July 26, 2020* - The official Koronavirus.hr website has published new guidelines for crossing the border. 

Recommendations and instructions of the Croatian Institute of public Health for passengers crossing the state border of the Republic of Croatia.

The Decision on temporary prohibition of crossing the border crossings of the Republic of Croatia (NN 74/20) prohibits or restricts the crossing of passengers through border crossings, of which are exempt:

1. EU nationals (irrespective of their place of residence), the Schengen area and Schengen associated countries, as well as members of their families and third-country nationals who are long-term residents under Council Directive 2003/109/EZ of 25 November 2003 on the status of long-term nationals of third countries and persons entitled to stay under other EU or national Directives or having national long-term visas.
2. The temporary prohibition on entry into the Republic of Croatia from third countries, with the exception of passengers referred to in point 1, shall not apply to:

2a) Health care professionals, health researchers and associates, nursing professionals and persons requiring urgent medical treatment
2b) Cross-border workers
2c) Carriers of goods and other transport personnel to the extent necessary
2d) Diplomats, police officers in the performance of their duties, civil protection services and teams, staff of international organisations and international military personnel in the performance of their functions
2e) Transit passengers
2f) Passengers travelling for tourism or other business reasons or having other economic interest, and passengers travelling for the purpose of education
2g) Passengers travelling for urgent personal reasons (e.g. they own a property in the Republic of Croatia) or have any other immediate personal reason
 
Instructions for the health supervision of passengers entering the Republic of Croatia from third countries:
a) For all passengers entering the Republic of Croatia from third countries, under exemption from the prohibition to cross the border referred to in point 2g, health supervision with 14 days quarantine/self-isolation is mandatory.
 
Quarantine/self-isolation can be shortened to seven days if a passenger does a nasal and pharynx swab at his/her expense seven days after entering Croatia and gets a negative PCR test result for SARS-CoV-2.
 
b) The obligation of self-isolation for passengers entering the Republic of Croatia from third countries does not apply to passengers referred to in points 2a, 2b, 2c, 2d, and:

2e) Transit passengers:

• For transit passengers, the border police will, after they have been granted entry, check whether they have left the territory of the Republic of Croatia within 12 hours
• This rule can only be applied if the departure from the Republic of Croatia to a neighbouring country enables it to enter. 

2f) – Passengers entering the Republic of Croatia for tourism or other business reasons or having other economic interest, as well as persons travelling for educational purposes.
 
These passengers may enter Croatia without the obligation of self-isolation upon presentation of a negative PCR test of the nose and pharynx for SARS-CoV-2, not older than 48 hours (starting from the time of taking the swab until arrival at the border crossing), or with the obligation of 14 days quarantine/self-isolation if they do not have a negative PCR test.

Update, July 13 (the following sentence was added to the rules regarding the passengers entering Croatia under 2f conditions): If the third-country nationals entering Croatia have a test older than 48 hours, they will be allowed to enter Croatia with the obligatory self-isolation measure, but they will be able to get re-tested in Croatia (they'll have to pay for the test in Croatia themselves). That can be applied to passengers and crew members on yachts.

(Additional clarification of this rule: Those whose test is older than 48 hours will be allowed to enter Croatia, but they will be issued a self-isolation order and will have to be tested again locally, at their own expense. Having an expired PCR test upon arrival will allow for a shortened period of time in self-isolation pending a negative result of a local PCR test. Those who do not provide a negative PCR test upon arrival will be ordered to quarantine/self-isolate for at least 7 days prior to taking a local PCR test.) 
 
Passengers entering Croatia without the obligation of self-isolation shall comply with the following measures during the first two weeks of their stay in Croatia:

