ZAGREB, February 26, 2020 - A second case of coronavirus infection was confirmed in Croatia overnight. The person was in close contact with the person identified as the first case, and a third person who was in contact has initially tested negative, the head of the Fran Mihaljević hospital for infectious diseases, Alemka Markotić, said on Wednesday.

The persons infected are exhibiting mild symptoms, they receive the necessary medication and no complications are expected, Markotić told a press conference at the national civil protection headquarters.

"We have started to administer an antiviral drug that is otherwise used in HIV cases because it might be effective," she added.

Media say that the second person to contract the coronavirus in Croatia is the brother of the young man who tested positive on Tuesday. The young man works with the Ericsson Nikola Tesla company in Zagreb. Last week he had been to Milan, Italy with his girlfriend to watch a Champions League match; she tested negative.

A total of 72 people in Croatia have been tested for coronavirus so far.

Health Minister Vili Beroš said that at this point he was satisfied with the situation in the country. "We have two confirmed cases of infection, and all the others have tested negative so far."

"This is just the beginning, and we have sufficient medical supplies. I repeat, this disease doesn't pose a significant threat, it's like the common flu. More than 80 percent of the patients have mild symptoms," the minister said.

He called on the public to follow instructions from medical authorities.

State-owned power provider HEP confirmed on Wednesday that the second person diagnosed with the novel coronavirus in Croatia is their employee. "We can confirm that one of the persons confirmed to be infected with the coronavirus is our employee posted at HEP Group headquarters in Zagreb. He was not at work yesterday, and about 15 employees assumed to have been in close contact with him have been notified today not to come to work or have been sent home," HEP said in response to a query from Hina.

The company said that the necessary measures had been taken at the headquarters to protect the safety and health of the employees and visitors in line with instructions from the national coronavirus crisis management team.

More coronavirus news can be found in the Lifestyle section.

February 25, 2020 - How seriously is Croatia taking the coronavirus threat? An alarming account from a recent air passenger from Shanghai to Seoul to Zagreb. 

I don't believe in doing clickbait articles, especially when the topic is a negative one. I also don't believe in scaremongering, and I am aware that our portal is widely read internationally and used by many as the source of news about Croatia. It is one of the reasons we have a focus on positivity and constructive criticism. Of course, this being Croatia, one cannot be positive all the time, given the absurd nature of life in this beautiful country. But we also have a duty to report and inform on important matters. 

There are - at time of writing -still no confirmed cases of coronavirus in Croatia, thankfully. On the streets of Zagreb yesterday, I counted three masked pedestrians all day, and so while the topic is close by (all the more so with 7 deaths in Italy at a time when many Croats were in Italy for the cancelled Venice carnival), it is still a topic which is joked about a lot in the cafes - a problem elsewhere that is not affecting Croatia. 

And then I read a Facebook post from a friend who had recently returned to Croatia from China, flying into Zagreb from Seoul via Doha, having started from Shanghai. She posted at her shock at the lack of any controls or registering of passengers on arrival, and the lack of checking of passengers' travel history. As a responsible citizen, she declared that she had been in China and submitted herself to an examination to a doctor at the airport (who wore neither mask nor gloves). She was the only passenger to do so. All the other passengers melted away into the Croatian capital and beyond. Unchecked and untraced. I contacted her for more information about her time in China and South Korea and the return to Croatia. We communicated online, for she is sat at home away from people. Just in case. 

She flew to China for a holiday in January and was due to return in early February, but as a result of the outbreak of the coronavirus, all flights were cancelled at the end of January. 

Daily life in China changed very quickly as the central and local government adapted to the new situation. She had clear instructions from local authorities regarding things she could and could not do anymore. She told me that it is very important to note the role of the community and taking care of others in Chinese culture. It is different from the European way, and Chinese people always think about their community and country. They have the ancient philosophy in their blood

For the first few days, there was a little confusion but no panic, although it t is true that masks, detergents, all products for disinfection were quickly gone from the shelves. The authorities ordered people to register for masks and she received hers after a few days. People had to register close to their house or even at the entrance to avoid crowds. Afterwards, they got a message when and where to pick up the masks for the family.

