As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 17th of August, 2020, the daily increase in the number of coronavirus patients in Croatia raises more and more questions as to what the epidemiological measures for autumn will be, and when they'll come into force in order to further reduce the chances of spreading the virus in the approaching colder days.

However, it seems that the future decisions of the National Civil Protection Headquarters will be looked into by the Constitutional Court, which should answer the question of whether the amendments to the Law on the Protection of the Population from Infectious Diseases were constitutional. Specifically, some argue that these changes have enabled the Headquarters to enact measures that infringe ''upon constitutional rights'', and they're therefore seeking a response from the Constitutional Court on the matter.

That is why every measure adopted by the Headquarters is constantly reviewed in public, and interpretations depend on who is affected, ie, who is harmed by them, and in the end it all ends with the same conclusion for some: "the Headquarters is illegal."

It seems that this is what the Constitutional Court's decision wants to put an end to, especially since a likely difficult life with coronavirus awaits us in autumn, and how much we manage to curb it will depend on the epidemiological measures that will have to be taken, whether some among us like it or not. That is why a verdict is awaited which will enable the decision-makers not to have to deal with this for every single decision they bring in. Otherwise, a nightmare scenario could happen.

Jutarnji list has learned that, if the Constitutional Court confirms the legitimacy of the National Civil Protection Headquarters, measures will soon follow that will try to reduce the chance of spreading the new coronavirus. Among other things, mandatory testing of all health and non-health workers working in the system before returning to work, either from annual leave or sick leave, is envisaged. The same is already being done in some homes for the elderly, and on several occasions, infected workers who didn't have any symptoms have been "caught". That measure would become mandatory for all.

It is certain that masks will have to be worn in all indoor spaces, including in the workplace if the work is taking place in open space spaces (no offices). The number of people at weddings will also be limited, probably at the beginning to thirty, but if it turns out that this type of gathering is still a source of infection, what is currently valid in Vukovar-Srijem County will happen, which means at the "wedding procession", only the newlyweds and the immediate family will be present.

Gatherings in public places will also have to be limited, which means that those who want to organise an event with a larger number of people can only do so by expanding the area of ​​the event. For example, The beloved Advent in Zagreb will have to "occupy" more city space if it wants to get permission.

The new school year will also be organised in detail. There seems to be a consensus across almost all EU countries that children up to the age of ten should go to school, and older kids can continue to follow online. Decisions on the organisation of classes for the upcoming school year will depend on the capacity of the school.

Decisions on teaching in schools for younger age groups of students will also be based on some new, recently published studies, according to which children under the age of 10 don't have the same ability to transmit coronavirus as adults do, so they are less dangerous for their family members. However, in the elderly, the ability to transmit the virus is identical to that of the rest of the adult population.

''The risk of becoming infected with the new coronavirus and transmitting it increases with age,” said Dr. Alasdair Munro, of the Department of Infectious Diseases at the University Hospital of Southampton. This is precisely the reason why most experts believe that classes for older children should be held online, as they spread the infection faster.

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August the 18th, 2020 - Croatia has experienced an unfortunate spike in new cases of infection with the new coronavirus over the past few days, which was to be expected given the opening up of the tourist season and the influx (albeit less of one) of people from across Europe to Croatian shores. 

Croatian tourism has surpassed all of the previous dire predictions about what 2020's season might bring, but it has come at a cost - a significant rise in the infection rate, even though the majority of those becoming infected live here in Croatia. Some have taken this as a sign that we're not behaving properly and relaxing too much, and others claim that the opening of the borders to tourists is to blame. Either way, it has resulted in some important markets placing Croatia back on their ''no go'' or ''red'' lists.

With Austria the latest to ''invite'' its nationals to leave Croatia and return home, and the Slovenian Government's coronavirus spokesperson warning that Croatia might ''quickly'' find itself on the neighbouring country's red list, it seems unlikely that it's going to stop there.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 17th of August, 2020, since more European countries are announcing the obligation for their national and others to take a coronavirus test upon their return from Croatia, some tourist boards have issued information on prices and locations where it can be done, according to RTL. (You can see TCN's list here).

Thus, the foreign tourists staying on Losinj, Cres, in Rijeka and on Korcula will be able to get tested for the new coronavirus ''on site'', at prices that depend on the speed of the result of the test. The test results can then be translated into English, but at an additional cost.

Dissatisfied tourists currently staying on the island of Korcula contacted RTL, claiming that the price of coronavirus testing there was 1,050 kuna yesterday, and today it has miraculously risen to the significantly higher price of 1,850 kuna.