• During the first 14 days after entering the Republic of Croatia, exits from accommodation are limited only to the necessary ones: performance of work if it is a business reason for entering the Republic of Croatia, performance of necessary activities with continuous intensified implementation of hygiene measures.
• During the necessary exit from accommodation it is recommended to use a mask or covers for the nose and mouth, maintain physical distance from other persons (minimum 1.5 meters) and conduct hand hygiene.
• Hands wash as often as possible with warm water and soap and/or use a hand disinfectant that needs to be rubbed in the palms. Avoid touching the face, mouth, nose and eyes.
• Avoid the use of public transport. In a means of transport, it is desirable that a person is alone or exclusively with persons sharing a common accommodation.
• Gatherings should be consistently avoided
• During business meetings it is necessary to meet as few people as possible, ensure a physical distance of 1.5 meters and availability of disinfectants, and avoid unnecessary meetings.
• Payment services are performed by non-cash card payments or on-line services.
• Every morning it is necessary to measure the body temperature if it is higher than 37.2C, the measurement should be repeated after 10 minutes, and if the temperature is higher than 37.2 C it is necessary to stay at home/in accommodation and contact a doctor in a tourist or COVID-19 infirmary or a territorially responsible epidemiologist.
• In case of symptoms of acute respiratory infection (cough, sore throat, fever, short breathing/difficulty or loss of smell), it is necessary to stay at home/in accommodation and contact a doctor in a tourist or A COVID-19 infirmary or a territorially responsible epidemiologist.
• In case of sudden onset of severe, life-threatening symptoms, contact emergency medical service at 194.

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July 11, 2020 - Croatia has seen a spike in COVID-19 cases in recent days in the peak tourist season - are they more due to tourist arrivals or unenforced measures?

It is 38 days since Croatia's Minister of Tourism Gari Cappelli met with me at his ministry to discuss a number of tourism issues. At the time, Croatia held the EU Presidency, and therefore he was the most important man in European tourism. At the end of the meeting, I asked for an on-the-record interview, to which he agreed on condition that he would authorise the interview prior to publication. He argued that it was sensitive EU information, and so I agreed. In the end, only one word was added to the article I sent for approval. You can read the full interview here - Exclusive Interview: EU Presidency Tourism Minister on Border Openings, Air Bridges and More - but I want to focus on one question from the interview:

What about external EU borders and continental flights?

We are currently working with the airlines towards an opening of external borders on July 1, but ONLY for countries which have a good epidemiological situation.

Exactly four weeks after that interview, Germany took over the EU Presidency, and new rules for the EU's external borders were announced. As Minister Cappelli hinted, there was a 'safe list' of 15 non-EU/EEA countries with good epidemiological records who were included in the list. 

That list did not include the United States, and so travel to the Schengen zone for tourism for Americans was not possible without special circumstances. But there was one EU country which decided to welcome Americans and anyone else with a pulse if they could get to its border.

Croatia. 

Unshackled by the rules of Schengen, Croatia had a little more freedom to make up its own rules. With four days to the general election, and a tourism minister now unburdened with EU presidency duties who famously announced in perhaps the finest corona motto ever - Croatia Breathes Tourism - the Kingdom of Accidental Tourism's Balkan solution for tourism continued. Anyone could enter with proof of paid accommodation (to make the visit an economic one). No temperature check, no test required, no self-isolation. 

It is worth taking a second to see how other tourism countries have prepared for this most unusual of seasons - meet Turkey. Safe Tourism Certificate Program: How Turkey is Handling Tourism, Reports Croatian Correspondent.

The ruling party ran a successful campaign on the slogan #SigurnaHrvatska (Safe Croatia) and were returned to power with a large increase in seats in Parliament. Life was good. 

And then the New York Times did a story on places that Americans can travel and told the world what we had been telling people for weeks in our little Total Croatia Travel INFO Viber community.

Global interest in the story grew. CBS News found our Viber community and contacted me for more background on the story. Last night Forbes published an article featuring TCN extensively. 

And then, late last night, 5 days after the election and 9 days after the new EU border directive, and 2 days after the NY Times story, a sudden - and immediate - clampdown. No more entry with just paid accommodation for anyone outside the EU/EEA/UK - a recent negative test or quarantine on arrival would be necessary.

No more Balkan solutions,  now everything was transparent and out in the open, as TCN has tried to be throughout this saga. 

One of the biggest ironies, to me at least, is that Croatia won praise all over the world for its fantastic initial response. And it WAS fantastic. Then the economy, tourism and ultimately politics entered the equation. And so now we have the situation that countries such as Norway have Croatia on a red list, while they give the green light to the UK, for example. 

Croatia is on Slovenia's yellow list as well, and even the UK - one of the worst countries for infections - almost left Croatia off its list of countries to visit without mandatory self-isolation on return. 

Was this spike in cases caused by tourists?