"It is important to say that these masks prevent the spread of the virus from a sick person but they do not protect so much if you have a mask but the person next to you is coughing and sneezing but does not wear a mask. Since this virus could be asymptomatic for a long time and we are not aware of how long, it is important to wear masks to protect other people.  It is something people in Europe cannot understand. They laugh at you, because they think you are crazy and in panic mode.

"I saw that in Zagreb on arrival.

"But back to China: Immediately after the epidemic started, all museums, theatres, parks, cinemas etc were closed. All Lunar New Year parties and celebrations were cancelled. All company dinners were cancelled. People were told to wear masks everywhere they went. It was impossible to enter the bus, metro, public places without a mask. Temperatures were taken in front of supermarkets, shopping malls, hotels. Railway stations and metros had thermo cameras to screen all passengers and if someone had a temperature higher than 37.3, they were isolated. Very quickly it became punishable by law if you did not wear a mask. They use facial recognition technology to send a fine to the person who breaks the rules. There are even drones which spot people without masks which a message to put the mask on or go inside immediately. There were also several applications to track the spread of coronavirus. 

"In the first few days, food prices in shops went up very quickly. It was reported to the Communist Party and very quickly the shops with this practice were fined or closed, and prices came back to normal. This all happened at the busiest travel time of the year - the Lunar New Year or Spring Festival, when the whole country is on the road.

"Shanghai is usually empty during New Year as most of its residents return to their villages and towns. Shanghai was very afraid of the mass return of millions of people - the city has 25 mln people. That is why they announced that schools, kindergartens, universities would remain closed until further notice. Companies could not start work before February 9, and those who could work from home were prohibited from coming back to the office.

"Shanghai decided to go on lockdown to stop the virus. It means that till now anyone without permanent stay in Shanghai could not come back to the city. Airports, railway stations, highways were checking everybody who came back to the city. From 51 highway entrances to Shanghai, only 13 remained open so they could scan everybody and could measure the temperature of everybody. Everybody who comes back to the city HAS TO stay 14 days in home quarantine if  there are no symptoms. Those with symptoms were immediately transferred to hospitals or quarantine units.

"FOR FOREIGNERS: We had an emergency number to call 24h if we had any questions regarding the virus. It was also an emergency number for people who did not feel well and had mental problems due to the situations or could not cope with all restrictions. It was also the number for help to children and animals who due to quarantined owners were left alone at home. We got also a new "passport" to enter our accommodation. Nobody else could enter the building. ONLY PEOPLE WHO LIVED THERE. NO FRIENDS ALLOWED. NO VISITS.

"Every time our temperature was taken on our way in and out. They even sent people door to door to enter every apartment to check how everybody is. If somebody looked sick, there were immediately taken to hospital.

"BUILDINGS: public buildings were disinfected a few times per day. Ours was disinfected twice a day with special attention paid to the elevator: buttons covered with plastic and disinfected with chlorine twice a day. Hand cleaning facilities were everywhere. Restaurants were completely closed with the lockdown. Only those who could serve take away food could work. People could not enter inside. Everybody needed to wait outside to avoid closed spaces. 

"I am amazed at how well the Chinese dealt with this unprecedented situation. Their crisis management skills are to be studied in the future. I guess it is easier due to the system they have in the country which looks like the best system ever in times of crisis like this. I was very saddened by the opinions of people who tried to put the blame on the Chinese people, their culture and way of life. Most of those people I guess have never been to China

"I do not want to criticise Croatia or the European Union at this time, but I hope this can help a little to understand how serious the situation is and that we must act quickly and coordinate all forces. I only hope there will be enough money transferred to this cause. We should be grateful to China for what they did regarding the quarantine of 750 mln people. It could be already rampant all around the world if they did not.

