April 12, 2020 - Part 4 of Ivica Profaca's Diary of a Split Tour Guide in the Age of Corona - you can start at the beginning here.

Ever since I started working as a guide, this was going to be my sixth season, I was trying to be as meticulous as possible in running my assignment calendar. Or, in more recent times, calendars. It might be a professional disorder inherited from my daily journalism days, with my addiction to deadlines and article size precision. As soon as I would get a new booking, the whole series of administrating moves begins; write it in the excel table, sorted by dates. Then Google Calendar, which notifies me half an hour before the appointed hour. Then calendars in different online platforms or applications, where I need to delete tours I offer on different dates. For example, if I get a morning assignment from some agency, I block that date for morning tours which I have online, and usually leave those scheduled for afternoons. The last time when I counted, I was maintaining four different calendars, plus excel. I know, there are apps which can do it at once, but I just don't trust them. I'm pretty sure I would end up with double bookings, or miss an important one.

When it comes to payments, I'm even worse. Minutes after I come home after any guiding job, I send an invoice. It's not because I'm especially dedicated, I'm just afraid that if I wait until the next day, not to mention a longer period, I would just forget it. Even with clients who make me send an invoice once a month, I create it at the beginning of the month, and then update after every job. The last day of the month, it's gone.

I described this because for the last two months of Corona, this whole procedure looks like an "undo" command in computer programs. I get a cancellation (because there are no new bookings) for, let's say, some date in May. When I delete it from excel, I enter it in another excel table named Cancellations 2020. Of course I don't really need that, but with self-diagnosed minor OCD of counting, and running statistics it's there, don't ask. You never know, says my little OCD ghost, maybe it will be useful someday. Then I turn to calendars. It's easy to delete it (or change date) in Google Calendar. But, when it comes to online platforms, it gets more demanding. Now I re-schedule all those tours which were deleted or blocked when the original booking arrived, and it takes some time of careful going from one web site to another. Again, I'm completely aware that if, for example, guests cancelled a tour on April 25 due to the COVID-19 situation, no other booking will arrive for that same day. However, it gives the impression that I really am doing something about this season. Completely useless, but I do it. After all, the days are getting longer, and it takes more effort to make them pass while staying home, even with some other jobs I do, like writing or translating.

I learned to act that way when I was forced to start working at home ten years ago, after almost twenty years in different newsrooms. Unfortunately, many people are experiencing it in the Corona Age. You probably know that - how to force yourself to change from pyjamas into barely decent clothes, or comb your hair before work nobody sees you doing it. Well, to play with calendars and jobs which will never come is my way to create a new normality, no matter how abnormal it actually is. It's like that even in more leisure parts of the day, with wine parties over Zoom or some other communication app. Until "all this" stops, and we begin turning back to normal normality. If possible. And it will stop, I'm still optimistic.

Those two excel spreadsheets I run - Bookings 2020 and Cancellations 2020 - go in opposite directions, the first one is still bigger, but the latter is approaching faster then I want. As I said before, bookings were poor anyway, because they stopped sometime in January or early February, but what is really worrying is the steady stream from one spreadsheet to another. The whole of April is now gone, May is emptying, only dates later in that month still stand, but it's hard to count on those bookings will surviving. Later, prospects are a little bit better, but for now it's in the hands of the virus and those trying to stop it.

Some countries have announced the possibility of softening their lockdowns, but it's hard to say how that will work. Maybe more than ever before, countries will depend on each other in the post-Corona economy. That dependence is not whether they will help each other (I hope they will), but how to re-open any economy, if most others are still locked. What's the use if Croatian airports, harbours, borders, museums, bars and restaurants open, if nobody can come? What's the benefit for Croatian tourism (or most of other industries) if Croatia continues doing a good job (or at least it still looks like a good job) in stopping COVID-19, if it still ravages some of our main markets?  That's why I believe that the dilemma of whether or not to concentrate on the economy, or on stopping the pandemic is mostly false. There is no economy if the pandemic is alive.  When it stops, my calendars await, I'm looking forward to filling them. So many things to do.

We will be following Ivica Profaca's journey through the rocky weeks ahead.

If you find yourself in Split, or are planning a post-corona visit, check out his range of tours on his website - families, look out for the kids tour of Diocletian Palace. It will not only entertain your kids while allowing you to absorb this unique UNESCO World Heritage Site, but it will bring out the inner child in you too. Learn more about it here. 

You can read other parts of Ivica's Split Tour Guide in the Age of Corona series here.

(To be continued)

The few people who do not live here in Zagreb but who have somehow found themselves travelling through the city during these strange days can count the hotels that remain open on their fingertips. One of them is the popular Zagreb Westin Hotel.

As Dora Koretic/Novac writes on the 12th of April, 2020, there are exactly seven of them, and the largest among them that, despite the coronavirus pandemic, is keeping its doors open to travellers is the aforementioned hotels on the once busy Savska cesta.

Until recently, it was central place for travellers who have somewhat deeper pockets, boasting a bar in which a good part of the Zagreb business scene was arranging various jobs. These days, however, it is eerily quiet, witha reduced workforce twiddling their thumbs and wondering when the epidemic will pass.