I have seen a couple of stories of an American and a Swede being infected, a lot more of people returning from Bosnia, Serbia and Kosovo and bringing the infections with them - two nuns from Djakovo brought it back from Kosovo and now there are dozens of infections. If you look at the map of active cases (as of 13:00 on July 11), it shows that the main hot spots are not the coast, but Zagreb and Slavonia - presumably due to contact with the worse situation across the eastern borders. 

Could the rise of infections also be due to unenforced measures?

One of the observations I have had through the Total Croatia Travel INFO Viber community is how shocked tourists are from countries badly affected by corona at how relaxed things are in Croatia. 

I am too. 

Croatia introduced new measures on June 24, requiring masks to be worn on public transport. I have been on a ferry and a bus since then. On the ferry, I wore my mask, as did the crew and perhaps 10% of passengers. On the bus from Zagreb to Split, the bus conductor, who was checking the tickets and in contact with everyone on the bus, did not wear a mask. 

As the Premier League resumed in the empty stadia of Anfield, Old Trafford and Stamford Bridge, Croatia was busy organising the Djokovic Adria Tour with fans packed inside the stadium, despite it being reported several days earlier that Djokovic had been in contact with an infected basketball player in Belgrade. The Prime Minister came, was photographed touching Djokovic for a photo op, then next to Goran Ivanisevic. Both tennis icons subsequently tested positive, but PM Plenkovic decided not to self-isolate, as Angela Merkel had done, for example. This was 12 days before a bruising election. 

It was - at least to me - the mirror image of Boris Johnson's Chief of Staff, Dominic Cummings - one rule for us, one rule for you. 

And with such leadership, why bother to follow the rules yourself? Few people are following them, so why not enjoy that big wedding and kiss the bride. 

We all have our own corona story, perspective and experiences. Not so many of us have been to several countries since lockdown. I have, and I think it is worthwhile sharing a few observations to add to the discussion. 

I self-isolated on idyllic Hvar, 63 days of island bliss. As such, my viewpoint is necessarily different from someone holed up in an earthquake-ravaged apartment in Zagreb for months, or Queens in New York City. 

There have been two cases on Hvar, both imported from Austria from locals returning from jobs. I was terrified when I heard of the first, just 3km from our home. But the fear passed, as did the infection. My lockdown was spent on an essentially corona-free island, one of the most beautiful in the world. 

I was nervous on that first trip to the mainland after 63 days. What would Zagreb be like? All socially distanced and masked up? The first bar I passed shocked me. No masks in sight, people packed in like sardines. 

There were other places, of course, that took things more seriously. Sanitiser was everywhere, but I quickly realised that it was more a legal requirement for many. Handshakes, hugs, all as before, but with some more cautious folk keeping their distance. Some shops insisted on keeping distance until the current customer was out of the building, but they were few and far between. People joked - do we shake hands and hug, or do the elbow greet? Looking back, I guess they were just happy to be outside after all the confinement. They hadn't had the luxury of gorgeous Hvar. 

I was invited to go on a business trip to Munich, Luxemburg and Brussels. I was curious how things were in other countries, as well as the business itself in the trip. But should I go? Looking around at the tourists mingling, the hugging and the lack of adherence to measures in general, what to do? I could always self-isolate in Varazdin and get some work done.

It was a fascinating trip on all levels. 

In Austria, we stopped for fuel, put on our masks and entered the shop. The shop assistants had their masks on but several customers did not. There was no enforcement. 

In Germany, they were MUCH stricter. No mask, no entry. 

In Luxemburg and southern Belgium, it was more a feeling of 'if you want to do the mask thing then we will.'

In Brussels, it was more like Zagreb, but with more masks. But not that many more.  

And then we came to Munich on the way back, where our contact urged us to hurry for all bars and restaurants shut at 10pm? Really? And not only that - if you entered a restaurant, it was with a mask and you left your name and number so that they could contact you in the event of an outbreak. The same in shops, the same on the U-Bahn. There were no examples of people not adhering to the system. The rules were the rules, and Germans were abiding by them, which is probably why they are so shocked at what they are finding in Croatia. 

I was stunned - and a little terrified - at the ease with which the Croatian police confined us to our homes in March. So simple, so effective. They could have cut the phones, TV and internet, and we would have been back in the Middle Ages. 

Why are the measures not being enforced as strictly now? The election, the season, corona is not that real as we contained it so well, who knows? If the Prime Minister can hang out with COVID-positive tennis stars with impunity, what makes it so different for the rest of us? 