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August 17, 2020 - The official Croatian Government Koronavirus.hr website has published a list of COVID-19 testing centers with prices. 

Total Croatia News keeps an updated list of testing facilities, where foreigners can get tested in Croatia. Now, the koronavirus.hr website also put together a list of all of the COVID-19 testing centers that offer testing capacities. Prices can change, and their list will be updated accordingly. 

* It is possible to test at your own expense and with a referral; the price is expressed for testing at your own expense
** Type of testing

This resource will be updated here.

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ZAGREB, Aug 17, 2020 - The authorities of Vienna have made it possible for all Austrians who returned from holidays in Croatia on August 7-16 to get tested for the coronavirus free of charge until August 21.

There are several free test options.

All persons who returned from Croatia in the said period, regardless of whether they exhibit symptoms of the infection or not, can dial a free phone line, 1450, after which a mobile medical team will visit them at home and take a test sample.

Also as of Sunday, August 16, Austrian nationals who have returned from abroad and do not have any symptoms of the coronavirus disease can get tested free of charge and without prior appointment at the Ernst Happel stadium, where there are drive-in testing stations. It is also possible to come on foot and get tested.

For all those who arrive from Croatia in Austria after August 17th, a new regulation will be in force, under which they must show a negative PCR test (not older than 72 hours) when entering the country, or get tested within 48 hours from arrival.

ZAGREB, Aug 17, 2020 - Over the past 24 hours there have been 85 new cases of the coronavirus infection in Croatia, and there are 1,236 active cases, the national COVID-19 management team said on Monday.

Since February 25, when the first case of the infection in the country was confirmed, 6,656 people have contracted the disease, the press release said.

Of the total number of active cases 126 people are now hospitalised, including 11 who are on ventilators.

In the last 24 hours, 990 people have been tested for the virus. To date, a total of 138,647 people have been tested for the infection. To date 5,254 have recovered, and 166 have died.

ZAGREB, Aug 17, 2020 - National Civil Protection Authority head Davor Bozinovic said on Monday that the authority was considering possible measures against the coronavirus for the autumn, however, for now it had not adopted any conclusions about the obligation to wear masks in the open.

"We are thinking about measures for the autumn, however, there are no concrete conclusions, everything depends on the epidemiological situation," Bozinovic told reporters.

He underscored that the school year is a challenge in itself and that a Science and Education Ministry task force will have the main role in communicating and recommending measures regarding schools. He announced that the task force was set to meet tomorrow.

"It is ungrateful to forecast what will be today or tomorrow regarding the number of infections, however, trends are important. We will certainly make sure trends lead towards a decrease in the number of infections," he said.

"We have always adopted decisions that were an optimal solution at a particular moment," he added.

Situation for tourists from Austria favourable

As regards recommendations by the Austrian government for its citizens vacationing in Croatia to return home, Bozinovic said that he was in constant contact with Austria's authorities.

"We have been communicating intensively that the situation with the number of people infected is not the same in all parts of Croatia. It differs and in counties where the most tourists from Austria are staying it is particularly favourable. Austria's authorities are aware of that, but whether they will take that fact into account as far as their citizens are concerned, I cannot sa. That is a sovereign decision," added Bozinovic.

From the very start of the tourist season Croatia has been faced with opposed interests by countries from where tourists are coming. Those interests are not the same and everyone is trying to discourage their citizens with various measures from spending their money abroad, he said.

"Naturally, our interest is different and I think that this summer we have managed to achieve a balance, with Croatia having taken in a lot of tourists ... much more than anyone else, including us, had expected," said Bozinovic.

ZAGREB, Aug 17, 2020 - The head of Zagreb's Hospital for Infectious Diseases, Alemka Mrkotic, said on Sunday that getting children back to school at the start of the new school year this September would pose no heightened health risk.

Markotic told the national broadcaster HRT that the examples of the countries that kept schools open also during the peak of the epidemic of coronavirus proved that.

She said that pupils with respiratory infections should be kept at home.

As for the current COVID-19 infection numbers, the epidemiologist admitted that those figures would be considered a serious issue if they had appeared in winter. 

Furthermore, 90% of those who have now caught the virus do not need hospital treatment and a mere 1% of these cases are on ventilators, Markotic said calling for taking the whole situation into consideration rather than focusing only on the new cases' statistics.

ZAGREB, Aug 17, 2020 - Croatia's Interior Minister Davor Bozinovic, who is at the helm of the national COVID response team, said on Sunday that he had no concerns over the continuation of the tourist season following travel warnings from some countries.

