March 16, 2020 - Mayor Andro Krstulovic Opara presided over a session of the Tourist Board of the City of Split on Monday.

In addition to the members of the Council and the Tourist Board Director Alijana Vukšić, the President of the Croatian Chamber of Economy, Split County Chamber Jozo Tomaš participated, reports Slobodna Dalmacija.

Following the findings and projections of the coronavirus on tourism in Split in the coming months, it was decided that the mayor would send a set of measures to the City Council to mitigate the negative effect.

The need to preserve jobs in the tourism, hospitality and economy sectors as a whole was also discussed, and it was stressed that incentive measures would only make sense if employers did not lay off existing staff.

“This emergency has not only health but also economic significance. Of course, our priority is health, but at the same time, we are monitoring and addressing the economic segment to mitigate the negative effects of the crisis that will follow after this first phase. That is why we are not waiting for the epidemic to end to start dealing with the consequences that will affect the tourism and the economy as a whole, but we must act immediately,” said Mayor Andro Krstulović Opara.

They also discussed the period after the end of the crisis, the need for enhanced promotion of the tourism product, and the measures and incentives for the recovery of the hospitality, tourism and economic sector in the Split area.

“The Tourism Council and the Croatian Chamber of Commerce are monitoring the development of the situation and are constantly looking at the effects that the spread of the virus has on the local economy. By working together and acting and taking certain measures, the aim is to support the Split economy, tourism and hospitality industry to start and continue its growth and development trend as soon as the crisis is over.”

Tourism Minister Gari Cappelli said that the Government would travel the tourism sector with a measure of delayed payment under the "3 + 3" model.

“It is important for us to have a delay, such as a deferral of payment of the tourist tax, tourist membership fees, hoteliers paying concessions in camps on tourist land - that all go for delays through the 3 + 3 model. In this direction, we are going to postpone it depending on the events for three months. That way, both personal income and everything we can deal with immediately and urgently is likely to be addressed. So we're sure we can cover that for the next six months. Workforce protection and liquidity come first," Cappelli said.

Follow the latest coronavirus updates on the dedicated TCN section.

March 16, 2020 - Taking public transport in Split? New timetables have been released by Promet Split with reduced lines during the coronavirus crisis.

Due to the unique situation in Croatia caused by the coronavirus, and to act preventatively, from March 18, 2020 (Wednesday), the timetable for Promet Split bus lines has been altered so that on working days (Monday - Friday) the Saturday timetable will be applied for the following lines:

Lines number 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9,10,11,12,16,17,18, 22, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36,  37 and 60; with the following additions:

- on line 7, an additional departure at 15:10 from the West Coast,

- on line 28, additional departures are introduced at 06:20 from Dubrava and at 16:00 from Split,

- on line 31, 32, 33 departures at 15:30 from Split,

- on line 35, departure starts at 16:15 from Split

Lines number 67, 68, 69, 71, 73, 76, 77, 80, 81, 86, 91, 93 operate according to the usual timetable, without changes, except departures on line 80 (no departures at 10:00 from Split and 10:00 from Drnis)

Night lines 23, 39 and 40 will not operate until further notice.

Trogir:

Promet lines operating in the wider area of Trogir on weekdays (Monday - Friday), will run on the Saturday timetable, with the following additional departures introduced:

- on line 49 Vinisce-Trogir 17:50

- on line 51 Trogir-Ljubitovica 15:30

- on line 52 Trogir-Vinovac 15:30 

- on line 47 Trogir-Dograde 15:30

- on line 49 Trogir-Vinisce 15:30

- on line 52 Trogir-Vinovac 22:25

Direct lines departing at 07:00, 07:30 and 08:00 from Trogir to Split are also canceled.

This timetable will be in force until further notice, following the development of the situation. In coordination with the Civil Protection Staff of Split-Dalmatia County and the City of Split, additional changes to the timetable will be introduced, which will be announced promptly.

Recall, Promet disinfected the interiors of all 160 city buses in its fleet last week.

"In agreement with the City Civil Protection Headquarters, our goal is to increase safety for our passengers and drivers," said Transport Director Miroslav Delić, adding that in addition to disinfecting buses, disposable gloves for all drivers, hand disinfection gels and protective masks that drivers can use at their discretion are also available.

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

The Croatian Government was busy finalising some coronavirus-oriented measures today in an attempt to minimise the virus' potentially devastating effects on the country's economic situation and the City of Zagreb has offered an olive branch to those who are the most vulnerable. 

Coronavirus is far more dangerous for older individuals, those with underlying, chronic health conditions and those who have compromised immune systems.