My opinion on corona doesn't matter, as I am not an expert.

Will there be less infections with less tourists? Yes.

Will there be less infections if measures are enforced? Yes. 

Does the corona tourism risk outweigh the economic benefits, and are we ready to adhere to stricter measures to combat the virus? 

Those are questions I cannot answer - one for Dominic Cummings wannabes, perhaps? 

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The Netherlands - as of July 21, Croatia is placed on the "Orange" list by the Dutch government, which means that both the Croatian nationals and the Dutch nationals returning to the Netherlands from Croatia are strongly advised to self-quarantine for 14 days.

ZAGREB, July 11, 2020 - A mobile application in support of contact tracing for COVID-19 in Croatia is likely to get approval soon for its publishing by Google Play Store and Apple App Store, the Jutarnji List daily reported on Saturday.

Contact tracing is perceived to be of particular significance as containment measures are lifted.

Specialists of the APIS IT,  Croatian agency that provides professional and implementation services to the public and government sector in planning, development and maintenance of their information systems, are working on the design of the Croatian version of this application.

The use of such application on Slovenia was on Friday approved by its national parliament.

Mobile applications are seen in the European Union as a means that can help trace and alert more contacts as they do not rely on the memory of the infected case. Apps can also trace contacts unknown to the case and can notify contacts quickly and can facilitate cross-border contact tracing, according to a guidance for EU EEA Member States.

Jutarnji List recalls that the application will be on a voluntary basis. It will not enable geolocation tracking of the mobile telephone owner, the daily added.

July 10, 2020 - The official Koronavirus.hr website has published new guidelines for the wearing of face masks. 

This Decision introduces the necessary measure of mandatory use of face masks or medical masks.

Face masks or medical masks are required for: 

• employees of health care institutions and persons visiting patients, if visits are allowed
• drivers, other employees in public transport vehicles and public transport passengers
• trade employees and customers during their stay in stores
• employees in hospitality business who are in contact with guests or participate in serving and preparing meals and beverages 
• other persons bound to do so by special instructions and recommendations of the Croatian Institute of public Health

The Decision shall apply from 13th of July. 

Update: On July 13th, the National Civil Protection Headquarters issued a clarification of their measure of mandatory mask use in Croatia, in which they listed the groups of people who are not obligated to wear masks. Those groups include:
- children under the age of two,
- children between the ages of two and before school-age, if they exhibit strong resistance towards wearing a mask,
- children should wear masks for a limited period of time, up to an hour or two,
- people with mental health issues, where their mental health problems cause strong resistance towards wearing a mask or inability to remove it on their own,
- people communicating with hearing-impaired persons, who need to lip-read to communicate, as well as hearing-impaired persons themselves
- people with breathing problems caused by existing chronic diseases or conditions,
- people in an altered state of consciousness, or while unconscious,
- everyone else who is unable to remove the mask from their face without someone else's help.

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ZAGREB, July 11, 2020 - Tourism Minister Gari Cappelli said on Friday evening that Slovenian tourists did not need to worry about their arrivals in Croatia, particularly in the coastal Adriatic area where the epidemiological situation was good.

Cappelli, who was in Croatia's delegation led by Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic for the talks with their Slovenian hosts in Otocec ob Krki on Friday, said that the meeting had also revolved around tourism-related issues against a backdrop of the epidemiological situation.

 "During the meeting in Slovenia we emphasised the importance of Slovenian visitors for the Croatian tourism industry. Currently, there are 92,000 Slovenians vacationing here, and 70% of them are in three Adriatic counties: Istria, Promorje-Gorski Kotar and Zadar, which are labelled as green areas that is epidemiologically safe and favourbale just as the remaining four coastal counties," the minister told Hina.

The minister said that most Slovenian guests were staying in camp-site facilities and reassured them that that they did not have to worry about self-isolation.

In the coming days, Croatian and Slovenian epidemiologists will give additional recommendations for monitoring trends in the tourist trade and other events between the two countries na daily basis, he said.

Special attention will be paid to efforts to prevent the emerging of any new hotspots of the virus in connection with public and private gatherings.

"I urge all tourists to abide by the current and new measures from the Croatian COVID-19 crisis management team. This is the only way to ensure the tourist trade and other economical activities can go on this year," Cappelli concluded.

