August 28, 2020 - After new measures were introduced in Split-Dalmatia County, Dubrovnik-Neretva County asks for the same.

Index.hr reports that on Thursday, the Dubrovnik-Neretva County Headquarters proposed to the National Headquarters the adoption of measures, including limiting the number of participants in weddings, funerals and commemorations to 50 people, while celebrations can only be organized with families of up to 20 participants.

In addition, performances, religious ceremonies and other facilities should be held in addition to all epidemiological measures if they are outdoors, and if they are indoors, a mask should be used and kept at a distance of two meters.

The organizers of the gathering and the owners of the catering facilities are responsible for the implementation of the measures and must implement them more intensively, and the local civil protection headquarters are also in charge of that.

The measures would apply from Monday, August 31, for a period of 14 days.

The Chief of the County Headquarters, Josko Cebalo, expects that the National Headquarters will accept the proposal and make a decision on Friday.

"The goal is to protect the health of the population and preserve the economy, primarily the tourist season. In our county, more than a quarter of tourist traffic occurs before and in the post-season, so it is important to maintain a stable situation so that the season lasts as long as possible," Cebalo explained.

He noted that the measures were supported by representatives of chambers of commerce and crafts.

"With the opening of the economy and the start of the tourist season, we expected higher risk of increasing the number of infected. Experience has shown that larger gatherings, family and weddings and public events, are potential hotspots," Cebalo said.

He announced a meeting with local government leaders on Friday to discuss whether another measure needs to be proposed.

Visiting RTL Television's Dnevnik tonight, Krunoslav Capak expressed satisfaction with the increased involvement of local headquarters in combating COVID-19, because "they can most easily spot what is happening to them and where the problem is and how they can prevent further spread of the coronavirus, which is much harder to see from the National Headquarters."

"I think it is going in the right direction, except for Brod-Posavina and Split-Dalmatia counties," he said. "Today, the National Civil Protection Headquarters received additional proposals from Medjimurje and Dubrovnik-Neretva counties, and it is expected that there will be more tomorrow, after today's meetings of local headquarters of some counties, which announced the submission of their complete proposals on Friday," added Capak.

"Tomorrow, the Headquarters will carefully consider this. In any case, we will always support the local headquarters, but we must make sure that these measures must be consistent for all of Croatia," said the director of the CNIPH.

And while new measures are being announced, existing ones are still being debated. Specifically, on the closure of gyms in Split-Dalmatia County. That measure, which came into force on Thursday, has raised a lot of questions. The Voice of Entrepreneurs Association asked the Headquarters to prove that gyms are hotspots.

As a guest on RTL, Capak said that he did not know how many people in the gyms became infected.

"Look, if there is a history of someone getting infected and there is no other way than being at the gym, that would be proof. I have to admit I didn't make it, as I was out of the institution all day today, and I didn't get to talk to colleagues from Split-Dalmatia County. But I'm sure they had a reason to do what they did," Capak said.

The question, therefore, arises as to whether the National Headquarters, which accepted the proposed measures of the local headquarters, asked for more concrete evidence at all. From what Capak said, it could be concluded that they did not. Capak even says he’s sure they had a reason to do so.

Capak added that gyms and fitness centers are important for people's health.

"If we see that the situation is improving, we will recommend that this measure be opened as soon as possible because these are institutions that help us preserve and acquire health," he said.

When asked if someone was inside a nightclub, restaurant and gym, then how could you prove they were infected at the gym, Capak said it was hard to tell.

"But with a good epidemiological history, this is possible. Especially if several infected people were in one place, and they were not, say, in the same club, but were in the same place, it is possible to determine. And now I can not say whether it was like that," Capak said.

In the meantime, the Voice of Entrepreneurs are demanding that the government pay salaries and contributions to workers who cannot work because gyms are closed.

"Our message is clear. If you want to close us down or limit our business, gentlemen in the Government, then you have to pay for it, not only with measures to preserve jobs, but also with additional ones - to preserve the companies you are closing or restricting business in the name of force majeure. Without companies, there are no employees," said Hrvoje Bujas, president of the Voice of Entrepreneurs association.

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August 28, 2020 - Croatia is not famous for efficient bureaucracy, but one Croatian border form has helped 4.6 million visitors in the first 3 months, saving an estimated 21.7 years of waiting time. 

It is one of the most impressive initiatives of 2020 in Croatia in my opinion, and yet very few people in Croatia know much about it. An initiative which was realised in just 10 days, and which has helped reduce waiting times at Croatia's borders, allowing tourists to have a much smoother arrival to their holidays here. 

And it has been a total hit. 

Today marks the three-month anniversary of the launch of the Enter Croatia online form by the Croatian border police. Although not mandatory to fill in prior to entry, about 70% of visitors are doing so, and in the first 3 months of operation, some 1,901,138 vehicles, carrying 4,660,426 people have benefited from a 30-second border screening process, rather than a much lengthier wait. 