Otherwise a member of the Marriott Group, the Zagreb Westin Hotel has remained open as the only facility belonging to a major hotel chain in the Croatian capital city, following the announcement of the closure of hotel facilities, mainly to accommodate guests arriving in Croatia on a mission, such as medical staff, European and international officials, and of course - scientists.

According to the Croatian National Tourist Board (HTZ), there are so few people in Zagreb at the moment who don't actually live here that they would not be able to fill a single floor of the Zagreb Westin Hotel.

As touched on before, at the moment, there are seven open hotels in Zagreb. Although they didn't want to disclose how many guests are currently staying at the Westin, it has since been learned that during the pandemic, the hotel is mostly occupied by individual guests from Croatia and a small number of foreigners, mainly guests from the USA, and special measures have been introduced due to these unprecedented circumstances in accordance with the recommendations of Croatian health institutions, and especially with regard to the restrictions imposed by the Civil Protection Headquarters throughout the country.

Thus, we've learned that all of the Zagreb Westin Hotel's catering facilities are closed, so there is no hotel bar or dining at the hotel restaurant. However, in order for the hotel guests to be able to receive food normally, all meals are prepared in the hotel kitchen and delivered directly to people's rooms.

"We're always focused on the well-being of our guests and employees, even in these unexpected circumstances," a statement from the Zagreb Westin said.

Interestingly, despite the fact that there are no guests, nor is it likely that there will be any soon, they say from the Zagreb Westin Hotel that they didn't significantly change the hotel's pricing policy at the time of the pandemic.

"The overnight rates have not changed significantly due to this new situation. In particular, an overnight stay in a double room from April 8-9 amounts to €91, €122 for bed and breakfast,'' it was revealed.

Maistra hasn't disclosed what additional services are available to guests during these special circumstances, but given the regulations and the special regime, the spa and wellness centre are not currently available at the hotel, and from Maistra they advise that, in accordance with the recommendations of health institutions, they provide guests room service and food delivery services exclusively, with all staff equipped with the proper masks and gloves.

Make sure to follow our dedicated section for more on coronavirus in Croatia.

From economic measures and FINA's desire to look good to issues of transparency and public spending, Marko Rakar takes a look at the post-coronavirus future for Croatia on the portal mrak.org.

April the 12th, 2020 - If you read the news (at least the international news), you've likely read that Americans reported an additional 6.2 million unemployed people yesterday, which means that about 17 million people have become unemployed in the past three weeks. From that perspective, that's about 10 percent of the total number of employees, and the question is: How come they have such an explosive growth of unemployed people, and there is so much less of that here in Croatia?

The workforce in Croatia (depending on who is counting, and how they're doing that counting) could be between 1.5 and 1.7 million (the criteria for the number of employees is somewhat unclear, as some self-employed activities and OPGs are not always part of these statistics), but let's say that this is about 1.7 million people, which is a mere 1 percent of the American workforce. Similarly, if we were to follow those trends, we would have to register about 170,000 unemployed people, and today we're closer to 17,000 (which can be clearly seen on Index.hr), which is 1/10 of what has happened over in America.

We can certainly find some of the answers to this in the Croatian Government's measures as companies try to look at how permanent this situation might be, or what the overall effects of it will be on their businesses. Another, far greater factor (at least as I see it) are our labour laws which, among other things, provide for notice periods that are very lavish when compared to those in the US. If you rewind the film just a little bit, then you will know that the last day of school was March the 13th, 2020, while quarantine (or lockdown or whatever we like to call this situation) took effect on March the 23rd, 2020. Assuming that the typical ''termination period'' [at work] is one month, it's to be expected that those who have been laid off from the 13th of March onwards, will start going to the Croatian Employment Service only next week, and then we'll start to get a true, clear picture of the state of unemployment in Croatia.

There's no doubt that a huge number of people will end up going or have already gone to the Croatian Employment Service, and since the coronavirus pandemic has caught us right in the middle of Croatia's usual ascending cycle of seasonal employment, it is to be expected that these seasonal workers will not be able to find a job even along the coast, and due to the current, general prohibitions on cross-border movement, they won't be able to find a job abroad either (I wrote about the lack of seasonal workers in agriculture and the effect on the availability and rise in prices of certain agricultural products in the weeks to come earlier).

These seasonal workers are people who have jobs that are their elemental existence and the ongoing coronavirus situation for them is unfortunately not good at all. It's worth remembering that famous thirty percent that makes up the ''grey'' economy, the grey economy is not only made up of hospitality workers doing jobs ''under the table'' or just criminals, but also entire social groups (for example, those who have had their bank accounts blocked), and who have no alternative whatsoever but to work ''on the black''.

In these circumstances of forbidden movement, halting the general economy but also suspending all investments (think of small building projects along the coast, various pieces of construction in continental Croatia, or those assisting "on the black" in various trades and companies) - these people have been left without any, even illegal income, and as such - they will further slip towards poverty.

I think we're collectively underestimating the effects of the coronavirus-induced economic crisis we have run into at full speed. Until now, economic crises (and depressions) were entered slowly and gently, so much so that we did not realise for a long time what had actually happened, and this is a completely different situation now.