Owing to that fact, the City of Zagreb has generously announced that it will allow people over the age of 65 who are drawing their pensions the possibility to delay the payment of monthly bills for services to Zagreb Holding, Gradska Plinara (gas), the water and sewerage supply and the City of Zagreb itself.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 16th of March, 2020, this is stated in a statement released by the City of Zagreb intended for the media:

Recognising the sheer gravity of the current situation regarding the COVID-19 outbreak, the recommendations of numerous top health experts and appreciating the fact that in the current concerning climate, we need to show additional social sensitivity and solidarity, the City of Zagreb has decided to extend the deadline for payment of monthly fees and services to the aforementioned group of people who are at the most risk from more severe coronavirus related complications.

Owing to the City of Zagreb's new move for this group of residents, the obligation to settle monthly bills for those over the age of 65 has been further extended by three months from the due date indicated on the payment slips, and in the case of non-payment, no interest will be accrued or triggered on whatever the amount due to be paid is.

The City of Zagreb also called upon other legal entities such as HEP to act in a similar generous and socially-conscious way, according to the aforementioned press release.

Make sure to follow our dedicated page for rolling information on coronavirus in Croatia.

ZAGREB, March 16, 2020 - The Croatian National Bank on Monday decided to place a total of HRK 4.55 billion on the open bank market through a structural and a regular operation, of which HRK 3.8 billion was placed through the structural operation for a five-year term and HRK 750 million through a regular operation for a term of one week.

Increasing the liquidity of the banking system is part of the measures that the Croatian National Bank (HNB) is undertaking with the aim of maintaining exchange rate stability during the crisis caused by the coronavirus epidemic, the HNB said in a brief press release.

Last week the HNB announced new monetary measures - the purchase of domestic bonds and a structural operation.

The HNB has accepted all the bids by banks for the placement of HRK 3.8 billion at a fixed interest rate of 0.25% and for a term of five years, the maturity date being 18 March 2025.

Apart from that structural operation, the HNB also offered HRK 750 million to credit institutions via a regular reverse repo auction at an interest rate of 0.30% and a settlement date of 18 March, the maturity date being 25 March.

Today's structural operation is the first since the end of 2018, and the first time since late 2017 that banks have shown an interest at the regular reverse repo auction.

In line with an earlier announcement by the HNB Council, the central bank last Friday purchased government bonds with a nominal value of HRK 212.88 million.

The central bank last week also intervened on the foreign exchange market on three occasions in an attempt to ease the depreciation pressure on the domestic currency.

The bank sold more than €1.2 billion through the three interventions and withdrew a total of HRK 9.1 million from the financial system.

More coronavirus news can be found in the Business section.

ZAGREB, March 16, 2020 - City Cemeteries Zagreb issued a recommendation on Monday that funerals should be attended by family only, and that condolences should be offered with a bow.

"We recommend that funerals should be arranged within the family circle, that is, that they should be attended by the smallest number of people possible so that all risk contacts among people could be avoided, in consideration of the coronavirus pandemic," it was stated in the City Cemeteries' press release.

They added that all hygienic and sanitary measures for the protection of their employees and citizens from possible infection or transmission of the coronavirus were adopted in accordance with the recommendations issued by the National Civil Protection Authority.

"We have provided funeral homes at all of the 28 city cemeteries with hand sanitisers, all areas of the cemeteries and the crematorium are disinfected multiple times a day, as well as the objects used during memorial services and funerals," the press release reads.

They recommend that citizens offer condolences with a bow, without handshakes or other physical contact, and that they keep at a physical distance over one meter at all times.

The City Cemeteries ask that citizens conduct all business with them online, in order to minimise unnecessary physical contact with their employees. If they come to City Cemeteries' offices, citizens are asked to adhere to recommended precautions and measures for protecting public health.

More coronavirus news can be found in the Lifestyle section.

March 16, 2020 - Because more people are staying home these days either by choice or order due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic; here is a list of free online classes where everyone can gain useful knowledge without having to pay for expensive instruction or courses. 

So, while waiting for the coronavirus outbreak to pass, you can learn a foreign language without any invested money, and gain knowledge in programming, marketing, analytics, history, philosophy, mathematics and many other subjects as compiled by Index.

Learn a Foreign Language

Duolingo - On this website you can learn many world languages ​​from English, German, Italian, French, Spanish to Polish, Russian, Chinese and many more. Research has shown that with 34 hours of study on this site, you can achieve the same level of knowledge to a full semester language course at a foreign language school.