"I am not concerned over the remainder of the tourist season. There are currently 760,000 tourists in Croatia. In the course of the day, tens of thousands from EU member-states have entered Croatia," Bozinovic told the NOVA TV commercial broadcaster on Sunday evening.

A few days ago Italy and Austria decided to add Croatia to their lists of high-risk COVID countries.

The Croatian minister admitted that it would have been better, if such decisions had not been made, however, he added that Croatia would continue doing its best to make sure that the struggle against the coronavirus infection is efficient and that the tourist postseason is good.

Bozinovic says every country makes decisions it deems appropriate.

Since the start of the tourist season, there has existed some kind of contraposition of interests: on one hand, countries do not want their nationals to travel abroad and there spend their money, and on the other hand tourist destinations such as Croatia would like to attract as many guests as possible.

He said that there were some indications that tourists would continue visiting Croatia.

Asked whether Croatia would respond to Austria after it imposed the obligatory tests for arrivals from our country, Bozinovic said that "Croatia does not think that way."

"We are focused primarily on our interests."

We are trying to use our potentials and capacities to make sure that the favourable developments continue, the minister said.

As for Slovenia which is mulling some restrictions on arrivals from Croatia, he said that Zagreb is in permanent contact with Slovenia's authorities, and that it remained to be seen on Monday what would happen.

Slovenia to decide on possible restrictions on arrivals from Croatia on Thursday

In the meantime, the Slovenian government's spokesman said that they would decide on possible restrictions on Thursday. On Tuesday we will see the results of tests made on Monday and if there are no changes in the work on nightclubs (in Croatia), we will must respond in some way, Jelko Kacin said on Sunday evening.

Last updated on August 21, 2020 - The speculations have proven to be correct this time, as it was announced tonight that Croatia has lost their position on the UK list of safe countries.

Grant Shapps, UK Secretary of State for Transport has announced on his Twitter profile tonight: 

Data shows we need to remove Croatia, Austria and Trinidad & Tobago from our list of #coronavirus Travel Corridors to keep infection rates DOWN. If you arrive in the UK after 0400 Saturday from these destinations, you will need to self-isolate for 14 days.

— Rt Hon Grant Shapps MP (@grantshapps) August 20, 2020

The decision means that those arriving from Croatia to the United Kingdom are subject to a 14-day mandatory quarantine. Many popular tourism countries for the UK market are not on the list of safe countries (the UK officially calls it the Travel Corridors list), including Spain, Bulgaria, the Netherlands, France, Tunisia, Bulgaria, Belgium, and the USA. Portugal was added to the Travel Corridors country today, when Croatia, Austria and Trinidad and Tobago were removed. The travelers have until early Saturday morning to return without having to quarantine. 

This move was all but confirmed on BBC Breakfast television this morning when respected travel guru said that Croatia would be taken off the list tonight, a decision which will probably be announced by the government tweet about 22:00. 

This is how the numbers are being reported in charts in Britain's biggest tabloid, The Sun.

Paul Charles, the CEO of the travel consultancy PC Agency, told The Guardian that he believed there were about 20,000 British tourists currently in Croatia, while aviation data analysts Cirum say that there are some 767 flights to Croatia scheduled from now until the end of September from the UK to Croatia, with a seat capacity of 130,000. 

In an exclusive in The Daily Telegraph, a tight deadline from announcement to implementation will result in plenty of stress for those currently in Croatia and not able to take time off from work for enforced quarantine:

"Croatia's exclusion, due to be announced on Thursday afternoon, is expected to prompt an exodus of holidaymakers seeking to beat the deadline for having to quarantine, which is expected to be fixed as 4am on Saturday morning."

A similar announcement for France last week brought a lot of holidaymakers home before the 4am deadline. In Croatia's case, the majority of British tourists arrive by air, and flight capacity will be limited. 

There are many who argue that there should not be a tourist season at all in a pandemic, and there are valid arguments for this. With an economy more than 20% dependent on tourism, however, Croatia decided to open up to tourism after a very successful and internationally praised initial response to the virus. 

If, as seems likely, Croatia is added to the list along with Turkey, the calls for a regional approach to acting on these statistics will intensify. Two of Croatia's most important tourism regions, Istria and Dubrovnik, have very low cases compared to the national average. 

The decision is particularly crucial to Dubrovnik, which ironically is physically separated from the rest of Croatia until the completion of the Peljesac Bridge. Its location means that it is essentially an air and cruise ship destination, and that dependence has been brutally exposed during the corona era, with tourism traffic for the first half of 2020 just 12% of the corresponding period last year. 