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July 11, 2020 - Friday was the worst day in Croatia since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic. 116 new cases were recorded, and new measures were announced.

Index.hr reported on Friday evening that a record 116 new coronavirus cases were reported over 24 hours. This is also the first time that the number of newly infected people reached triple digits in Croatia. Two people died.

There are currently 1,038 active cases in Croatia, according to a statement from the Headquarters. Among them, 104 patients are in hospital, of which four are on a ventilator.

Since February 25, when the first case of infection was recorded in Croatia, a total of 3,532 people have been reported to be infected with the coronavirus, of whom 117 have died and 2,377 have recovered.

There are currently 4,608 people in self-isolation. To date, a total of 91,486 people have been tested, of which 1,722 in the last 24 hours.

Headquarters announces a new decision

In accordance with the current epidemiological situation, the National Headquarters passed a Decision on the necessary measures for the organization of gatherings attended by more than 100 participants during the pandemic.

Organizers who expect more than 100 people at the gathering are obliged to submit a notification to the County Center 112 about the gathering no later than 48 hours before the planned start. Organizers who have registered a gathering following the Public Gathering Act are not required to submit this notice.

Also, all organizers of gatherings with more than 100 participants are obliged to keep written records of participants, so that in the event that someone is infected with the virus, the spread of the disease can be prevented as effectively as possible.

Control over the implementation of the decision, as well as compliance with the recommendations and instructions of the Croatian Institute of Public Health, will be carried out by teams composed of civil protection inspectors and police officers.

HZJZ has published the details of the instructions and rules for large gatherings, and you can read them HERE.

Update: On July 13th, the National Civil Protection Headquarters issued a clarification of their measure of mandatory mask use in Croatia, in which they listed the groups of people who are not obligated to wear masks. Those groups include:
- children under the age of two,
- children between the ages of two and before school-age, if they exhibit strong resistance towards wearing a mask,
- children should wear masks for a limited period of time, up to an hour or two,
- people with mental health issues, where their mental health problems cause strong resistance towards wearing a mask or inability to remove it on their own,
- people communicating with hearing-impaired persons, who need to lip-read to communicate, as well as hearing-impaired persons themselves
- people with breathing problems caused by existing chronic diseases or conditions,
- people in an altered state of consciousness, or while unconscious,
- everyone else who is unable to remove the mask from their face without someone else's help.

Bozinovic: We will certainly introduce stricter measures at the border

Chief of the National Headquarters Davor Bozinovic explained to Dnevnik Nova TV the latest measures anti-pandemic measures and commented on Friday's record high cases.

“I can’t rule out that there won’t be some approximate number tomorrow, maybe even higher,” he said.

"As for border crossings, we will certainly tighten measures, some will have to go into a two-week self-isolation or come with a test that shows they are not infected. This applies to third countries, BiH, Serbia ... Students studying will have to go through self-isolation," he said.

If you go to a wedding in Belgrade, you don't have to go into self-isolation because we are EU citizens, and Bozinovic says that these are the recommendations of the European Commission.

"The introduction of self-isolation for passengers from Serbia and BiH is the only rational measure," Bozinovic replied.

From the beginning of the week, mandatory masks in stores

Masks in stores will be mandatory from the beginning of next week, and Bozinovic says it will be an obligation. “It doesn’t have to be medical masks, but I repeat, autumn could be a more serious challenge, and then the measures could be a little tighter,” he said.

Guests in catering facilities will not have to wear masks, i.e., they will not be mandatory. They will be mandatory for staff.

“If a gap is maintained, the virus is powerless here, but where close contacts occur, it is a situation where the virus is spreading fast and in that sense, we have made recommendations today because they are our main hotspots,” he said.

Asked if the measures should have been tightened before, he replied: "This is a long struggle, someone says up to two years. Any measure that means closing an activity, the question is whether you will open in the winter, when the conditions are even more difficult. This is not at all easy," he noted, adding that they plan to return to daily National Press conferences.

Markotic: With large gatherings, people can endanger those around them

"This is something that is dangerous. Trends say that we must be as responsible as possible and start tightening measures," said the director of the Clinic for Infectious Diseases "Dr. Fran Mihaljevic" Alemka Markotic for Dnevnik, answering the question about how she received Friday's news that we, for the first time, exceeded the number of one hundred new patients in one day.

