October the 21st, 2020 - The coronavirus pandemic has dealt a horrific blow to the world's tourism, travel and hospitality sector, and countries which rely more heavily on attracting foreign tourists have struggled to stay afloat as the virus continues to spread. Croatia is not immune (no pun intended) to these negative trends, and the Croatian hospitality sector is now at its weakest. Zagreb Mayor Bandic has vowed to stand by and support the Croatian capital's suffering hospitality and catering sector.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, following a meeting with Zagreb Mayor Bandic, the president of the National Association of Caterers, Marin Medak, has more than likely reassured many that their demands had been met, according to a report from N1.

"Zagreb Mayor Bandic instructed that the measures for all caterers be extended and that those people are exempted from paying rent and costs for the use of public areas. Those who rent space from the City of Zagreb are also exempt from making payments, their utility/communal fees will be reduced by 30 percent, too. It would be great if the state did the same. We hope that this will continue until the spring,'' said Marin Medak of Milan Bandic's fight for the capital's services.

He pointed out that they demanded that consumption tax also be abolished, that parking spaces near the driveway be vacated if guests only wanted to come and pick up food, that heating be installed on the terraces so that drinks or food could be sold outside to preserve jobs, as well as other certain things that are necessary for the organisation of the wildly popular Advent in Zagreb event. For example, the rule that only caterers may compete for the use of Christmas cottages and that the event goes in terms of having 15 ''little'' advents in the City of Zagreb.

Advent will, at least as things currently stand, continue to be held in Zagreb this festive season, but on a smaller scale than it has been in previous years. Milan Bandic supported the city's worried and downtrodden caterers regarding the latest measures of the National Civil Protection Headquarters, and stated that he will remain shoulder to shoulder in support of them.

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October the 21st, 2020 - The coronavirus pandemic has caused havoc with the Croatian economy, with many out of work, facing the repayment of debts and foreclosures since the monatorium ceased, and wondering how the pay the bills, the Croatian Government has come out with a new set of Croatian economic measures designed to preserve jobs and help out the enfeebled economy until the end of what has been a truly dreadful 2020.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 20th of October, 2020, at the beginning of the press conference which was held on Tuesday, Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic made sure to remind those present of the effects of the Croatian economic measures that government has introduced and taken so far.

"So far, according to the Croatian Employment Service, we've paid out 6.85 billion kuna for various measures to preserve jobs, and when contributions are added into that figure, we come to over 10 billion kuna. That's what we have done so far,'' stated the Prime Minister.

He stated that the goal is to simplify the new set of Croatian economic measures and to include a wider circle of those who may use them. The total cost of the new measures should be between 300 and 350 million kuna. The basic goal is to preserve jobs. The measures will be applied from October the 1st, 2020, right up to the end of the year.

The first measure - cutting down on working hours

We're going down to 70 percent, so far it has been at 50, we're reducing the amount of documentation. In a week that lasts 5 days, someone can work for a day and a half, and the state will make up for those three and a half days.

The second measure - increasing available aid

Under these new Croatian economic measures, the maximum monthly allowance per worker will now increase from 2,000 to 2,800 kuna per worker.

The grading of support is being introduced in accordance with the rate of decline in turnover - 2000 kuna for a 40 percent drop in turnover. It is also growing due to the drop in traffic. So it will grow to 4000 kuna per worker going for a drop in turnover from 60 percent to more.

The beneficiaries of this measure are entirely exempt from paying any of their contributions.

The decline in turnover will not be measured on a monthly basis, but by looking at the comparison to the decline in turnover in the 2nd and 3rd quarters of this year with the turnover in the 2nd and 3rd quarters of 2019, thus enabling a more realistic picture of the decline in traffic in individual industries.

''We're leaving an exception for sectors whose work is limited by staff decisions, such as those in food and beverage services. We're leaving them the choice as to whether it will be looked at and as such done month by month or like this [aforementioned] with quarters,'' explained Plenkovic, clearly showing his understanding for those in this less than favourable situation.

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ZAGREB, Oct 20, 2020 - In the last 24 hours, 5,883 tests have been conducted for coronavirus in Croatia and 15.1% of them, that is 890, have returned positive, according to the data provided by the country's COVID-19 crisis management team on Tuesday.

Currently, there are 5,519 active cases, and of them 574 are hospitalised patients, including 32 patients placed on ventilators.

In the last 24 hours, there have been eight COVID-related deaths, bringing the death toll to 382.

Since February 25, when the first coronavirus case was confirmed in Croatia, 26,863 people have contracted the novel virus and 20,962 have recovered, including 433 in the last 24 hours.

A total of 22,372 people are currently in self-isolation.

To date, 406 519 people have been tested for coronavirus.