"I can add that I arrived in Zagreb via Seoul and Doha. In Seoul: there is a special section of the airport for people arriving from China. Everybody is checked first by thermal camera and if they pass that point, they go to quarantine officers for interview. You have to give your passport, address, mobile phone and they check immediately if it is correct. They call you immediately. If the number is wrong you pay a fine and risk quarantine for 14 days. Then you have to download an application which sends you messages for 14 days. You have to fill out a questionnaire every day: temperature, cough, sore throat etc. After this, you receive a certificate and you may go to immigration. Even before you board the plane you have to fill out a health declaration.

"Things are very different flying into Zagreb. Since there are no direct flights with China, nobody really checks. I declared myself that I was in China and gave my data to the police and doctor. I feel that more should be done. I was very surprised to see that the doctor at Zagreb airport did not even have a mask or gloves. This is not expensive and should be a minimum. After my experience of everyone being masked in China, I was a little afraid I may catch something from the doctor... 

"Many people from Croatia have visited China and come back recently and if you do not tell the police and gave them your ID instead of passport it looks like you may pass. It is hard to believe but it looks like that. 

"Since I have declared my stay in China I have to call the doctor every day and report my health. That is all.

"I kept my mask on, but the other 10 or so people just took off their masks before leaving the plane. I went home and am staying at home. I do not want to criticise, but I was VERY surprised at the lack of control in Zagreb when I came back from Asia, especially after all the hard work which has been done in China and South Korea. It makes us look somewhat ignorant. Although they are much bigger countries, they also have the money, knowledge and mentality to beat coronavirus. Sadly I do not see it here."

A fascinating account. I had one last question. 

With the coronavirus threat, do you feel safer in China or Croatia? 

"I felt much safer in China."

To follow the latest on the threat of coronavirus in Croatia, follow the dedicated TCN section. 

The Croatian Government announced new measures to combat the virus on February 24.

ZAGREB, February 25, 2020 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said on Monday that Croatia was prepared to take any measure necessary to prevent the spreading of the coronavirus, including coordination of activities with the Italian government.

"I held consultations earlier in the evening with my colleagues at a meeting of the crisis team, which was also attended by representatives of the ministries of health, the interior and defence, the State Inspectorate and the Civil Protection. All the relevant services are fully prepared, we are in touch with the Italian government and are trying to obtain from it all relevant information, considering the dynamic of developments in several regions of northern Italy," Plenković said on the margins of an event marking the 30th anniversary of his HDZ party's branch in Novi Zagreb.

Plenković said that the crisis team in charge of preventing the spreading of the coronavirus would meet on a daily basis and that Health Minister Vili Beroš would travel to Italy on Tuesday to attend a meeting of the health ministers of Italy and neighbouring countries, focusing on the coordination of activities.

He added that a national Civil Protection emergency team, set up by the government last week, would meet on Tuesday.

More news about coronavirus can be found in the Lifestyle section.

ZAGREB, February 24, 2020 - Croatia's COVID-19 crisis management team will apply strict epidemiological measures to passengers coming from northern Italian regions where a rising number of patients have been diagnosed with this infectious disease in recent days.

The same controls will be in place for passengers arriving from Italy and China, the head of the team, Maja Grba Bujević, told reporters in Zagreb on Monday morning.

The health ministry's crisis management team, which was set up to handle developments surrounding the outbreak of the novel coronavirus in the world, is due to hold a news conference at 1pm Monday.

Grba Bujević said that the authorities had decided to take all the necessary measures to be prepared for the detection of possible first patients infected with this virus, after the north of Italy started fighting with Europe's biggest outbreak of the novel coronavirus.

In the meantime, 42 students and four teachers from a secondary school in the northern Adriatic city of Pula, who returned from a trip to Venice on Sunday night, will be quarantined in their homes for the next 14 days.

The Croatian education ministry instructed primary and secondary schools to cancel any organised educational trips to Italy in the next 30 days.

Italy sealed off the worst-affected towns and banned public gatherings in much of the north, including halting the carnival in Venice, where there were two cases.

European Union health commissioner Stella Kyriakides was quoted by Reuters as saying that possible travel restrictions in the Schengen border-free area should be proportionate and coordinated among EU states, as the bloc faces a coronavirus outbreak in Italy.