The real question is, and many people are discussing it, at what point can we begin to approach anything that resembles our lives before the aforementioned Friday the thirteenth of March, 2020?

If you look at this document (PDF) from the Boston Consulting Group, and if we look at Croatia's neighbouring countries or countries where the spread of coronavirus is somewhat similar to our situation, I think there is no doubt that it will not be possible to start facilitating movement before the second week of June.

It also means that we've not even reached the midpoint of the coronavirus crisis yet, and the question is, what will life look like in two months? ECB President Lagarde said last week that every month, lockdown means 2-3 percent of GDP less, and that figure, in Croatia's specific circumstances, should probably be multiplied by some factor, and all together, that needs to be multiplied to find out what the hole in the state budget will be.

Going back to facilitating isolation measures, we'll be hearing a lot about the examples of Austria, Denmark or the Czech Republic where they decided to start implementing these anti-epidemic measures earlier, but one should be very careful that what happened to Singapore doesn't happen here. Singapore, although it seemed to, didn't manage to address the spread of the coronavirus epidemic. The situation here in Croatia is very similar and most of those infected could be accompanied by a specific "importer" of the virus, but the last few days, and with the breakthrough of the virus into Croatian nursing homes and hospitals, don't really give us much reason for satisfaction.

The situation in Singapore is also interesting because the Croatian authorities, in an attempt to install a mass surveillance system, cite the example of Singapore as a good example where a monitoring application reportedly successfully helped stop the spread of the coronavirus epidemic.

Well, new facts have just arrived and they don't sound so great. The South Korean example also shows signs of "fatigue" and it's worth repeating once again that there's not even an indication of how such applications are actually helping to solve any problems, while violating the right to privacy and freedom from control in the most spectacular way (which I wrote about for Index). I wouldn't want to be petty right now, but all of a sudden we have a whole new set of applications and solutions (for example, there's the one from the civil protection staff for the issuance of passes), so, I'm interested, in the spirit of GDPR, who exactly is leading this, who will have access to the information we need to provide, why, and for how long?

It's clear to me that this is a perceived public good (though if 1/6 of the population has passes, their very existence should be called into question), but there are nevertheless some legal frameworks from which one should not ''jump'' - just like the one that sees that the decisions and the scope of those decisions made by the national [civil protection] headquarters are not within the law. How has that been missed by the powerful lawyers employed by the state and the public sector?

Of course, transparency criteria is also worth mentioning. Namely, a lot of things have been suspended during this time and the urgency of doing this is because of a whole lot of various purchases of any equipment and materials that are necessary in the fight against this coronavirus monster.

Nevertheless, it's necessary that the state, the public sector, and especially these locals (from Milan Bandic onwards), supply the true costs of this disaster to the public, and that they do so in real time. There's no excuse or reason for not doing so. We can start with the koronavirus.hr website itself, and we don't actually know who manages it (I know that sounds irrelevant and petty but…), they're not able to share the data in a machine-readable format one month later (I think this is intentional because they themselves have to have this information but they don't want to share it).

And then there is all the other information that might be interesting, such as the question of testing (why are we testing how much are we testing, as our tactics seem different from many). What are the reasons for this, is there a problem with materials (reagents, I'm not an expert so I don't know...) or is there another reason? Who are we procuring them from, and at what price?

And then, we can move on to the subsidy measures, where I'm forced to agree with the unions and say that they should publicly write which company has received money, how much money, and for what number of employees they money is for (and there is a logic to the request that the companies seeking a ban on dividend payments in the forthcoming period, similar to the way banks did, note that the EU recommended the non-payment of dividends while the Croatian National Bank and HANFA prohibited the payment of dividends - I feel some litigation and damages are on the horizon).

Transparency would help to identify any sort of abuse very quickly, and it would also discourage those who are thinking of resorting to some sort of blackening of public money. Unfortunately, transparency and public insight into the spending of public money isn't exactly popular in our area. It will be interesting to see if these payments are seen on the Ministry of Finance's website (which I conceived a long time ago, although my idea and this realisation don't have much to do with each other, but that's how it is when a bureaucratic mind reads instructions).

What I think we'll see with the anti-coronavirus economic measures of the Croatian Government (and somehow it seems to me that we need to read very carefully and differentiate the expected effects of the measures from the real money being pumped into the system) is that we've done a lot to make sure the measures of economic aid, that would by all criteria need to be really fast, simply aren't.

Lending through HBOR, HAMAG and who knows which other institutions (including banks) involve time-consuming administrative processes that are subject to scrutiny and review and of course decisions. In an environment where there will be thousands or even tens of thousands of such requests, it's difficult to expect the administrative apparatus to be able to keep up, so these measures, if they come and are approved, will come too late for many.

The absolute winner in creating meaningless services is of course FINA (they're also a safe bet in normal circumstances), they created a website where you can sign up for some coronavirus economic measures. They are not an implementing body, they don't decide on anything, and with the information they collect for nothing known to them they do absolutely nothing but pass it on to the bank or institutions mentioned above. Why anyone would do this rather than contact their bank directly is totally unclear. The geniuses at FINA probably realised that they, too, needed to do something, even if it was something completely pointless. The mere impression of them doing something is everything.

