there's no specific cure for now, I was thinking how best I might help them. The assumption was that the results of the swabs were probably made up of defective virus particles or viruses that had lost their power to infect, but there wasn't enough information in the relevant scientific and professional literature to attest to it for sure and they had to be isolated until negative results were obtained from them. I thought that maybe a good nasal clean, that is, rinsing and moisturising the nose with sea salt-based preparations, could help remove the dead epithelium in the nose, and thus the viral particles from that epithelium.

I advised people to refresh and clean their noses 3-4 times a day by injecting seawater-based preparations for 2-3 days and then do another control swab. In most cases, after that procedure, the test returned negative and they could finally leave isolation and return to their "new normal" lives,'' explained Dr Alemka Markotic. The next step was to scientifically prove this interesting observation.

''As these were individual observations and experiences, which definitely need confirmation in a controlled study in order to be considered scientifically and professionally relevant and applicable, we launched a pilot study at the Clinic for Infectious Diseases in Zagreb. In the study, we'll try to examine patients with COVID-19 and see how much regular nasal bathing with seawater-based solutions can reduce the presence of the virus in the nose, and if the results are encouraging, we plan to continue the study in asymptomatic cases to reduce the possible spread of the virus to the lower parts of the respiratory system, ie towards the lungs,'' she noted.

She stressed that maintaining a healthy nasal mucosa is extremely important in general.

"Doctors regularly give such advice to their patients, and it's good that now, before the season of respiratory infections comes around, where the flu will play a big role, we remind everyone of this type of protection. The nasal mucosa is the site of entry of numerous microorganisms that cause respiratory tract infections. Cells that line a healthy and undamaged mucosa represent a physical barrier to the entry of microorganisms and the contraction of disease. The nasal mucosa provides heating, moisturising and purification of the inhaled air.

In addition, IgA antibodies are secreted on the surface of the mucosa that can offer local protection against various microorganisms. Cold weather, but also overheated areas with dry air damage the mucous membrane, cause inflammation and swelling of the mucous membrane and increase the possibility of microorganisms settling on it. Therefore, keeping the mucosa moist and undamaged, including regular nasal cleaning, is important in defense against microorganisms,'' said Dr Alemka Markotic.

To ensure nasal patency and normal breathing, Markotic added, various drops are used to reduce mucosal swelling, but most such drops should only be applied for a short time, as their long-term use can also lead to damage to the nasal mucosa.

"For the daily moistening of the nasal mucosa and the prevention of damage to the mucosa, seawater-based solutions are recommended. Salt reduces swelling by binding water from the mucosa, dilutes the mucus and facilitates its expulsion, and can also have an anti-allergic effect. It can also physically remove dead and damaged nasal epithelial cells.

In the current era of COVID-19, in addition to measures of distance, hand hygiene and wearing masks, it's important to maintain proper nasal hygiene, which includes regular cleaning and moisturising, especially since the prolonged wearing of masks can further reduce the normal wetting of the nasal mucosa,'' concluded Dr Alemka Markotic for 24sata.

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ZAGREB, September 20, 2020 - A total of 197 new cases of the coronavirus infection have been registered in the past 24 hours, four patients have died and the number of active cases now stands at 2,138, the national COVID-19 reponse team said on Sunday.

Of the total number of patients 281 are receiving hospital treatment, including 21 who are on ventilators.

Since February 25, when the first case of COVID-19 was reported in the country, 14,922 people have contracted the disease, of whom 248 have died while 12,536 have recovered, including 183 in the last 24 hours.

Currently 9,475 people are self-isolating.

A total of 258,864 people have been tested for the virus to date, including 4,384 in the last 24 hours.

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ZAGREB, Sept 19, 2020 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said on Saturday that Standard & Poor's decision to affirm Croatia's credit rating proves that the country entered the corona crisis with a resilient economy and that the cabinet has adopted robust and timely measures to respond to the economic challenges.

The Standard & Poor's agency on Friday affirmed its 'BBB-/A-3' long- and short-term sovereign credit ratings on Croatia, with a stable outlook, pointing to fiscal and monetary measures which can alleviate the consequences of the corona crisis and thus thwart permanent damage to credit indicators.