Busuu - Each Busuu course is developed using the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR), an internationally recognized standard for creating foreign language lessons. By learning a foreign language through this website, you can gain a level of knowledge from the A1 to B2 level.

Memrise - Users who have learned a language through this website write about how the site helped them learn the language and have fun. They also won the Google Play Awards for Best App.

Linguist - Through this website you can learn foreign languages ​​or things you need. You can progress quickly because you can skip material that you do not need to study or practice, and the app is available over the web as well as Android and iOS.

HelloTalk - This website offers you free courses in over 150 languages ​​and has over 15 million users and learn the language in contact with native speakers. You can talk to them via SMS, voice messaging and calls or video calls.

Study History

edX - This website offers you a range of courses in a number of areas, one of which is history. Through it, you can learn world history and topics include everything from ancient Greece to recent history, European art history, the history of religions and more.

Class Central - Learn history with free online courses from Wesleyan University, Tel Aviv University, the University of Virginia and other top universities around the world.

Coursera - This site also offers a variety of courses, with history courses exploring ancient and modern events and social trends. Explore topics like war, imperialism, and globalization, or explore the history of particular groups or periods through numerous courses.

Open Culture - This website offers free history courses from leading universities in the world. You can download audio and video contests directly to your computer, mobile phone or mp3 player.

Acadoceo - Many universities and colleges offer their online history courses. There are 110 free online history courses on this page for you to go through.

Study Mathematics

SchoolYourself - Learning math online doesn't have to be boring - this site offers free interactive lessons from award-winning Harvard professors.

Math Playground - This website is designed for fun maths for elementary school kids, grades 1-6. There are a number of math games on the page so that children can learn without being bored.

Khan Academy - Students practice at their own pace on this website, first learning material they have not yet mastered, and then accelerating their learning. The is intended for both students and professors.

Math Pickle - On this website, math is approached by students through games, puzzles and puzzles. Games and puzzles last from 45 to 60 minutes and are designed by class.

Alison - The website offers courses in a wide range of math subjects. Beginners can start with basic level courses, but everyone can find lessons based on their own level of knowledge.

Learn to Program and Create Websites

Codecademy - An interactive free programming course used by 45 million people in seven years. Through this course you can learn how to create a website or learn how to analyze data.

Udacity - Users can find a mentor to guide them through learning on this website. They also answer questions and motivate. In addition, users are offered to create their own customized learning plan.

Platzi - Professional courses with live lectures and expert lecturers in the fields of programming, marketing, design and business.

Bit Degree - Bit Degree offers a bunch of free courses that range from programming to game development. There are several programming languages, but the most popular are HTML, PHP, Javascript and SQL.

Coursera - Offers courses and programming tutorials taught by professors from leading universities. Cousrea offers hundreds of different courses related to programming.

FreeCodeCamp - The website offers courses and the opportunity to learn programming by participating in a variety of challenges. Some of the programming languages ​​you can learn are HTML5, CSS3, Javascript, Node.js, React.js.

Dash - A fun and free online course that teaches the basics of web development through projects you can do in your web browser.

Odin project - This website has collected the best educational resources available on the web. You can learn a number of programming languages ​​such as HTML5, CSS3, Javascript ...

Codeasy - This is a website for those who don't know anything about programming. It offers a very unique and fun way to learn programming. The basic course is free of charge.

Learn How to Work with Data

Data Camp - Provides tutorials and courses on working with data. These skills are very useful in many fields of work.

Dataquest - Learn Python, R, SQL, Data Visualization, Data Analysis. The website offers 60 free lessons.

Metis - This course serves as an introduction to knowing how to work with data. You can learn all about data collection, cleaning and consolidation, exploratory analysis and data visualization.

Caltech - The Distinguished University of California offers free online courses on working with data.

Data Science Masters - This website provides basic training needed to work with data usage.

Learn How to Work in Photoshop

GCF LearnFree - A free guide offers access to 10 basic lessons and five extras, including a quiz that lets you test your skills. These modules are designed for beginners and make it easy to learn Photoshop from the beginning.

Photoshop Essentials - You can find a Photoshop guide on their website or their YouTube channel. Some lessons are basic, while others focus on modifying images, such as changing the eye color or hairstyle of the person in the photo.

Photoshop Cafe - Another in a series of websites offering free video tutorial through Photoshop. With their teaching content, you can learn to do popular things like "cutting" trees, putting text in various shapes, and converting photos to pencil sketches.

Design Stacks - Provides tutorials that help you learn Photoshop from start to finish. You can start with the basics to help you understand the basic concepts, and then learn more complex things, such as adding special effects.