On the other hand, the state is digitising ys radically, and now that contact with clients is a potentially dangerous task, suddenly, all at once, everything can be done via the Internet or by email. Let's just hope the team documents what it's doing, because later it won't be possible to unravel what happened once something does come to a halt.

Thought of the day:
When faced with a radical crisis, when the old way of being in the world, of interacting with each other and with the realm of nature doesn’t work anymore, when survival is threatened by seemingly insurmountable problems, an individual life-form — or a species — will either die or become extinct or rise above the limitations of its condition through an evolutionary leap.

This text was written by Marko Rakar, was first published on mrak.org, and was translated from Croatian into English by Lauren Simmonds

For more on coronavirus in Croatia, follow our dedicated section.

April 12, 2020 - How has the market value dropped for players of Dinamo, Rijeka, Hajduk, and Osijek? A look at the player value of the Croatian First League from the beginning of March to present.

Index.hr reports that the coronavirus pandemic has caused a decline in market value for all footballers. This situation was expected, however, because the sport has been paralyzed, competitions have been suspended or postponed, and the deadlines are still in question. 

Transfermarkt, the world's most popular football transfer site, has announced that the market value of all players born before January 1, 1998, is down 20 percent, while those born after that date are down 10 percent.

So, how has the market value dropped for players of Dinamo, Rijeka, Hajduk, and Osijek? A comparison from the beginning of March to the present.

The biggest decrease was recorded for Dinamo's Bruno Petkovic and Dominic Livakovic, both of whom dropped 2.5 million euro. However, they remain at the top of the most expensive Croatian championship players.

Namely, before the pandemic, Petkovic was worth 13.5 million euro, while Livakovic was worth 13 million euro. They were accompanied by Mislav Oršić, whose market value was 9.5 million euro. Petkovic is now worth 11 million, Livakovic 10.5, and Orsic is estimated at 7.5 million euro, enough to keep him in third place.

With the example of Petkovic, Livakovic and Orsic, it is easy to conclude that Dinamo's market value has dropped the most, but it is not difficult to assume that the current Croatian champion still holds the most expensive lineup in the Championship.

Dinamo's players had totaled 97 million euro, and their total value now stands at 79.4 million euro, down 18.2 percent.

The coronavirus price drop has has hit Dinamo's Izet Hajrovic the hardest, whose value has been falling since last summer. In July, Hajrovic was worth 3 million euro, and today, his price is only 1.2 million euro. This is a staggering 60 percent drop. He was worth 1.5 million euro before the pandemic.

The overall value of Hajduk players fell by 17.2 percent. Hajduk players were worth 24 million euro, while their value now is 20 million euro.

Hajduk's most expensive player remains Mijo Caktaš, who was worth 3.5 million euro and is now estimated at 2.8 million euro. The price for Josip Juranovic fell half a million euro, and he is now worth two million euro. Brazilian Jairo also dropped by half a million euro, too, and is now worth 1.6 million euro.

A drop similar to Hajduk's was also recorded by Rijeka, whose team was worth 20.5 million euro before the pandemic, and is now worth 16.9 million euro, which is down 17.6 percent.

The price of Antonio Colak from Rijeka dropped from 3 million euro to 2.4 million euro. The value of his teammates Alexander Gorgon and Franko Andrijasevic is now worth 1.6 million euro each, down by 400,000 euro each.

It is impossible to say for the time being if there will be any further reductions in the football market soon, but it is evident that these declines are significant, considering the total sum of all Croatian First League players dropped by 16.3 percent, or from 226.6 million to 189.7 million euro.

This is a decrease of 36 million euro, which is almost equal to the current market value of players from Hajduk and Rijeka, amounting to 36.9 million euro.

Dinamo

Dominik Livakovic - €10.5 million (€13.5 million)
Danijel Zagorac - €475,000 (€600,000)
Dino Peric - €4.8 million (€6 million)
Kevin Theophile Catherine - €4 million (€5 million)
Emir Dilaver - €3.2 million (€4 million)
Josko Gvardiol - €1.3 million (€1.5 million)
Francois Moubandje - €1.6 million (€2 million)
Marin Leovac - €725,000 (€900,000)
Petar Stojanovic - €1.2 million (€1.5 million)
Sadegh Moharrami - €600,000 (€750,000)
Nikola Moro - €5.8 million (€6.5 million)
Arian Ademi - €7 million (€5 million)
Marko Djira - €1.3 million (€1.5 million)
Amer Gojak - €7 million (€5.5 million)
Luka Ivanusec - €3.6 million (€4 million)
Lovro Mayer - €2.3 million (€2.5 million)
Mislav Oršić - €7.5 million (€9.5 million)
Antonio Marin - €1.3 million (€1.5 million)
Damian Kadzior - €2.4 million (€3 million)
Izet Hajrovic - €1.2 million (€1.5 million)
Bruno Petkovic - €13.5 million (€11 million)
Mario Gavranovic - €1.6 million (€2 million)
Sandro Kulenovic - €1.3 million (€1.5 million)
Mario Ćuže - €775,000 (€850,000)