The decisions prompted the government to state on Saturday that those evaluations show that the government did the right thing with its strong response to the crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The credit rating agency also confirms the importance of political stability in Croatia.

The agency notes that "the July 2020 parliamentary elections resulted in a strong mandate affirming the HDZ-led government."

The assessments made by S&P also prove that "Croatia entered the crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic with a stable and resilient economy," Plenkovic was quoted as saying.

The S&P report on Croatia also shows that the government is pursuing "robust and timely measures" to keep jobs and help the economy to turn around, he added.

The report reflects trust in the continuation of the implementation of the government's measures aimed at a speedy economic recovery, also by using 22 billion euros which are made available to Croatia in the European Union's funds in the next seven years.

This also shows trust in Croatia's efforts to implement reforms on its journey towards the membership of the euro area, the premier said.

The government recalls that Croatia used to be below investment ratings from 2012 to 2019 and that in the term of the cabinet of PM Plenkovic, the country managed to regain the creditworthiness.

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ZAGREB, Sept 19, 2020 - In the last 24 hours, of 5,457 tests performed for coronavirus, 212 have returned positive, and there have been no COVID-related deaths, Croatia's COVID-19 crisis management team reported on Saturday.

Currently, there are 2,128 active cases, and 9,714 contacts are self-isolating.

Of those active cases, 288 are receiving hospital treatment, including 24 placed on ventilators.

Since 25 February, when the first case of the disease was registered in Croatia, a total of 14,725 people have been diagnosed with this infection. Of them, 12,353 have recovered and 244 have died.

To date, Croatia's health authorities have conducted 254,480 tests for this novel virus.

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As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 18th of September, 2020, at its recent session, the Croatian Employment Service's Governing Board made a decision on changes and amendments to the conditions and manner of using funds for the implementation of active employment policy measures in 2020. Applications for Croatian job preservation grants for September have begun and will run until October the 15th, 2020.

Applications for Croatian job preservation grants for economic activities affected by the coronavirus pandemic and those for micro-enterprises will continue in the period from September to December this year, the statement said.

Croatian job preservation grants for those affected by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic includes all of the same economic activities which were listed before, such as passenger transport, accommodation, food and beverage preparation, the event industry, etc., which will continue to be allowed to use of the support up to 4,000 kuna per worker if they can prove a drop in income of at least 60 percent.

As for support for micro-enterprises, these Croatian job preservation grants continue to include the amount of up to 2,000 per worker kuna for employers who employ up to 10 workers, provided that their income has fallen by at least 50 percent.

The Croatian job preservation grants can also be used by those facilities which are closed due to the measures implemented by the National Civil Protection Headquarters.

The CES emphasised that all employers, regardless of their activity, who cannot operate or whose work is restricted in any way, will be able to use these measures in accordance with the decisions of the National Civil Protection Headquarters, provided that those who have had their work restricted owing to a decision made by the headquarters (such as reduced working hours, a reduced number of visitors, etc.) if necessary, they'll have to prove that they are having difficulties in doing business (such as proving a recorded drop in revenue by 60 and 50 percent, respectively).

Last week, Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic announced that the CES would make decisions on the continuation of measures to help the economy due to the coronavirus crisis, meaning that the measure of co-financing part-time work of a maximum of 2,000 kuna per worker will continue until December. The measure for micro-enterprises, which also amounts to 2,000 per worker kuna will also continue if the enterprise had a drop in turnover of more than 50 percent. This measure applies to all sectors of the economy and includes the write-off of all related contributions.

For activities that are particularly vulnerable, the support of 4,000 kuna per worker will also continue until December the 31st this year, with Plenkovic listing the sectors of passenger transport, catering and hospitality, tour operators and enterprises working in the field of recreation, cultural, business and sporting events, and in the event that they had a drop in turnover of more than 60 per cent. These Croatian job preservation grants also include the write-off of all contributions.

According to Plenkovic, all of these Croatian job preservation grants and similar measures will cost around 800 million kuna by the end of the year and will be financed from the state budget, but part of the funds will be compensated from European Union (EU) funds.

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