When asked which of the measures on the table will be introduced first, Markotic said that the gatherings of over 100 people would be accompanied by a series of stricter measures and instructions and there will be controls.

"The most important thing is for people to understand that we had an ideal situation that we can restore if they adhere to simple measures. Gathering large numbers of people can endanger those around them," she said.

She also spoke about extinguishing new hotspots that have mostly spread in recent days from large private gatherings.

"Our health service has worked well, it has brought many hotspots under control, but not only the civil protection system and the police can operate alone. Everyone else needs to work together. The virus is there, the disease is there, it can be very dangerous and cause large numbers. If it increases, it is to be expected that there will be serious illnesses among the younger ones as well, and stricter measures will have to be taken - reducing the number of people who can gather, stricter controls will be introduced, and wearing masks will be introduced in shopping malls. It is for Croatia and for the tourists who come; and there are practically no sick people among the tourists, who are obviously behaving extremely responsibly," said Markotic.

The director of the Civil Protection of the Republic of Croatia, Damir Trut, spoke for RTL about the new measures and their implementation.

When asked when the measures on mass gatherings will take effect and how the police and inspectors will check who is adhering to them, he said:

"The decision has been approved and will take effect on Monday, so everyone has time to prepare and report all gatherings they are obliged to. So from 100 people onwards. And that inspectors can make a plan to monitor the gatherings. What is prescribed will be monitored for such gatherings. That list is important if there is an infection so that it is easier to find contacts. Basically, everything that has always been prescribed and if we have adhered to it, this would not have happened."

He adds that masks could be mandatory indoors.

"That's right, we are talking about introducing masks in all enclosed spaces. As we have introduced in public transport and it has proved to be good. We must all be aware that we must control ourselves and be the ones who adhere to the measures. There is no control that can control 4.5 million people in Croatia. We need to be aware that this is a way to protect ourselves from infection, how to stay healthy and how to protect others. "

He says that Croats from BiH will not have to isolate themselves.

The coronavirus has been spreading rapidly across the country in recent days. Weddings proved to be significant hotspots. About 15 people became infected at one graduation celebration in Kutina. Today, it was reported that four members of the band who played there were also infected.

In Zadar, the hospital is practically closed.

In the area of ​​Zadar County, there are 14 newly infected people with coronavirus, and out of that number 12, a wedding was held in Zadar last weekend, while two people became infected somewhere else, the County Civil Protection Headquarters reported.

Among the new patients, the statement said, is a health worker from the Zadar General Hospital who became infected outside the hospital, and ten doctors and three nurses are in self-isolation.

As 057info reported, the anesthesiologist of the Zadar General Hospital, indirectly connected to the wedding, was infected.

"I can confirm that due to special epidemiological circumstances, only emergency operations and scheduled operations for malignant patients will be performed until further notice. All patients will be taken care of and there is no reason for concern," hospital director Zeljko Culina told 057info.

The Zadar Civil Protection Headquarters was informed about the situation in the Zadar hospital, and the director informed Minister Vili Beros about the situation. If necessary, doctors from other cities will be temporarily hired to perform surgical procedures in the Zadar hospital, reports 057info.

The total number of infected people in the Zadar area is now 36, and as many as 22 are related to last week's wedding.

In Zagreb, the source of the infection is unknown in 13 people

There are 35 new cases in the City of Zagreb, 22 are contacts of already infected people, and the source of the infection is still unknown for 13.

There are a lot of new cases in Osijek-Baranja

Out of a total of 153 samples that were tested for the coronavirus in the last 24 hours in the Osijek-Baranja County, as many as 20 were positive. Most (12) newly positive people are from Đakovo, seven from Višnjevac and one from Feričani. All contacts are already registered patients with coronavirus.

At the Clinical Hospital Center Osijek, two people are on a ventilator, and a total of 22 patients are being monitored.

To read more about news in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

ZAGREB, July 10, 2020 - Croatia will remain on Slovenia's yellow list for the time being, it was concluded after a meeting on Friday of the two countries' prime ministers, Janez Jansa and Andrej Plenkovic respectively, at which they agreed to step up the exchange of information in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic.

The two officials said they had a successful meeting focusing solely on the epidemiological situation in the two countries and measures adopted by their governments in the fight against the virus.

The meeting was held in Otocec ob Krki, Slovenia.