The problem was simple, and well highlighted during a TCN visit to the main Bregana border with Slovenia on May 17.  Due to corona, it was necessary to document where arrivals were staying, as well as take their contact details so that they could be contacted in case of an outbreak of the virus. As we saw first hand, this was a very time-consuming process, with average time 5-8 minutes. While this was not a huge problem due to the light traffic in May, it would be catastrophic in peak season.

The Croatian border police reaction was superb - the creation of an online form, now in 10 languages, where tourists could pre-announce their arrival, filling in all the data that needed to be collected, so that when they arrived at the border, everything was already in the system. The passport was swiped, and they were free to go. Total border formalities time - less than 30 seconds. Marina Mandic, the Croatian police spokesperson explained a little more:

EnterCroatia is a system that was established on 28.5.2020 and its purpose is for foreigners, through previous applications to this system, to shorten the time of border control and take other information we need to implement subsequent epidemiological measures.

Foreigners, our guests, but also others who wanted to enter the Republic of Croatia for economic reasons, reluctantly accepted such a system.
There are several reasons, this system is operational, simple, available in ten different languages and works in practice.

the system was established from idea to realization in just 14 days by the Ministry of the Interior's development engineers, and that there are no system errors or difficulties in functioning. It is operational not only in the field through the work of police officers but also in a digital sense.

Special EnterCroatia lanes were set up at some borders (see lead photo), enabling those who had registered to join shorter queues with shorter waits. It has proved to be an extremely efficient system, and the Croatian police deserve much credit in the way that they have facilitated traffic flow and information flow during this pandemic. Indeed, some crude calculations of these numbers give some kind of perspective. 

The average time to deal with the border formalities prior to the Croatian border form was 5-8 minutes, or 6.5 minutes. For those using the form, that wait is now less than 30 seconds, so a 6-minute saving per pre-registered vehicle. With almost 2 million vehicles successfully using the system, that equates to an incredible 21.7 YEARS of waiting time which has been eradicated. In just 3 months. 

Imagine how much more efficient Croatia could be if we could replicate initiatives like these into other parts of our daily lives. 

The Croatian police have been the unsung heroes in recent months in my opinion, and their efficiency and organisation, as well as transparent sharing of information has been appreciated by many. They even found themselves having to answer all the tourist enquiries for some reason, this in a country with a national tourist board, 20 regional tourist boards, 319 local tourist boards, a ministry of tourism, and a dedicated tourism department in the Chamber of Economy. The response and effectiveness of the Ministry of the Interior and the official tourism sector could not have been starker, with many tourists complaining that official tourist information was almost impossible to find regarding the latest travel advice. It was one of the reasons we started the Total Croatia Travel INFO Viber community and associated chatbot which now has over 21,000 users.  Such was the lack of presence of the official tourism bodies that ABC News came through our Viber community for help during their recent 6-part series on Dubrovnik, the first of which was broadcast to 12.5 million people on Good Morning America. 

Apart from facilitiating entry into the country, the EnterCroatia form has proved invaluable in helping travellers trying to get Croatia. With so many unknowns, trying to board flights to transit to Croatia has been a very stressful experience for many. A print out of acknowledgement of the form has been enough to convince many flight check-in clerks to let the passenger proceed. 

All in all, an outstanding effort, and congratulations to all involved. It feels nice to be writing articles of praise about Croatian bureaucracy, and I would be happy to do so again. 

So what's next in the Croatian Bureaucracy 2.0 revolution?

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August 28, 2020 - Croatia has been placed on Slovakia's red list and Denmark's orange list due to the spike in coronavirus cases.

Index.hr reports that Slovakia has expanded the list of countries on the red list, i.e., countries at high risk due to a rise in coronavirus cases. Croatia is on the red list, and the restrictions take effect on September 1.

As of September 2, the countries on the red list for coronavirus are Croatia, France, Spain, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Malta, Slovak Pravda reports.

They add that it is not recommended to travel to Greece, which is also high-risk.

Denmark put Croatia on the orange, "quarantine" list of countries for COVID-19 on Thursday, the foreign ministry said, warning not to travel to Croatia unless necessary.

"This week, France and Croatia have been added to the list of countries to which any unnecessary travel is discouraged due to the increased number of infections. The SSI (Institut Statens Serum) numbers show that the infection rate is 31.3 for France and 32 for Croatia. Thus, these countries are above the national criterion on the infection rate of 30," according to the ministry's website.

The Ministry tells those who are already on holiday in Croatia that they can stay until the previously planned date, but that they should minimize the risk of infection and should be tested when they return home, although they do not have to stay in isolation for 2 weeks.