Hajduk

Josip Posavec - €1 million (€1.3 million)
Marin Ljubić - €600,000 (€750,000)
Goran Blažević - €50,000 (€50,000)
Stefan Simić - €800,000 (€1 million)
Ardian Ismajli - €800,000 (€1 million)
Nihad Mujakic - €800,000 (€750,000)
Mario Vuskovic - €600,000 (€525,000)
Kristian Dimitrov - €400,000 (€500,000)
Stipe Vucur - €300,000 (€350,000)
Stipe Radic - €100,000
David Colina - €900,000 (€1 million)
Josip Juranovic - €2 million (€ 2.5 million)
Josip Bašić - €150,000
Darko Nejašmić - €1.8 million (€2 million)
Stanko Juric - €750,000 (€900,000)
Mijo Caktas - €2.7 million (€3.5 million)
Hamza Barry - €800,000 (€1 million)
Bassel Jradi - €800,000 (€1 million)
Jakov Blagaić - €300,000
Loen Krekovic - €50,000
Jairo da Silva - €1.6 million (€2 million)
Ivan Dolček - €450,000 (€500,000)
Samuel Eduok - €1.6 million (€2 million)
Francesco Tahiraj - €300,000 (€450,000)
Marin Jakoliš - €400,000 (€500,000)

Rijeka

Andrej Prskalo - €400,000 (€500,000)
David Nwolokor - €250,000
Ivor Pandur - €250,000 (€150,000)
Hrvoje Smolčić - €750,000 (€850,000)
Nino Galovic - €600,000 (€750,000)
Joao Escoval - €400,000 (€500,000)
Darko Velkovski - €400,000 (€500,000)
Jasmin Celikovic - €150,000 (€200,000)
Daniel Stefulj - €300,000 (€250,000)
Muhammad Kabiru - €50,000
Ivan Tomečak - €550,000 (€750,000)
Momcilo Raspopovic - €475,000 (€600,000)
Ivan Lepinjica - €900,000 (€1 million)
Luka Capan - €525,000 (€650,000)
Domagoj Pavicic - €1.2 million (€1.5 million)
Stjepan Loncar - €1.2 million (€1.5 million)
Franko Andrijasevic - €1.6 million (€2 million)
Tibor Halilovic - €800,000 (€1 million)
Dani Iglesias - €250,000 (€350,000)
Alexander Gorgon - €1.6 million (€2 million)
Felipe Pires - €750,000 (€900,000)
Robert Muric - €750,000 (€900,000)
Antonio Colak - €2.4 million (€3 million)
Sterling Yateke - €300,000

Osijek

Ivica Ivusic - €650,000 (€800,000)
Marko Malenica - €600,000 (€750,000)
Mile Skoric - €1.4 million (€1.8 million)
Ante Majstorovic - €1.2 million (€1.5 million)
Guti - €525,000 (€650,000)
Danijel Loncar - €300,000 (€400,000)
Talys - €675,000 (€750,000)
Igor Silva - €650,000 (€800,000)
Alen Grgić - €550,000 (€700,000)
Tomislav Sorsa - €150,000 (€250,000)
Mihael Žaper - €900,000 (€1 million)
Vedran Jugovic - €350,000 (€450,000)
Laszlo Kleinheisler - €1.4 million (€1.7 million)
Marin Pilj - €400,000 (€500,000)
Karlo Kamenar - €300,000
Dmytro Lopa - €300,000 (€350,000)
Petar Bockaj - €675,000 (€850,000)
Marveil Ndockyt - €575,000 (€650,000)
Eros Grezda - €1.1 million (€1.35 million)
Josip Špoljarić - €300,000 (€350,000)
Mirko Maric - €3.2 million (€4 million)
Antonio Mance - €1 million (€1.3 million)
Jerry Mbakogu - €400,000 (€500,000)

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

April 12, 2020 - With as many Croatians living abroad as in the Homeland, what are the diaspora experiences of self-isolation? In the sixth of a new series, Corona Voices in the Croatian Diaspora, here is Ana at the centre of the pandemic in Queens, New York City and originally from Dalmatia. 

Last week TCN started a feature series called Foreigner Self-Isolation In Croatia: Do You Feel Safer? I can honestly say we have never had such a response or so many incredible contributions. The countries of origin of these expats in Croatia literally from all over the world. So far we have had submissions from expats from Romania, USA, Ireland, UK, Mexico, Argentina, Spain, Singapore, Holland, Canada, India, Hong Kong, Venezuela, Latvia, China, Honduras, Hungary, Moldova, New Zealand, Japan and Germany. You can see all their stories here. 

Given the success of the series (still going strong) and large interest, it made sense to expand it to look at this from another angle - how Croatians abroad are coping where they are. If you would like to contribute your story to Corona Voices in the Croatian Diaspora, please find the submission guidelines below. And now, the view from the very heart of the pandemic. As Croatians celebrate Easter as best they can in these difficult times, spare a moment to think of Ana from a Dalmatian island, currently in Queens, New York City. 

Firstly, how are you? Are you alone/with someone? Tell us a little about your situation and sanity levels.

When did you realise that corona was going to be a big issue?

