September 10, 2021 - As it currently stands, there is no quarantine for tourists returning from Croatia, even though the country turned red on yesterday's new ECDC corona map. 

Even though Croatia is red on the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) corona map, thanks to the standardization of travel processes within the EU, tourist flows continue, reports HRTurizam.

The same or similar rules apply to most countries depending on the epidemiological situation in individual countries. Therefore, regardless of Croatia being in the "red", tourists who return to their home countries do not currently need self-isolation but must present a negative PCR or rapid antigen test if they are not vaccinated.

"A favorable epidemiological situation is a precondition for the best possible development of social and economic events. More than half a million tourists are still staying in Croatia, which is more than in the same period in 2019. This should be an incentive and a reminder to everyone that with responsible behavior, tourism can still achieve excellent results. Therefore, I call on everyone to continue to adhere to epidemiological recommendations and vaccinate as many as possible to protect themselves and everyone living in Croatia," said Minister of Tourism and Sports Nikolina Brnjac when the new ECDC map was released. 

To provide all travelers with everything they need on their journey, taking into account travel during the COVID-19 pandemic, an additional 350 test points have been set up across the country so that, if necessary, all tourists can be tested in accessible locations before returning to their home countries.

The Ministry of Tourism and Sports has provided the distribution of one million and 81 thousand tests at more favorable prices for tourists who spend three or more nights in commercial accommodation, and the purchased tests were distributed to the county public health institutes. Also, given the conditions on crossing borders and the interest of vaccination in tourists, vaccination in Croatia is possible for foreign citizens.

Director of the Croatian National Tourist Board Kristjan Staničić also commented on the impact of the new ECDC map:

“We do not expect that the new map will significantly affect tourist flows in the country, especially if we know that certain markets are important. Furthermore, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, the USA, etc., have their own methodology system for monitoring and publishing travel recommendations, according to which Croatia is still a safe destination. However, I hereby appeal that we all continue to adhere to the prescribed epidemiological measures and to vaccinate in as many numbers as possible to achieve the best possible tourist results by the end of September and in October," said Staničić and stated that the tourist results in the previous part of the year, in which almost 73 million overnight stays have been realized so far, confirm that the tourist season in Croatia is very successful.

According to current data, about 550,000 tourists are currently staying in Croatia, while in the record-breaking 2019, about 470,000 were in the country at this time. By the way, more than 70% of the population in the EU is vaccinated, which means that most Europeans can travel without restrictions.

For all you need to know about coronavirus specific to Croatia, including travel and border rules, as well as the locations of vaccination points and coronavirus testing centres located up and down the country, make sure to bookmark our dedicated COVID-19 section and select your preferred language.

September the 10th, 2021 - Interior Minister Davor Bozinovic has touched on what might be the situation with the country's epidemiological measures next week as cases of infection in Croatia continue to rise.

Croatia has just been ''painted'' red on the latest update of the ECDC coronavirus map, and while the tourist season has gone remarkably well and the country continues to record excellent numbers as we head into the post-season and then into autumn, some believe an extension of the current measures, at the very least, should occur.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, Interior Minister Davor Bozinovic said that, as things stand now, next week the National Civil Protection Directorate will mainly go in the direction of the extension of the country's existing measures, emphasising that the best weapon against serious clinical pictures, hospitalisations and deaths is to take one of the several available coronavirus vaccines. Being vaccinated with any of them has been proven to be very effective in protecting people against more serious forms of the disease.

"As the autumn months approach, people will typically be spending much more time indoors and that's why it is important to follow the basic anti-epidemic measures and recommendations of the Croatian Institute of Public Health,'' said Minister Davor Bozinovic.

He also presented the data from the supervision of the implementation of anti-epidemic measures over the past week, during which inspectors conducted a total of 15,597 inspections. They issued two written warnings, eight notices of violations, nine oral rulings, eight indictments, and three fines for those violating the measures.

For all you need to know about coronavirus specific to Croatia, including travel and border rules, as well as the locations of vaccination points and coronavirus testing centres located up and down the country, make sure to bookmark our dedicated COVID-19 section and select your preferred language.

ZAGREB, 9 Sept 2021 - In the last 24 hours, 9,987 coronavirus tests have been performed in Croatia and of them, 941 (9.4%) have returned positive, while the COVID-19-related death toll has risen by 10 to 8,405, the national COVID-19 crisis management team reported on Thursday.