October the 20th, 2020 - More measures have been introduced across the country in an attempt to further curb the infection rate which has risen to record numbers over recent days. As a result, the Croatian hospitality sector is growing ever more concerned about what that means for business and revenue - or indeed a lack of both.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 19th of October, 2020, it has now been a week since the introduction of new epidemiological measures in Croatia. The drop in traffic in cafes and restaurants is steadily increasing, and attendance in some places is a worrying 80 percent lower than usual, reports RTL.

The guild of caterers is aware - the measures must be respected for the health of everyone, but they say that if this continues, they're simply not going to be able to survive. Despite Plenkovic having stated that he has no plans to introduce another lockdown like the one we experienced back in spring, how does the Croatian hospitality sector view the threat of such a move?

After the introduction of new epidemiological measures which regard places like cafes, the owner and the so-called ''corona warden'' was nearly forced to put the key in his facility's lock after thirty long years of operation.

"I specifically told my staff to serve the guests, put whatever they order on the house and then just close the place down. One waiter cried and begged for that not to happen, there's a lump in my throat as I talk about this... he asked me if we can stay like this for thirty more days and adjust to all of the measures,'' said Franz Letica from Zagreb.

Letica's glass is far from half full these days, as he is among those in the Croatian hospitality sector whose traffic and therefore revenue has dropped drastically.

"There's no work, there's no traffic, the bar is empty, I had to fire two people in the meantime," Letica said.

However, Zagreb's Mayor Milan Bandic joined in solidarity with Zagreb's hospitality workers two days ago. The city continues with subsidies - reducing the payment of rents, utilities and abolishing the payment of fees for terraces.

"It will carry on until least until the end of the year, if God forbid it's still necessary, we'll protect our hospitality workers and our entrepreneurs," assured a worried Bandic. A slightly more optimistic picture can be found on the terrace and inside the Split restaurant, but when things are looked at on a monthly basis, it's far from last year's figures.

"For September there was a drop of about 80 percent, for October it will certainly be more than 60 percent, and for November... I don't know what to tell you, it all depends on what the weather will be like, everything depends on that,'' Domagoj Curkovic, a restaurant manager in Split explained.

The Guild of Caterers says that without the repeated help of the state, a large number of cafes and restaurants will be forced to close down.

"It's very difficult to endure it all in this way. If the number of positive people grows, we can expect closures, and without the help of the state, then tax measures aren't enough, we'll also need non-refundable funds ", said Joso Smojic from the guild of caterers and tourist workers of HOK.

A new lockdown is not an option at this time.

"We're aware of what closing the economy means. For now, we have no plans for any new lockdown, it is not on the agenda,'' assured Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic.

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October the 20th, 2020 - Fancy ditching your ''home office'' with washing machines going, kids running around and pans boiling over as you try to work for a rather more relaxed approach? A Hilton office might help tune the work-break balance that has lacked so much throughout 2020.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Marija Crnjak writes on the 19th of October, 2020, with the new wave of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic that hit most countries in the first days of autumn, the filling up of hotel rooms is again in question, as well as the return of millions of workers to their offices - for those who had a summer break, the "home office" returns, with all the disadvantages it brings with it.

The combination of dire pandemic-dominated circumstances has inspired the hotel industry globally to a stronger and better supply of jobs in the safety and quiet of their hotel rooms, along with all the other benefits a hotel has to offer.

The model is being developed either independently or in collaboration with coworking companies, and is being developed by many global hotel companies, including Hilton, MGM Resorts, Mandarin Oriental, and CitizenM. This is followed by the growing trend of extended stays in hotels, which came to life before the pandemic took the world by storm and is now continuing to flourish.

Despite the fact that the Croatian market, and the more specific market of Zagreb can't possibly be compared in size with the markets of San Francisco or London, the ''long stay'' trends are slowly coming to the domestic market, and for those who'd like to trade their kitchen table and a view of mildly rotten fruit in the fruit bowl for a Hilton office, that possibility is now available.

Zagreb's Hilton hotels introduced their "work place" offer back in the spring, from the end of the lockdown onwards, confirmed Josipa Jutt Ferlan, the director of Zagreb City Hotels and cluster general manager for Hilton in Zagreb.

“We give guests a special, more comfortable work chair so that they can work more easily at a table, a higher level of internet, a discount on their laundry. Our guests also have a discount on a la carte restaurant services, a limousine with a driver for meetings, and a discount on spa services. We motivate them and reward them with points in our loyalty programme. The offer is being carried out at the global Hilton level,'' revealed Jutt Ferlan.

The price of Hilton's packages isn't unique, and it all depends on which services guests want to include.

"The so-called ''long stay'' has become very popular, there are mostly businessmen, IT people, consultants. We had one whole family from the US who lived at the Canopy for as long as four months. We have business people from London who normally have a home office, as well as Germans. They say that the climate is better in Croatia and that the number of infected people isn't the same as in their countries. And of course, because of the chain and the brand, they trust us to stick to all the measures,'' said Jutt Ferlan.