When did you realise that corona was going to be a big issue in New York in particular?

Give us a timeline on when and how life changed.

I am stuck in Queens for the foreseeable future. The cost of health insurance for ex-pats in Croatia is prohibitive. I could not possibly risk to return and get the coronavirus while there. I would probably not survive given my heart and lung conditions anyway. So I plan to say put until the vaccine or a cure is available… or I get the virus. 

 

  

Tell us about your day. Do you/can you leave your apartment?

How are the authorities doing at handling the situation?

You obviously keep an eye on your homeland. What is your impression of the way Croatia is dealing with the crisis?

Compare and contrast the responses of Croatia and USA. Who is doing what better?

What about official communications from the authorities, compared to your home country?

What's the one thing you wish you had taken with you into self-isolation?

One thing you have learned about yourself, and one thing you have learned about others during this crisis.

If you could be self-isolating in Croatia, where would it be, and why? 

Thanks, Ana. Stay safe and see you on the other side. You can see all the stories in both this diaspora series, and the one on expats in Croatia on this link. 

TCN is starting a new feature series on Croatian diaspora experiences of sitting out COVID-19 abroad and comparing your experiences to the situation in Croatia. If you would like to contribute, the questions are below. Please also include a para about yourself and where you are from, and a link to your website if you would like. Please also send 3-4 photos minimum to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Subject Corona Diaspora

If you would be interested to record a video version for our partners www.rplus.video please let us know in the email. Thanks and stay safe. 

Self-Isolation Voices from the Diaspora 

Firstly, how are you? Are you alone/with someone? Tell us a little about your situation and sanity levels.

When did you realise that corona was going to be a big issue?

When did you realise that corona was going to be a big issue in New York in particular?

Give us a timeline on when and how life changed.

Tell us about your day. Do you/can you leave your apartment?

How are the authorities doing at handling the situation?

You obviously keep an eye on your homeland. What is your impression of the way Croatia is dealing with the crisis?

Compare and contrast the responses of Croatia and USA. Who is doing what better?

What about official communications from the authorities, compared to your home country?

What's the one thing you wish you had taken with you into self-isolation?

One thing you have learned about yourself, and one thing you have learned about others during this crisis.

If you could be self-isolating in Croatia, where would it be, and why?

TCN has recently become a partner in Robert Tomic Zuber's new R+ video channel, initially telling stories about corona experiences. You can see the first TCN contribution from this morning, my video from Jelsa talking about the realities of running a news portal in the corona era below. If you would like to also submit a video interview, please find Robert's guidelines below 

VIDEO RECORDING GUIDE

The video footage should be recorded so that the cell phone is turned horizontally (landscape mode).

There are several rules for television and video news:- length is not a virtue- a picture speaks more than a thousand words

In short, this would mean that your story should not last more than 90 seconds and that everything you say in the report should be shown by video (for example, if you talk about empty streets, we should see those empty streets, etc.).

How to do it with your cell phone? First, use a selfie camera to record yourself telling your story for about a minute and a half. Ideally, it would be taken in the exterior, except in situations where you are reporting on things in the interior (quarantine, hospital, self-isolation, etc.). Also, when shooting, move freely, make sure everything is not static.

After you have recorded your report, you should capture footage that will tell your story with a picture, such as an earlier example with empty streets.

One of the basic rules of TV journalism is that the story is told in the same way as a journalist with his text. Therefore, we ask you for additional effort. Because we work in a very specific situation, sometimes you may not be able to capture footage for each sentence of the report. In this case, record the details on the streets: people walking, the main features of the city where you live, inscriptions on the windows related to the virus, etc.

The same rules apply if you are shooting a story from your apartment, self-isolation, quarantine. We also need you to capture footage that describes your story.

When shooting frames to cover your reports, it is important that you change the angle of the shot (in other words, shoot that empty street from several angles). Also, when shooting a detail, count at least five seconds before removing the camera to another detail.

The material should be about 5 minutes long (90 seconds of your report + frames to cover your story).

After recording everything, send us to Zagreb, preferably via WeTransfer to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

April 12, 2020 - There are 13,500 tourists registered in Croatia for Easter this year, and most of them are on Vir Island. 

Dnevnik.hr reports that thousands of tourists will still spend Easter in Dalmatia this year. While some are hiding from the coronavirus, others are stuck here and unable to get back home. Most tourists, however, are on Vir Island.

Namely, out of the 13,500 tourists registered across Croatia, there are currently 600 tourists on the still corona-free island.

Barbara and Atila arrived in Croatia a month ago and have been staying in a weekend house on the island of Vir instead of an apartment in Budapest.

"Everyone would like to come here now, of course, but they need to wait a little longer," Atila says, adding that he followed the news and prepared his family to go to Croatia as soon as the pandemic appeared in China.

At a time when the coronavirus pandemic has taken over the world, Vir has become their haven.

"The tourists who found themselves on Vir at the time when the measures were announced are now sharing the fate of the corona crisis with us," says Kristijan Kapović, Mayor of Vir Municipality.

Barbara from Hungary says she feels completely safe on Vir, too.

"I feel safer here than in Hungary because there are no infections on Vir," says Barbara.