There are currently 5,335 active cases and, among them, 554 are receiving hospital treatment, including 58 patients on ventilators.

Since its first registered case of the coronavirus infection on 25 February 2020, Croatia has tested 2,628,116 people. The country has registered 380,904 positive cases and 367,164 recoveries, of which 605 in the past 24 hours.

So far, 43.13% of the total population, or 51.79% of adults, have been vaccinated. The share of the fully vaccinated adult population is 48.59%.

For all you need to know about coronavirus specific to Croatia, including travel, border, and quarantine rules, as well as the locations of vaccination points and testing centers across the country, make sure to bookmark our dedicated COVID-19 section and select your preferred language.

September 9, 2021 - The latest ECDC Corona Map on September 9, 2021, has been published, and the whole of Croatia has turned red.

Apart from Croatia, practically all of Western Europe is marked red, while most of Scandinavia has remained orange. Central Europe is mostly green on the new map, reports Index.hr.

For several weeks in a row, the situation in Croatia has changed for the worse on the ECDC map. On last week's map, eastern and central Croatia were red, but Zagreb, coastal counties, and northern Croatia remained orange.

The transition of Croatia to red was expected as the number of infections increased by 50 percent in the last week. Yesterday, 1237 new infections were recorded, and last Wednesday, there were 805.

Red means a 14-day infection rate of 75 to 200, with a positive rate greater than 4 percent, and areas where the 14-day infection rate is 200 to 500. Dark red areas mean a 14-day rate greater than 500.

The ECDC Epidemiological Map for Europe is published weekly based on the 14-day incidence and the proportion of positive tests in the total number tested.

Beroš announced on Twitter that Croatia had become a red zone. He says this is the result is thanks to the non-vaccinated population and non-compliance with measures.

"We are in the red. The result is partly non-vaccination and non-compliance with epidemiological measures. The way out is in as many vaccinated as possible, which raises the level of protection for all," he wrote.

Zvonimir Šostar, Andrija Štampar Teaching Institute for Public Health director, spoke to HTV's Dnevnik about the latest map. 

"The whole of Croatia has a problem due to non-reporting contacts," he stressed and added that the Delta strain is much more contagious than previous strains, and it is important that all contacts are registered.

He pointed out a problem with vaccination and appealed to everyone not to go to large gatherings if necessary, and to respect the measures, especially when it comes to wearing a mask.

"There are no hotspots; there are familial, horizontal spreads. As a result, more and more young people are hospitalized, and care should be taken," he warned.

For coronavirus resources specific to Croatia, including info on travel and the locations of vaccination points and testing centres, make sure to bookmark our dedicated section and select your preferred language.

ZAGREB, 8 Sept, 2021 - In the last 24 hours, 10,928 coronavirus tests have been performed in Croatia and of them 1,237 (11.3%) have returned positive, while the COVID-related death toll has risen by 10 to 8,395, the national COVID-19 crisis management team reported on Wednesday.

There are currently 5,009 active cases, and of them 540 are receiving hospital treatment, including 62 patients on ventilators.

Since its first registered case of the coronavirus infection on 25 February 2020, Croatia has conducted 2,618,129 tests. The country has registered 379,963 positive cases and 366,559 recoveries, of which 417 in the past 24 hours.

So far, 43.05% of the total population, or 51.69% of adults, have been vaccinated. The share of the  fully vaccinated adult population is 48.50%.

For more about COVID-19 in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page

ZAGREB, 7 Sept, 2021 - In the past 24 hours, 704 coronavirus cases and 10 deaths have been registered in Croatia, the national COVID-19 crisis management team said on Tuesday.

There are currently 4,199 active cases, including 518 patients who are hospitalised, of whom 57 are on ventilators.

Currently 8,862 persons are self-isolating.

Croatia has registered 378,726 coronavirus cases to date, including 8,385 deaths and 366,142 recoveries, of which 527 in the past 24 hours.

To date, 2,607,201 persons have been tested for the virus, including 10,077 in the past 24 hours.

To date, 42.98% of the total population has been vaccinated against COVID-19, including 51.61% of adults, 48.40% of whom have completed vaccination.

For more about COVID-19 in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

ZAGREB, 6 Sept 2021 - In the past 24 hours, 184 coronavirus cases and five deaths have been registered in Croatia, the national COVID-19 crisis management team said on Monday.