Jansa said that he was glad about the measures which Croatia was introducing to contain the epidemic and which it was applying on the EU's external borders, as well as about the fact that it was preparing a mobile application to track the disease which Plenkovic said would be ready in about ten days.

The two countries' epidemiologists and institutions have been exchanging information and experience and now we have agreed to cooperate even more closely on a daily basis, Jansa said.

"Only coordinated action can yield results," the Slovenian PM said, stressing the importance of cooperation at the expert and political level.

The Croatian prime minister said that Croatia's seven coastal counties were in a green zone, "which is a message of confidence and safety to all Slovenian tourists."

According to Croatia's eVisitor system, 92,000 Slovenians were staying in Croatia on Friday.

Jansa said that the two countries had similar experience and information on environments that are the most dangerous in terms of the spreading of the disease but that according to their experience, the tourism sector was not among them.

He said that he was glad to learn that in Croatia a mobile application was being prepared that would enable the tracking of potential contacts of already infected persons, which, he said, was the crucial instrument in enabling all activities to resume, including in the summer time, when people go on holidays.

"It is good that our measures to prevent the spreading of the coronavirus are converging because that will make the epidemiological situations in both countries converge," said Plenkovic.

As for the possibility that Slovenia could put Croatia on a so-called red list of risky countries with a large number of new infections and a poor epidemiological situation and the related media speculation, Plenkovic said, answering a reporter's question, that Slovenia had its own criteria and mathematical calculations.

"It is up to us to slow down the rate of spreading and the number of infections," he said.

Plenkovic would not talk about stricter controls on the border with Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, saying he would inform the national COVID-19 response team of the matter when he returns to Croatia.

The two prime ministers agreed to be in touch on a daily basis with regard to COVID-19.

"It is only by joining forces that we can achieve success," Jansa said, adding that preventing infection was the most important in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic.

The three magical words are hygiene, disinfection and distance, said Plenkovic.

The current epidemiological situation was the sole topic of today's meeting and other topics, including border arbitration, were not discussed.

"There are topics that can wait and there are those that cannot," said the Slovenian PM.

July 10, 2020 - Norway has published a list of red and green countries, or countries that are safe or unsafe for travel during the coronavirus pandemic. Croatia is on the list of 'red' countries.

Index.hr reports that from July 15, for the next 14 days, Norwegians will be able to travel without restrictions to several European countries, such as Greece, Italy, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Spain, which are listed among the 'green' countries. They will be able to travel to those countries on vacation and return without having to self-isolate, according to Norwegian Standard.

Croatia among the red countries

There are only six countries from the EU / EEA / Schengen area for which the quarantine rule applies, i.e., countries that require self-isolation for Norwegians on their return.

This applies to Bulgaria, Croatia, Luxembourg, Portugal, Romania and Hungary.

The Norwegian Institute of Public Health will issue new assessments approximately every 14 days on which countries meet the epidemiological criteria.

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July 10, 2020 - Marko Kašić a Croat From Knin, trapped in the Philippines for four months by a COVID-19 travel ban, puts his time to good use. 

Nothing to do, nowhere to go, nobody to see. Even with the world (online) at their fingertips, some people met the strictest period of Coronavirus lockdown with negativity that bordered on despair. But, the response depended on your attitude.

Of course, some people had it worse than others. Now stranded in the Philippines for four months because of the country's COVID-19 travel ban, you couldn't say Marko Kašić had it easier than anyone. Over 10, 000 kilometres from home and family, he might have had more of a reason to despair than most. But, that never happened. Instead, Marko spent his time raising over €50, 000 to help the country's poorest.

Marko Kašić, a Croat from Knin at work in the Philippines © Fundlife

Having first visited the Philippines almost a decade ago, Marko is more than familiar with the country. In 2014 he set up the Fundlife NGO there to promote sports – specifically football – to underprivileged children. He even has a girlfriend there. It was while visiting her in Manila for Valentine's Day in February that he got trapped.

After the romantic day was finished, Marko decided to take a short internal plane ride over to Cebu, on one of the archipelago's other islands, to check up on his sports projects. Then Coronavirus hit. The country went into lockdown with a strict travel ban. He could neither travel back to Europe nor to his girlfriend in Manila.