Tuts + - A website that goes beyond basic things and lets you learn Photoshop techniques to help you with your various tasks. So you can learn how to make flyers, business cards, posters and more.

Gain Knowledge in Biology

Class Central - Learn biology through the free online courses offered by this website. It has courses from the world's most famous universities such as the University of Cape Town, the University of Alberta, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of Chicago and other top universities around the world.

Alison - With a wide range of free online biology courses on this site, you can explore and learn a variety of materials. A variety of courses are offered with topics such as human anatomy, genetics and DNA, inheritance and more.

Academic Earth - Offers a range of free biology courses. Students can thus learn about the life cycle, the conversion of food into energy, reproduction, death, viruses, bacteria ...

EdX - Take free online biology courses in genetics, biotechnology, biochemistry, neurobiology and other disciplines. Courses include the basics of neuroscience from Harvard University, molecular biology from MIT, and this way you can study for free from prestigious US universities.

OpenLearn - The website offers a variety of free biology courses and materials. So you can learn about germs, vitamins and minerals, water and human health and many other topics.

Expand Your Knowledge of Art History

Open Arts Archive - In the course you will explore contemporary art, from the 1980s onwards. The learning outcomes of the course are recognition of the effects of works of art, understanding of a range of artistic techniques, such as the use of colors, composition and media, recognizing the relationship between effects and techniques in a range of works of art, etc.

Learning Path - Here you can take free courses at the renowned American University MIT, which offers several art history classes. So you can learn about modern art and mass culture, while art has been exploring the art world since 1940 to the present day, and necessarily examining the relationship between art and politics.

Coursera - The course is for anyone who wants to learn more about modern and contemporary art. The course lasts 5 weeks and begins each week with a video that links artwork from the collection of the Museum of Modern Art. You will hear audio interviews with artists, designers and curators and learn more about selected works.

ArtGallery Yale - This series of lectures on the site of the renowned American Yale University traces art through the 19th century to the 21st century. 12 video lectures have been set up for easy learning.

Highbrow - This unique online learning platform sends you classes via email instead of going to their site. You get one lesson each day for a 10-day course.

Gain Knowledge in the Social Sciences

Learn out Loud - The website offers a variety of free lectures. You can renew or expand your knowledge in sociology, philosophy, psychology, and lectures are available on audio and video.

Online Courses - Whether you're studying or just curious, these courses will broaden your knowledge. You will find free material from a variety of subjects, from foreign policy, civics, children's rights and many more long lessons.

Future Learn - In the course you will learn the basics of sociology and discover sociological theories. You will explore a variety of topics, including social inequality, globalization and the media. You will also learn how to do your own sociological research and present your findings.

Courses - The website offers 7 courses in various topics in the field of political science. These are courses from prestigious US universities such as Stanford, Yale, and Princeton.

Coronavirus Updates and Education - Here are several more links to learn more about the origins and spread of the coronavirus.

• Follow our dedicated coronavirus page for updates on the coronavirus (COVID-19) in Croatia. 
• Contact numbers for epidemiologists, travel advisories and measures for preventing the spread of the coronavirus can be found here.
• Learn more about the symptoms of the coronavirus here.
• A general history and overview of the coronavirus can be found here.
• Monitor coronavirus statistics here.

ZAGREB, March 16, 2020 - Despite a cyberattack on the Croatian Academic and Research Network (CARNet) and Srce service, Croatia on Monday was ready for the beginning of online classes amidst the coronavirus epidemic and the Science and Education Ministry has been conducting further preparations, Minister Blaženka Divjak said.

She noted that postponement of high school leaving exams was not being planned for the time being.

"School is functioning even in these difficult, extraordinary circumstances. It's virtual school but it does function," the minister told reporters during a visit to a Zagreb primary school.

Classes have started on the HRT3 channel as well as on Sports Television, which serves as a back-up for virtual classes for students of senior primary school grades and secondary school grades. Classes are already televised on Sports Television in Istria County and Sports Television is expected to start broadcasting them for the rest of the country as of Wednesday.

As for those who have problems with TV classes on the third channel of the HRT public broadcaster, Divjak said that those classes would be available on YouTube immediately after they were aired on television.

She noted that principals had been sent questionnaires as to how many children had turned up in school on Monday and that those questionnaires would be published subsequently.

Answering a reporter's question, she said that information on classes for children with developmental problems was available on the ministry's website as well as that televised classes with sign language would start by the middle of the week.

The minister expressed optimism that difficulties would be overcome after the start of virtual school was marked by a cyberattack on CARNet and Srce on Monday morning, causing problems with registration via official authentication passwords and profiles.