Currently, 8,661 persons are self-isolating.

To date, 2,597,124 persons have been tested for the virus, including 3,942 in the past 24 hours.

Croatia has registered 378,022 coronavirus cases to date, including 8,375 deaths and 365,615 recoveries, of which 578 in the past 24 hours.

To date, 42.91% of the total population has been vaccinated against COVID-19, including 51.53% of adults, 48.31% of whom have completed vaccination.

For all you need to know about coronavirus specific to Croatia, including travel, border, and quarantine rules, as well as the locations of vaccination points and testing centers across the country, make sure to bookmark our dedicated COVID-19 section and select your preferred language.

September the 6th, 2021 - Vaccinated Croatian communal company workers at one enterprise are set to be handed a 500 kuna award for having shown responsibility towards others by getting the vaccine.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, with the aim of preserving the health of Croatian communal company workers, the director of KD Autotrolej, Alberto Kontus, consulted with his Supervisory Board and all unions operating in the company and made a one-time cash award of 500 kuna possible for all workers who own a EU digital COVID certificate proving their status of vaccination or recovery from COVID-19.

As pointed out in the decision, the workers of KD Autotrolej, especially the drivers, have been working in difficult conditions almost constantly since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic in the spring of 2020 and are directly exposed to the threat of the contraction and subsequent spread of COVID-19. However, the goal is also to protect the health of the users of the company's services, they pointed out from Autotrolej.

They emphasised, as Novi list writes, that the decision was made in order to obtain support for the preservation of jobs because the Government has adopted a measure by which the amount of support is conditioned by the percentage of vaccinated employees in any one company.

Under this measure, employers which have more than 70 percent of their workforce holding an EU digital COVID certificate or have acquired the conditions for obtaining a certificate are entitled to 100 percent support. If less than 70 percent of their workers are vaccinated, support may only be granted according to the percentage of workers who do or can own EU digital COVIDs.

''Autotrolej has already carried out the organised vaccination of workers on three occasions, and 35 to 40 percent of the total number of workers responded to the call. This is a low vaccination rate, which is directly related to the decision of the Government and subsidies for the preservation of jobs. Since the start of the coronavirus pandemic and the first lockdown, we've remained in operation, maintaining lines and transporting passengers, and no workers have been made redundant.'' they stated from this Croatian communal company.

For coronavirus resources specific to Croatia, including info on travel and the locations of vaccination points and testing centres, make sure to bookmark our dedicated section and select your preferred language.

September the 5th, 2021 - Education Minister Radovan Fuchs recently answered the question of whether any students will start the new academic year online or actually at their school desks on Monday, he also touched on the topic of covid certificates for parents attending parents' meetings.

As Novi list writes, milder epidemiological measures apply to both schools and preschools, and Minister Radovan Fuchs has announced that he will fight to keep schools open even if the epidemiological situation worsens.

The new school year 2021/2022 will begin in Croatia with live classes for about 313,000 primary and 143,200 high school students with less epidemiological measures compared to the previous school year, and with free textbooks for all primary school students.

Here's what we know of what to expect from Minister Radovan Fuchs: 

Rules regarding socialisation and physical contact

Among other things, the socialising and physical contact of children from different groups and classes is allowed, especially in kindergartens when conducting short programmes with preschool children, and in schools during elective classes. 

The aforementioned measure also refers to foreign language teaching, additional and supplementary teaching, programmes of extended stay, the teaching of the language and culture of national minorities according to Model C, preparatory and additional teaching of Croatian language for children who don't know any or don't know enough Croatian language and the like.

Students will also be permitted to move from class to class when required to do so the teaching process, such as teaching in classrooms, exercise rooms, computer classrooms, practicums for practical classes, as well as in school halls and in regard to physical education. Training for sports clubs will also be permitted.

There will be no measuring of childrens' temperatures at the entrance to school

School staff and students won't have their temperatures measured at the entrance to school, but they will need to have it measured at home, and if their temperature is elevated, they will need to stay at home until whatever is causing the temperature spike is resolved.

Visitors participating in extracurricular activities, such as performances and the like, will be required to have covid certificates confirming that they are either negative or fully vaccinated. Live parents' meetings and information sessions for parents will also be allowed.

On top of that, student internships with employers will be allowed to take place.