The Vir Crisis Headquarters says there are no infected people because they adhere to all the rules. However, a few days ago, the fishing rules were broken by two Czechs who, after a 20-hour search, were found on the high seas with high temperatures.

"The temperatures they had probably came from being outside all night. But no coronavirus was detected," says Antonio Vucetic, Chief of Vir Municipality's Civil Protection Headquarters. 

Around 600 tourists, mostly 'weekenders', will welcome Easter on Vir.

"All of them are welcome, all of them are registered, and everyone who changes their place of residence for more than 24 hours belongs to the status of a tourist," explains Srdjan Liveric, director of the Vir Tourist Board.

And not only Croats are among them.

"They are from central Europe, from those 700-800 kilometers around Vir. There are Slovenes, Hungarians, Slovaks, Poles, Czechs, Germans, Austrians, Bosnians, from the places that surround us. Vir is an auto destination," says Kristijan Kapović, Mayor of Vir Municipality.

Currently, out of the 13,500 tourists in Croatia, 3,800 of them are from abroad. Thus, nearly 10,000 Croats are likely escaping the coronavirus in their weekend homes. 

The least are registered in Dubrovnik-Neretva County, while in some counties, tourist numbers are rising despite the pandemic.

Zadar County ensured that it was a unique county in Croatia during this corona period. Specifically, in the corona-fueled March, and the first quarter of 2020, they recorded 5 percent more overnight stays than last year.

Vir is also convinced that this season will be an advantage for them, concluded Dnevnik.hr.

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

As Novac writes on the 11th of April, 2020, Croatian Finance Minister Zdravko Maric commented on the government's ''minimum wage'' measures for RTL on Friday, stating that the amount being offered by the government was not the workers' full pay but merely support for wages. Minister Maric went on to make the measure more clear.

"This [measure] is payroll support. We [the government] cover that part, the rest is up to the employer to make up for if the worker otherwise has a higher salary. The salary should be as is stated in their employment contract. But if someone has run into problems, then he or she needs to solve them with the employee. That's why we have other measures, such as credit measures of liquidity,'' explained Minister Maric.

When asked about workers who are otherwise paid less than 4,000 kuna and the state pays the affected companies an amount of 4,000 kuna per worker, Minister Maric said that it would be fair for the employer to pay the worker the difference up to 4,000 kuna.

Finance Minister Maric didn't express any particular desire to talk about possible salary cuts for public sector employees amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, stating only that those matters needed to be discussed.

"This is a topic that we have on the table. There was a meeting yesterday. I hope that the talks will continue. We'll also invite the unions with which we've signed collective bargaining agreements. In this part, solidarity and community are important in defeating the crisis," he said.

He added that at present, the state has paid over one billion and one hundred million kuna out to employers to make up the wage differences of their employees as part of these "minimum wage" anti-epidemic economic measures. That is for more than 370,000 employees, and the total measure, he assumes, will be used by 600,000.

Make sure to follow our dedicated section for rolling information and updates on coronavirus in Croatia. For more on politics in Croatia, follow this page.

April the 12th, 2020 - As the coronavirus crisis continues to hold the global economy and public health in its grip, with apparently no end in sight until we get a vaccine or at least a drug to relieve the pressure on the world's struggling health systems, it's difficult to find much to laugh about. If the Croatian police can manage to entertain themselves in these trying times, so can you!

We're all stuck behind closed doors apart from the increasingly exciting trips ''out'' to the store or to the pharmacy, or even to do something as adventurous as fill up our cars that we now can't drive anywhere. Cabin fever is a real thing and a lot of us are feeling it, be we ''locked in'' alone or with others.

For those of us who are used to working from home and online, this transition isn't that dramatic, but for many others, especially for those feeling the unprecedented pinch caused by the coronavirus pandemic, life has turned almost entirely upside down. Unable to work, and unable to do just about anything else, there isn't a great deal to smile about for many. 

The Croatian police, who are key workers in these trying times, are busy making sure the public adhere to the rules set by the Civil Protection Headquarters, and checking the passes (propusnice) of those wanting to leave their places of registered permanent residence. Being out on the front lines trying to battle the spread of COVID-19 sounds just about as morbid as one might imagine. But it doesn't have to be...

Two Croatian police officers from the beautiful Istrian city of Pula managed to make a few people grin after they engaged in a popular TikTok challenge while donning their uniforms. The Chinese app has boomed in popularity since its creation, and what could be better to kill time during these long and boring, epidemic filled days?

Watch the video, with thanks to the Croatian Government's official website koronavirus.hr here:

Make sure to follow our dedicated section for rolling information and updates on coronavirus in Croatia.

As Novac/Vedran Marjanovic writes on the 11th of April, 2020, despite the coronavirus pandemic, the Sava Bridge near Svilaj and the Croatia-Bosnia and Herzegovina border crossing are in the final stages of construction, the Ministry of Communications and Transport of Bosnia and Herzegovina announced.

''In the coming days, the testing of the bridge with a trial load, the drawing of horizontal signalling, technical inspections and the obtaining of a permit will follow,'' announced the aforementioned ministry, and their information is in accordance with plans that the bridge near Svilaj will be in use by the autumn of this year at the latest.