If they decide to visit Croatia in the future, then they are invited to spend 14 days in quarantine on their return to Denmark.

As of midnight on August 29, Croats, as well as citizens of other "quarantine" countries such as Belgium, France, Romania, or Spain, will need to state the reason for their visit to enter Denmark.

The Croatian embassy in Copenhagen warned Croatian citizens on its Facebook page that it would be in the orange category of travel recommendations from midnight on August 29, and asked that they are informed in more detail about the conditions for entering Denmark.

The Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs updates its list of travel recommendations every week, based on data from the Statens Serum Institute.

In an interview with RTL, Capak commented on the measures that other countries are implementing against Croatia.

"Our incidence is high. We have more than 60 per 100,000 inhabitants in 14 days. We have a high rate, and it is expected that some countries will take some measures against us. But I must say that most of Europe is still green towards the citizens of Croatia and us. I can still travel to most European countries. We hope that now that the tourist season is waning, we will be able to reduce it and improve our indicators, based on which they will then remove us from the red and orange lists," Capak said.

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ZAGREB, August 27, 2020 - In the last 24 hours, of 2,849 tests performed for the coronavirus infection, 304 turned out positive, and Croatia currently has 2,420 active cases, the national COVID-19 response team reported on Thursday.

Of those active cases, 194 are in hospitals, including 13 patients placed on ventilators.

In the last 24 hours, Croatia's COVID-related death toll has risen by two more fatalities to 177.

Since the outbreak of the disease on 25 February, Croatia has performed 160,236 tests, and 9,192 persons have been diagnosed with the disease, of whom 6,595 have recovered.

Currently, 8,388 people throughout the country are self-isolating.

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ZAGREB, Aug 27, 2020 - Health Minister Vili Beros told the government on Thursday that during the past seven days, Croatia experienced the biggest spike in coronavirus cases, and that the numbers are not good, however, the clinical status of people infected with the virus is milder than at the onset of the epidemic.

Since the outbreak the epidemic of the coronavirus on 25 February,  8,889 people in Croatia have been diagnosed with this infectious disease, and 157,387 people have been tested for it.

Currently, there are 2,352 active cases, Beros said.

Of those active cases, 174 are receiving hospital treatment, and this is 7.4% of all those currently infected. There are 10 patients on ventilators or 0.4% of the infected, Beros said.

Responsible behaviour can markedly reduce the spread of the infection, and the minister called on Croatians to strictly comply with epidemiological measures.

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ZAGREB, Aug 27, 2020 - The Croatian chamber of public health officials on Thursday called on the authorities to hire more specialists from sanitary engineering in crisis situations such as the current COVID-19 epidemic.

The chamber says that the shortage of epidemiologists could be offset by actively engaging more certified sanitary engineers who are currently out of work.

The chamber believes that, when it comes to the implementation of epidemiological measures, a major part of the practical work required, could be performed by sanitary engineers. Therefore the association has appealed for more these professionals to be hired in the fight against the spread of the coronavirus infection.

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As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 26th of August, 2020, Krunoslav Capak, the director of the Croatian Institite of Public Health, was a guest on the HTV dnevnik recently and pointed out that according to the World Health Organisation, 6 vaccines for the new coronavirus are currently in their third phase of clinical trials.

"Everyone knows that we've had big numbers over the last two weeks that no one is happy with. We didn’t expect them to be that big. Considering that we had a tourist season, there are a million people who have stayed in Croatia, that number isn't frightening, but of course we're worried. We're working to reduce that number,'' Krunoslav Capak told HRT.

"The numbers have been falling over the last two days and we hope it will continue to do so. We expect that tomorrow's number of infected people will be somewhat lower,'' he added.

Local headquarters and the determination of anti-epidemic measures

''This [the determination of measures] has been the goal of our meetings and agreements and we've been communicating with local and county headquarters in this way for some time now. We think that they know best what the situation is in their own respective counties and focusing their measures on those areas is a burning issue for them. What Imotski asked for, of course, was supported by the National Staff. Now the situation is with Slavonski Brod and we expect each county to express what is most important for them to be introduced as a new measure at this time,'' said Krunoslav Capak.

In Slavonski Brod's case, the measure is to reduce the number of people at weddings and gatherings.

The operation of bars and cafes

Krunoslav Capak said that he is not issuing punishments for not adhereing to the measures at this moment in time because they believe that repression is the last measure that should be used.

''We think it's much smarter to go with education, persuasion, with appeals to all those who should change their behaviour. At the moment, we have no grounds to punish those cafes that violate the measures, but of course there is a possibility for that. If this continues and our appeals aren't responded to, then there is always the possibility of repression,'' Krunoslav Capak stated.