Masks only need to be worn if social distancing can't be properly respected for whatever reason

Masks aren't obligatory for students from the first to the fourth grade of primary school, nor are they mandatory for students of higher grades of primary school (from the 5th to the 8th grade) if a distance of one and a half metres can be ensured in classrooms, and for high school students if there is a distance of two metres maintained.

If these conditions cannot be met for some reason or another, masks will be mandatory for upper elementary school students and for high school students. In addition, the Civil Protection Directorate may, at a local level and based on a favourable epidemiological situation, waive the obligation to wear a mask for a particular school, group of schools or area.

According to the latest available data, almost 58 percent of school staff have been fully vaccinated, while the percentage of staff vaccinated who work in high schools has reached almost 60 percent.

For all you need to know about coronavirus specific to Croatia, make sure to bookmark our dedicated section and choose your preferred language.

September the 4th, 2021 - While it's true that many individual Croatian hospitality and catering establishments such as coffee bars and other cafes finally did well and managed to make some decent money this season, as many as 1100 of them were forced to stop working.

As Novac/Jozo Vrdoljak writes, after many Croatian hospitality and catering establishments were forced to shut their doors on November the 30th last year, a breath of fresh air came in the form of the news that as of September the 1st, with special epidemiological measures, they were able to receive guests again in the closed-off parts of their facilities.

The opening hours of bars and discos remained until midnight, and the direct consequence of the closure of Croatian hospitality and catering establishments with great difficulties and a drop in traffic, is most evident through the number of 1100 permanently closed establishments. It is assumed that these are mainly trade owners who closed their facilities for fear of foreclosure on their properties.

The decision to open up Croatian hospitality and catering establishments surprised many people, but it was certainly welcomed by their owners. However, measures and grants have been being negotiated and looked at again over recent days, with many people needing to wave goodbye to government help.

Bars on the Adriatic coast worked the season with a drop in traffic of 10 percent, and those on the continent with a drop of 23 percent. The realised amounts during the season in restaurants in the amount of two thirds fall on those down on the Adriatic, while in bars this ratio is three quarters in favour of those on the Adriatic.

When you look at the drop in traffic from February to May - it was 38 percent for restaurants and 62 percent for bars. According to the currently available data, there are about 35,000 Croatian hospitality and catering establishments across the country, of which about 55 percent are just bars. It has been estimated that about 7,000 such establishments don't have a terrace at all, so they couldn't operate.

Support in the amount of 4,000 kuna per employee is given to Croatian hospitality and catering establishment owners who had experienced a drop in turnover of over 60 percent, those who had a drop in the amount of 50 percent who received support in the amount of 3,000 kuna, while those with a drop in turnover of 40 percent received 2,000 kuna. Having 70 percent of their employees vaccinated against COVID-19 was also a condition.

Jelena Tabak, president of the National Association of Caterers, noted that the season will mean little to nothing if Croatian hospitality and catering establishment owners aren't allowed to work until the very end and without any restrictions.

''Even though they can work now, not all establishments will just open and start working normally straight away. It's impossible to just start to work at full capacity after not working for nine months. On that note, it would be proper for the state subsidies to remain in place in the hospitality sector as well, because our sector has been seriously affected by the coronavirus crisis. In addition, people's habits have changed and now a large number of people are actively avoiding being in enclosed spaces.

As such, there are still serious limitations to the operation of Croatian hospitality and catering establishments. For example, four square metres per guest limits the work of these places quite a lot. Some of them, however, still managed to do great job this season, but there are a large number who didn't,'' explained Jelena Tabak, who admitted that the general situation is still much better in Croatia than in some other countries.

Tabak explained that the financial growth of the income of Croatian hospitality and catering establishments is partly due to a significant rise in prices.

"It's true that some establishments have done very well this season, but cumulatively the hospitality sector is recording a serious drop in turnover. The fact is that our colleagues on the continent are in a very difficult situation, and now comes the period when even those on the Adriatic will have reduced income. What follows now is a period in which we won't have a significant number of tourists, but we'll still generate some income thanks to Croatian guests.

The problem is also that Croatian hospitality and catering establishments can’t organise parties, so they can’t create an atmosphere that will attract guests. Hospitality rests on social interaction. A restaurant does well if it creates an atmosphere and attracts guests, and owners have been deprived of that due to the measures,'' explained Tabak.

For more, make sure to check out our dedicated business section.