“For the moment WHO has not advised imposing restrictions on either travel or trade,” Kyriakides told reporters on Monday, adding that a World Health Organization mission will travel to Italy on Tuesday to assess the situation.

More coronavirus news can be found in the Lifestyle section.

ZAGREB, February 24, 2020 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenković on Sunday met with the Health Ministry's coronavirus crisis management team, who informed him of the measures that had been undertaken so far and plans for preventing the spread of the novel virus, a government press release said.

Also discussed was the current situation regarding the spread of the coronavirus in neighbouring Italy.

Earlier on Sunday, Health Minister Vili Beroš confirmed that two patients admitted to the clinical hospital centre in Rijeka were not infected with the virus. The patients are an Italian national and a Croatian woman from the northern coastal resort town of Rovinj who has visited Padua, and both are in good condition.

There are no cases of the coronavirus infection in Croatia, the Croatian Public Health Institute said on Sunday. To date, 18 people have undergone laboratory tests and all were negative.

According to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), 78,833 people worldwide have tested positive for the infection and 2,463 have died. In Europe, 121 people are currently infected.

More coronavirus news can be found in the Lifestyle section.

ZAGREB, February 22, 2020 - A Croatian citizen who had spent time on the Diamond Princess cruise liner in Japan arrived in Croatia on Saturday morning and was placed in the quarantine unit of the Dr Fran Mihaljević Hospital for Infectious Diseases in Zagreb. He has no symptoms of infection with the coronavirus and he feels good.

The man arrived in Zagreb via Germany and Slovenia in a special medical vehicle accompanied by medical staff. He was placed as a precaution in the quarantine unit of the Dr Fran Mihaljević Hospital for Infectious Diseases, set up following yesterday's decision by Health Minister Vili Beroš at the proposal of the Croatian Public Health Institute, the Health Ministry said in a statement.

Attending doctors said that the man exhibited no symptoms of infection and felt good. Notwithstanding the time he spent in isolation on the cruise liner, he will stay in the quarantine unit for at least 14 days as a precaution to eliminate any risks given the high-risk epidemiological situation on the ship he came from, the statement said.

"Croatian health services will leave nothing to chance. We will continue to take all precautionary measures available to protect our citizens from a possible risk of the coronavirus infection, including by quarantining people with even the smallest risk to their health or the health of people who come in contact with them," Minister Beroš said.

"I am glad that our citizen is aware of his situation and that he himself has expressed a wish to stay in isolation as long as necessary medically," he added.

The Croatian citizen arrived from Japan aboard a special flight organised by Italy for its and other EU citizens. After landing in Berlin, he and Slovenian citizens were flown by a special plane to Maribor, from where he was transferred to Zagreb by a special medical vehicle. The man is in constant touch with his family by telephone, the statement said.

More news about coronavirus can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, February 22, 2020 - Health Minister Vili Beroš on Friday adopted a decision to establish a quarantine unit as a preventative safety measure to protect citizens from any possible threat of the coronavirus, at the Croatian Institute for Public Health's recommendation, the ministry said.

The quarantine unit has been set up at the Dr Fran Mihaljević Infectious Diseases Hospital in Zagreb for anyone who is suspected of or is determined to have been in touch with infected or possibly infected persons while spending in time in areas considered to be the source of the disease.

Quarantine will last in line with health assessments. The decision enters into force today, the ministry underscored.

"To date, luckily, there aren't any people infected with the coronavirus in Croatia. However, we do not want to leave anything to chance in the protection of Croatian citizens from this health threat. The experience of neighbouring Italy and some other communities demand us to play it extra safe and, in addition to everything undertaken so far, I have decided to establish a quarantine unit as an additional preventative measure," said Minister Beroš.

More coronavirus news can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, February 20, 2020 - Health Minister Vili Beroš said on Thursday that Croatians from the Diamond Princess cruise ship would be returning to Croatia after 14 days of quarantine on the ship on Thursday and Friday, adding that plans were being made for their reception as the coronavirus epidemiological situation on the ship was worse than in China.

Six Croatians spent two weeks in quarantine aboard the Diamond Princess in the Japanese port of Yokohama due to the coronavirus that spread among the passengers.