Patients with severe clinical pictures

"In this warm period of the year, we've had milder clinical pictures, but as the number of patients increased, so did the number of people in our infectious disease clinics with patients who needed to be hospitalised. At the moment, there are 40 of them. Considering that some time has passed since the moment of a large number of patients being recorded, we expected that more severe clinical pictures would appear,'' said Capak.

Krunoslav Capak pointed out that the fact is that younger people are mostly ill. The average incidence of disease is between 30 and 35 years of age.

''These are younger people who have always had a milder clinical picture. We all need to rake caution and keep compliance with epidemiological measures in mind. Over the last few days, we've had an increased number of hospitalisations, which indicates an increasing number of more severe clinical pictures,'' he noted.

The coronavirus vaccine

Krunoslav Capak pointed out that according to the World Health Organisation, 6 vaccines are currently in their third phase of clinical trials.

''Their registration is unlikely before the New Year. At the beginning of next year, we can expect a regular and registered vaccine. Croatia has done everything to reserve this vaccine on time together with other member states of the European Union, it's known that we have booked a million and a half doses for citizens,'' concluded Krunoslav Capak for HRT.

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ZAGREB, Aug 26, 2020 - Head of the national COVID-19 management team and Interior Minister Davor Bozinovic said on Wednesday that the new measures for Split-Dalmatia County, announced by the county's team, would come into force at midnight.

"Split-Dalmatia County has decided to make wearing masks mandatory in bars and restaurants before consuming drinks and food, the number of people at weddings will be limited to 50, wakes are banned, and owners of restaurants are obliged to supervise their facilities more closely. Also, gyms will close, and sports competitions can take place but without spectators," Bozinovic said.

Broken down by counties, the number of new cases of the infection is the highest in Split-Dalmatia County - 136, followed by the City of Zagreb (58), Sibenik-Knin County (33), Primorje-Gorski Kotar County (20), Zagreb County (19), Zadar County (15), Varazdin County (11), Brod-Posavina County (11), while other counties have recorded fewer than 10 new cases.

Asked whether the national COVID-19 response team was considering a complete closure of Split-Dalmatia County, Bozinovic said that was not the case.

"We are not considering that this is the only way to avoid that, and I am convinced there will not be any lockdown. We are keeping the situation under control this way," he said.

Asked about the possibility of the spike in number due to the recent Feast of the Assumption, Bozinovic said that they had assigned local teams to conduct epidemiological surveillance, and they believe the prescribed measures had been implemented.

"Split-Dalmatia County is a hotspot and new measures are being taken there. We will have meetings with others on Thursday, so it is possible that some new measures may be introduced then in some counties," Bozinovic said.

Asked why gyms were closing in Split-Dalmatia County while bars remained open and Masses were allowed, Bozinovic said that the new measures would be in place for 14 days.

He underscored that measures could be dropped or extended. Fines for violating the measures are also possible, he added.

"There is always the possibility of penalizing. We hope there will be no need for that because our intention is that as many people as possible accept the recommendations by the Croatian Public Health Institute. The point is for people to follow the recommendations because then we will achieve the main goal, to reduce the number of new infections and control the situation," he said.

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ZAGREB, Aug 26, 2020- In the last 24 hours, there have been a record high 358 cases of infection with coronavirus in Croatia, and currently there are 2,352 active cases, the national COVID-19 response team said on Wednesday.

Health Minister Vili Beros informed a news conference that 184 COVID patients were currently being treated in hospitals, which is 7.4% of all active cases, and 10 of those patients are now on ventilators.

In the last 24 hours, 26 new patients have been admitted to the hospital, while 19 have been discharged.

Also, 7,993 people are now in self-isolation.

Croatia's COVID-related death toll stands at 175, and a total of 6,362 have recovered.

Thus, since the onset of the epidemic on 25 February,  8,889 people in Croatia have been diagnosed with this infectious disease, and 157,387 people have been tested for it.

Currently, 130 healthcare workers are positive for COVID.

In Split-Dalmatia County where 136 people have been diagnosed with this infection in the last 24 hours, new hotspots have appeared in fitness gyms.

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ZAGREB, August 26, 2020 - Health Minister Vili Beros said on Wednesday ahead of an inner cabinet meeting that today's numbers of coronavirus cases were not the best and that they are higher than yesterday, when 219 new cases were registered, adding that new clusters have emerged in Split.

"I am in contact with epidemiologists. It is good that, in line with our previous agreements, the county response team is recommending new measures that will be appropriate. It is of essential importance that people in the field have daily information about new clusters as new ones are emerging, including fitness centres, gyms," Beros told reporters.

Beros said he would meet with Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic before the cabinet meeting because the latest developments require a speedy reaction.

In reference to a recording of a conversation between him and the deputy director of the Sisters of Mercy Hospital in Zagreb, Dijana Zadravec, Beros said that yesterday they had tried to identify who recorded that conversation and asked reporters to concentrate on the contents of the conversation.

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