It should be recalled that this is a joint investment from both the Republic of Croatia and neighbouring Bosnia and Herzegovina in the total amount of 23 million euros. Since the Svilaj bridge is part of the pan-European Corridor Vc, Croatia has, for its part of the investment, obtained European Union (EU) co-financing with a maximum allowable amount of 57.79 percent of the investment. In addition, Croatia is paying for the construction of the bridge through a loan from the European Investment Bank (EIB).

The construction of the Svilaj bridge, along with its access roads, began back on the 17th of March 2017, with the then Commissioner for Enlargement, Johannes Hann, presenting the foundation stone, along with Minister of Maritime Affairs, Transport and Infrastructure, Oleg Butkovic. The bridge is 660 metres long in total, 29 metres wide with three lanes in each direction which are 3.5 metres wide.

With the completion of the Svilaj bridge, Croatia will take an additional step towards completing its part of the international Vc corridor in the direction of Budapest-Beli Manastir-Osijek-Sarajevo-Ploce. The Croatian part of the corridor is the A5 Beli-Monastery-Osijek-Svilaj motorway, boasting a total length of 59 kilometres.

At a Government session held on the 25th of March this year, the Croatian Government gave the green light for the conclusion of a loan agreement with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) of 55 million euros for the completion of the remaining Croatian share.

According to the aforementioned Government decision, the Halasica-Beli Manastir bridge section should be completed by the end of this year, regardless of the coronavirus crisis which has seen everything else grind to an unprecedented halt, while the construction of the right of way to the border with Hungary will occur in 2021 when the A5 section is fully completed.

Connecting Central Europe through the Hungarian and Croatian Danube basins with Bosnia and Herzegovina, building a modern road linking Bosnia and Herzegovina with the southern Adriatic and Ploce port, and cross-border traffic connections between Hungary, Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina are just some of the goals that will be achieved with the construction of the A5 motorway and the rest of this large project.

Make sure to follow our dedicated business section for much more. For more on coronavirus in Croatia, follow this section.

April 11, 2020 - You can now track Central Dalmatia COVID-19 cases on the official website, but there is one thing to bear in mind if you do. 

It is just 33 days - and yet several lifetimes ago - since TCN produced the first corona map of Croatia on March 9, 2020. 

I like to look at it from time to time - things didn't seem too bad back then, did they?

The response was huge, and it is the second-most popular article on TCN this year after the Zagreb earthquake. 

And, as with most of the good stuff on TCN, the first corona map of Croatia had nothing to do with me. 

"You know what is hot right now?" asked my clever Venezuelan colleague, Gustavo Vilera. "Corona maps. People want to see where the cases are. There is no corona map of Croatia."

Since I have no idea how to add text to a picture, the likelihood of me designing a corona map was less than zero, but my wife is much better at these things and most other things as well. 

Working on her iPad and without any sophisticated software, she produced a very credible effort, which she updated daily for us until Index and then Koronavirus started doing theirs. 

Since then, more maps have followed, and I came across the latest one I was unaware of last night after I received several panicked messages from people on Hvar and Solta. 

Does Solta have corona? Are there really four cases on Hvar?

I had no idea where they got this information from, and so I opened the link they sent, which is from the regional Stozer. And there it was - a Central Dalmatia COVID-19 map. 

With four cases on Hvar and one on Solta, as well as a second on Brac.

Really?

My information (and although I follow things very closely, including the putting the Index live updates on TCN part of the time, I do not have official access to any offline info) is that there is currently one case in Supetar on Brac, and one case in Jelsa. The Jelsa case is someone who was recently repatriated from Austria, I understand, and is now in isolation. The question why people who are returning are not put in isolation for 14 days in one place and fed and looked after if they have no money - surely we have enough empty hotels and such a policy will be much cheaper than dealing with an infection in their communities - is perhaps not one for me to ask, so I won't. 

With my local knowledge and further investigation online, I think I have the explanation - and some good news for all three islands. 

The site states that there are four cases on Hvar - two in Jelsa, one in Stari Grad, and one in Hvar Town. The one in Hvar Town has recovered, according to the site. 

There has only been one case on Hvar until this latest one in Jelsa. That was in Vrboska, and I was VERY happy to report a week ago that the patient had been very responsible in his self-isolation and made a full recovery. 

Perhaps the fact that the case was in Vrboska but is showing in Hvar Town meant that things were being recorded not where the virus was striking, but in the place of residence of the patient. If the ID card said Hvar Town, then it would be recorded in Hvar Town. 

And it seems that this is what is happening from a comment I saw from the Stari Grad Fire Service.

The Hvar case was indeed Vrboska. Two of the cases are from the nursing home in Split, leaving just the one case in Jelsa. It seems from the comment above that Solta is also corona-free, and that there is only the one case on Brac. 

But I must stress that I am not privy to official information. But if this is the case, and I know resources are stretched, it would be greatly appreciated by many I think, if the Central Dalmatia COVID-19 map reflects the actual cases and not where the patients are registered. 

For the latest in the coronavirus crisis in Croatia, follow the dedicated TCN section.