Noting that plans were being made for the reception of the Croatian nationals, the minister said that the epidemiological situation on the cruise ship was not entirely clear to him.

"Given the current circumstances, we will act a bit differently," he said.

"They will return home in different ways, some will arrive today and some tomorrow," he said.

Asked if the Croatians would be put into quarantine, he said that plans were being made for their reception, stressing that the epidemiological situation on the cruise ship was worse than in China.

"I believe that it is due to the specific circumstances of staying on a vessel and I sincerely hope that that is the only problem," he added.

The Croatian Foreign and European Affairs Ministry said on Wednesday that a Croatian national who had stayed aboard the Diamond Princess as a passenger left the ship on Wednesday, that he was considered healthy and that there were no restrictions on his movement. As for the other five Croatians who are still on the ship as crew members, they continued their stay in quarantine together with other crew members even though they do not exhibit any symptoms of the disease.

540 cases of infection with the novel coronavirus have been identified on the vessel with 3,700 passengers and crew members.

More news about Croatia and coronavirus can be found in the Lifestyle section.

ZAGREB, February 19, 2020 - A Croatian national who stayed aboard the Diamond Princess ship as a passenger left the ship on Wednesday and five other Croatians are still on the ship because they are members of the crew, sources at the Croatian Foreign and European Affairs Ministry said on Wednesday.

Passengers on the Diamond Princess, where 540 cases of novel coronavirus infection have been confirmed, started leaving the vessel on Wednesday after spending 14 days in quarantine in the Japanese port of Yokohama.

In line with a decision by Japanese authorities, the passengers who meet the set conditions will leave the vessel first, to be followed by crew members, the ministry said.

The Japanese Health Ministry said that around 500 passengers exhibiting no symptoms of the novel coronavirus infection, who had tested negative for the infection and who did not have any contact with those infected with the novel coronavirus, would leave the vessel during the day.

"A Croatian national who was staying on the Diamond Princes as a passenger left the ship today. He is considered healthy and there are no restrictions on his movement," said the Croatian ministry.

"The other five Croatian nationals aboard the vessel who are crew members will continue their stay in quarantine aboard the ship, together with other crew members, even though they do not have symptoms of the disease," said the ministry.

More news about Croatia and coronavirus can be found in the Lifestyle section.

ZAGREB, February 19, 2020 - Reporting by Croatian media on the novel coronavirus to date has been mainly fair and helped raise the general public's awareness about this disease that was first detected in China, however, there have been some cases of causing unnecessary panic by certain reports.

The Croatian Journalists' Association (HND) on Tuesday organised a panel discussion on the topic "Information or Panic" regarding the media coverage of the outbreak of this contagious disease in the world.

Participants in the panel discussion agreed that in Croatia, where there have been no coronavirus-related death cases, reporting has been rather correct and balanced.

However, although we have provided media with accurate information, there have been some cases of causing irrational fear by some reports, said the head of the Dr. Fran Mihaljević clinic, Alemka Markotić.

In this context she criticised dissemination of opinions of like-mined people on some panic-prone social networks.

She says that it is understandable that the novel virus with the official name Covid-19, that was recently detected in the Chinese city of Wuhan, could give rise to unease and anxiety. On the other hand, she underscored the fact that only 47 patients to date have been diagnosed in Europe, and in Croatia there have been no cases of this disease.

Markotić admitted that the death rate from this virus was higher than the death rate from influenza, but she also points out the fact that this is in no way an incurable disease.

To date in Croatia 17 people have been tested for this virus, as they had certain symptoms such as a high body temperature and were in contact with the Chinese, and all the tests have been negative, Markotić said.

Some of the doctors who took part in the debate pointed out the fact that media outlets should also write about positive things, such as the number of patients who have recovered from the disease.

Thus, it has been underscored that over 12,000 patients in the world have been successfully treated and have recovered.

Krunoslav Čapak, head of the Croatian Public Health Institute (HZJZ), said that media failed to report the fact that Croatia had been the first European country to introduce active medical monitoring of returnees from regions hit by the disease.

More health news can be found in the Politics section.