She expressed satisfaction that the nationwide coverage was larger than currently expected, considering that around 450,000 people were in the system.

"Since late Sunday evening we have had around 280,000 user accounts, and we could reach the figure of 400,000 users by Wednesday," she said.

The minister said that the quantity of digital teaching material was sufficient to cover a week of online classes and that work was underway on one more week of online classes as well as that the ministry was prepared to organise online classes for more than two weeks, depending on how the situation would develop.

The minister also said that for the time being there were no plans to postpone high school leaving exams and that they would be held as planned, starting from May 16.

More coronavirus news can be found in the Lifestyle section.

ZAGREB, March 16, 2020 - The Defence Ministry said on Monday that the Croatian Army's activities have been reduced to the minimum due to the coronavirus outbreak but that the army's readiness is not in question.

"The safety and health of Croatian Army members is the absolute priority and all army activities have been reduced. However, the army's readiness will be maintained and tasks that cannot be postponed will be carried out," the ministry said in a statement.

All army command units are in contact with local civil protection authorities and health officials and are following the situation closely.

The army members' participation in international activities and conferences, exercises and courses has been cancelled as have all military exercises.

Classes at the Franjo Tuđman Military Academy will be conducted online.

All programmes of army assistance to local communities and civil society institutions will be suspended, except for those that are related to mitigating the impact of the coronavirus epidemic.

The health status of Croatian soldiers in Croatia and in missions and operations abroad is good and it is being monitored 24 hours a day, the ministry said.

More coronavirus news can be found in the Lifestyle section.

As we reported recently, the Croatian Government has put together a new package of measures worth several billion kuna which should be finalised today. Companies will be able to defer the payment of loan installments, but such a move is not yet planned for regular residents. Croatian companies will also receive money to purchase the materials they need.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 16th of March, 2020, the Croatian Government is currently busy finalising an extremely expensive package of measures to help businesses cope with the economic issues caused by the current coronavirus outbreak, as Ivan Pandzic writes for 24sata.

Ministers will meet today and go over the measures, and then the Croatian Government will take them before MPs and entrepreneurs.

The 24sata publication was able to find out several things on the list of measures which are likely to have far reaching effects. Among them is the fact that working capital will be financed so that entrepreneurs and companies can get access to the money they require in order to procure production materials if they've been experiencing late payments from suppliers and have seen a fall in their revenue owing to the coronavirus outbreak. These measures will go through HBOR, HAMAG and will also involve commercial banks at the Croatian National Bank (CNB/HNB). Commercial banks habe stated they they are ready to participate in this assistance package.

What has been confirmed by the Croatian Government's interlocutors will certainly be used by the European Social Fund to finance company owners who cannot pay their staff, that is, they will get some kind of incentive not to lay off every worker. The European Commission (EC) is also set to provide 37 billion euros to member states.

The question is now just what the criteria for granting this assistance will be, and how much red tape will business owners have to go through in order to get help. One can only hope that in this time of coronavirus crisis, Croatia will finally cut its masochistic love of draconian bureaucracy.

''The details are yet to be agreed upon, but what's certain is that there will be clear criteria to prove that a business has been affected by coronavirus. The bureaucracy will be minimised so that the money can reach those who need it as soon as possible,'' 24sata wrote.

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

The current coronavirus epidemic has its grip firmly locked onto not only public health but the global economy, too. As Croatia dices with the possibility of the season being out of the window, with the pre-season certainly looking bleak, the beautiful Istrian city of Rovinj is feeling the consequences already.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 16th of March, 2020, the director of the Rovinj Tourist Board, Odette Sapac, appeared on N1 and claimed that coronavirus would see Rovinj suffer losses in terms of tourism, but that it was now more important to overcome this situation than to sit counting earnings.

"We've not been in this situation before, we can't compare it with the situation back in the 1990s. This is a case of a virus infection and we all need to be persistent in order to overcome it in the best way.

At this time last year, there were about 3000 foreign visitors in Rovinj, and now there are only about 150 of them, which means that everyone, the guests, the renters and the hoteliers, have all taken the situation seriously.

It's important for us to try to keep the situation under control, to cooperate with the police and the sanitary inspection and with everyone involved in tourism, to provide them with information on how to work in accordance with these restrictive measures, we must persist in this and wait for the situation to pass.

We hope to catch one bit of the peak of the tourist season. At the moment, it's not important that the profits that will be lost, it's important that we preserve the health of our residents and that it all goes away with as little loss of life as possible,'' she concluded.

Make sure to follow our dedicated page for all you need to know about coronavirus in Croatia. Follow our travel page for more on Croatian destinations.