Dubrovnik's dependence on tourism is much more concentrated than the rest of Croatia, with Mayor Mato Franković telling ABC News recently that it accounted for 80% of Dubrovnik's economy. With its key markets from the UK, USA, and Asia, the lack of flights and zero cruise ships reduced traffic to a trickle. While this meant that the quality of life and ability to enjoy the old town like never before was widely appreciated, the lack of income due to no tourism is having a severe economic impact. 

Dubrovnik County, most of which is physically separate from the rest of the country, currently has 30 active cases, of which 8 are in Dubrovnik itself. Since the first case in March, 227 cases have been recorded with 8 deaths.  With the majority of arrivals coming by air, the majority of tourists will bypass Croatia completely. 

Istria, which has a much more successful season due to its accessibility by road from a number of Western and Central European countries, currently has 24 active cases. Since the first case over 4 months ago, there have been 294 cases and 12 deaths on the Istrian peninsula. 

The Croatian Tourism Association recently launched the Croatia COVID-19 website, to highlight the areas where the outbreaks were the most severe, as well as giving daily updates - see image above. Current individual hot spots are Split Dalmatia County and Zadar County, as well as Zagreb. 

(These figures are a screenshot from the ECDC COVID-19 site)

Adriatic Luxury Hotels, the biggest employer in Dubrovnik, operate 8 hotels. Only last week, towards the middle of August, they opened the fifth of these, with the other three remaining closed for the season. After a very quiet start to the season, things picked up considerably in late July as more flights were added, and the Brits came in numbers. The UK market in Dubrovnik is the strongest this year, and one which is in danger of being taken away this week, despite the very low number of cases. The knock-on effect for the Dubrovnik economy will be severe. 

Which countries have imposed quarantine restrictions on people returning from Croatia?

Should the UK remove Croatia from its list of safe countries, it will join a small but growing list of countries who are taking action in the response to the rise in cases. 

Both Austria and Slovenia recently put Croatia on their red lists, Restrictions also apply with other countries, some of which are specific to Croatia's situation, and some imposing restrictions on all arrivals. Countries where arrivals from Croatia have some form of quarantine/test upon entry are USA, Canada, Italy, Slovenia, Austria, Finland, Norway, the Netherlands, Latvia, Lithuania, Cyprus and Iceland. For more details on each country, check Quarantine & Testing Rules for Your Country After a Croatian Holiday.

What will be will be, but there are tense days ahead for the Croatian tourism industry in what has already been an incredibly stressful year. To find answers to some of the frequently asked questions by those interested in coming to Croatia, please read our frequently-updated FAQ article. To find out more about the options of getting tested in Croatia, read our article about testing locally. To find out more about testing internationally, before arriving in Croatia, we have an article helping you with that, too. 

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As much as 20 percent of Croatia's GDP is made up by tourism as one of the country's strongest economic branches. Given the fact that Croatia is a destination to which many European tourists drive (with the exception of the UK and Ireland, the nationals of which tend to use air transport), Croatian motorways are usually packed at this time of year with license plates from across the continent visible across the country. Owing to the coronavirus pandemic, those same Croatian motorways have experienced expected losses.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 16th of August, 2020, Ivan Ribicic, the director of the toll collection sector at HAC, told Dnevnik N1 what the situation currently looks like on Croatian motorways, which is a state-owned company.

"HAC is operating with a deficit of 30 percent, which is 540 million kuna," stated Ivan Ribicic, but the opening of the tourist season has indeed improved revenue when compared to the way things stood earlier on in the year, he stressed. Given the fact that the ''lockdown month'' for Croatia took place back in April and that Croatia has experienced more toursim than the previously dire predictions suggested, this is logical.

"HAC is in its restructuring phase, we were well on our way to getting better. The crisis caught up with us, but thanks to banks and to our creditors, we managed to get our hands on some stand-by arrangements, so we do have room to breathe and we'll invest the money for the future. If revenues remain at this level, then we will survive,'' the Croatian motorways director explained.

Some workers at HAC have been retiring, taking severance pay along with the move, and that's how they're dealing with unfortunate redundancies, he says.

"It's good that people are using ENC devices more and more, and the campaign is contributing to that. We organised and monitored the hourly loads at Croatia's toll stations, ans so we were able to organise ourselves accordingly,'' said Ribicic.

For more on Croatian motorways and travel in the coronavirus age, follow our dedicated section.

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