Even in a country infamous for the huge disparity between its rich and poor, Cebu, where Marko is trapped, is one of the most impoverished areas. Over 40% (800,000 people) of its residents are informal workers, with 'no work, no pay' contracts and no social services to rely on for help. When there is work, such people work for an average of €3 per day. But, because of Coronavirus, all of the work stopped.

“Even before COVID, they were just able to survive by having this small daily income,” Marko told TCN. “When the lockdown started, it was clear they would struggle to have enough food.”

Marko realised he had to do something for these people, simply because nobody else was. The bloody Drug War instigated by the country's President Duterte has been the biggest international news story about the Philippines since 2016. Fundraising, charity and NGO work for the country's poorest has suffered as a direct result. But, Marko hit up all of the contacts he'd made for help. He has raised over €50, 000 to help feed the country's poorest, taken on many volunteers to help distribute food and changed his sporting NGO into the largest volunteer-led humanitarian response to COVID-19 in the Philippines.

Some of Marko's volunteers at work for Fundlife's COVID-19 response © Fundlife

Perhaps it is the years Marko spent living in the UK that prompted his positive response to the situation he found himself in? But, in his compassion, his Croatian heart is clearly visible. Born in Knin, Marko's NGO has already helped over 60,000 children in the Philippines and even took some to the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia as part of the FIFA Foundation Festival. European football organisations are among the financial supporters of the NGO.

Asked about his plans for the immediate future - whether he will fly back to Manila, to his girlfriend, or back home to Europe - Marko has no answer. The country is still on lockdown. He still cannot travel. And, besides, there's still so much work there to do.

"I might not even have a girlfriend anymore,” Marko told TCN, perhaps only half-joking. “I told her I'd be back in a week, but it's been four months. I hope she understands."

To learn more about the work FundLife is doing in the Philippines or to support their relief efforts, you can visit www.globalgiving.org/projects/covid-19-relief-response/ or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

As Novac/Barbara Ban writes on the 8th of July, 2020, despite the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, a breath of the tourist season is finally being felt in the popular Istrian city of Pula. The stormy weather that arrived recently drove most tourists off the beaches and they decided to finally go into the city.

The main streets and the Forum were full of people, which is really unusual to see during the coronavirus crisis and gives encouragement to continue with 2020's otherwise enfeebled tourist season. Restaurants, bars and shops, as well as souvenir shops in the city centre, which had been eerily empty in recent weeks, began to fill up slowly.

''Yes, we're satisfied with the beginning of July in Istria and all these numbers are growing every day. Last week we had about 90 thousand guests on the Peninsula, and this week we expect about 120 thousand. A slightly longer procedure on the border with Slovenia didn't deter guests from arriving in Istria,'' the director of the County Tourist Board, Denis Ivosevic, said briefly.

Many tourist workers in Istria were afraid of this situation given the health crisis we're still embedded quite deeply in, but fortunately the beginning of the week showed that it will not be an obstacle for the arrival of tourists.

As has been heard from the director of the largest hotelier in Pula, the Arena Hospitality Group's Reli Slonim, the numbers are getting better in camps in the south of Istria and even in hotels.

''It's difficult to predict the season now, but maybe we could reach around 60 percent of last year's turnover. We're satisfied with the situation as the camps are filled, where the largest number of our guests are currently located, and our hotels and tourist resorts have better and better numbers,'' said Slonim.

It's worth mentioning that Istrian holiday homes are currently well filled and have proven to be an ideal choice in a situation where most people are looking for safety and an escape from the crowds. A good part of them have been well filled since mid-June, and if the situation around the coronavirus epidemic remains under control, a good season in this segment of accommodation is expected by the end of September.

According to data from eVisitor, in the first seven days of July, 106,722 arrivals and 638,085 overnight stays were recorded in Istria. Most guests are from Germany, who realised the most overnight stays - 227,276 of them.

As is being said, there is potential for Istria to even reach last year's figures from this period for the beginning of July this year, which is something that was simply unimaginable to most up until very recently.

The Germans are followed by Slovenes with 147,326 overnight stays, Czechs with 55,479 overnight stays, Austrians with 49,031 and Italians with 35,595 overnight stays. The most visited destinations in Istria are Rovinj, Medulin, Umag, Porec, Vrsar, Tar-Vabriga, Funtana and of course, Pula.

For more on travel to, from and within Croatia during the coronavirus era, follow our travel page.