Along with the Hilton office possibility, the respected Croatian company Valamar Riviera also decided on introducing the "long stay" option this autumn. As of this year, two camping resorts in Valamar will remain open to guests all year round. These are the Istra Premium Camping Resort in Porec and the Jezevac Premium Camping Resort on the island of Krk. Valamar has also introduced a rental service for a longer stay of at least one month in these two camps, which is valid for the period from September the 30th, 2020 to March 31st, 2021.

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ZAGREB, Oct 20, 2020 - Assistant Interior Minister in charge of civil protection, Damir Trut on Monday said that Croatia has sufficient accommodation capacities and  epidemic protection equipment to treat covid-19 patients.

Trut, who visited the civil protection warehouse in Jastrebarsko, told the commercial RTL broadcaster that erecting accommodation capacities in sports venues would come as the third stage in increasing capacities.

First we will fill accommodation capacities in defined hospitals and then the next level will be in rehabilitation centres such as Biograd and Topusko and then the third stage would be sports venues as was done in the spring when we prepared the Arena Zagreb hall, he explained.

If health workers request that capacities be extended, we will be ready within 48 hours to erect a field hospital at any location, he said.

Trut added that there is sufficient equipment for a certain period.

There are some 13 million various articles in the Jastrebarsko warehouse including 5.4 million masks and 1,200 tonnes of protective equipment. That is distributed to regional warehouses and then from there to hospitals, care facilities and other beneficiaries, he explained.

Trut said that over the weekend 346 inspections were conducted, 38 verbal warnings and three infringement notices were issued and one pecuniary fine was imposed.

October 20, 2020 - In an interview on Monday evening, Krunoslav Capak announced measures that could be introduced next in Croatia if citizens do not adhere to the measures already in place.

The director of the Croatian Institute of Public Health and a member of the National Civil Protection Headquarter Krunoslav Capak, spoke about a plan for the worst-case scenario and what would happen if there were not enough doctors and nurses to replace the infected health workers.

In an interview with Dnevnik Nova TV, Capak said:

"Although we do not expect such a scenario and we hope that it will never happen, we are preparing for it. We have more than 1,100 intensive care physicians who can work on ventilators and intensive care for COVID patients and flu patients.

However, we are also preparing for the scenario that other colleagues who are close to the profession will be educated and can learn the basics of intensive care relatively quickly. This also happened during the Homeland War," Capak explained. He added that young doctors were taking emergency courses at the time.

"The Ministry of Health, in cooperation with hospitals, will prepare such courses, but we hope that this will not happen," he said.

When asked how many newly infected patients Croatian hospitals can handle before the worst-case scenario, Capak said that we are "far from completely filling the health care system."

He also revealed that he is not considering the introduction of a curfew.

"We have not talked about it so far, nor do we plan to introduce it," said the Croatian Institute of Public Health director.

He says he does not think a new lockdown is needed, but it is necessary "for people to stick to the measures".

"There are a number of other possibilities. Further shortening of working hours, reducing the number of gatherings, even in families," he said and pointed out that it seems to him that Croatia is among the most liberal countries in Europe.

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ZAGREB, October 19, 2020 - A member of the government's Scientific Council, epidemiologist Branko Kolaric, has expressed concern about Croatia's healthcare system becoming overloaded due to a surge in the daily number of coronavirus cases.

Speaking in an interview with the public television service HRT on Sunday evening, Kolaric was asked to comment on warnings from the scientific community that there were between 50,000 and 100,000 infected people in Zagreb and that over the next week Croatia might see 2,000 new infections daily, from the current 1,000.

Noting that he did not know what these estimates were based on, Kolaric said that it was possible that the number of daily cases would reach 2,000. "We have come from 500 to 1,000 daily infections and it is not impossible for this number to grow to 2,000," he said.

The epidemiologist said that the present attitude of the public towards the epidemiological measures in place and their adherence to these measures could lead to the public health system overloading. He said it was questionable whether the present measures were enough to reduce the number of new infections, expressing concern that the health system might become overburdened soon.

Today 548 people in Croatia are hospitalised for COVID-19, in neighbouring Slovenia the University Clinical Centre in Ljubljana is almost filled to capacity, while the Czech Republic has agreed with Germany on the possible treatment of its patients in Bavaria and Saxony, it was said.

Speaking of the number of hospitalised cases in Croatia, Kolaric said that the focus now was on COVID-19 cases and that there was less hospital capacity for treatment of other diseases.

Commenting on the interviewer's remark that the measures in place in Croatia were considerably milder than those elsewhere in Europe and whether tighter restrictions could be expected, Kolaric said that such decisions fell within the remit of the national coronavirus response team, but that he believed the measures would have to be tightened.

Health minister calls for more coronavirus testing points in Zagreb

Health Minister Vili Beros has called on the Croatian Public Health Institute, the Fran Mihaljevic Hospital for Infectious Diseases and the Andrija Stampar Teaching Institute for Public Health to urgently organise additional COVID-19 testing points in Zagreb so that people would not have to wait in kilometres-long lines.

"Our aim is to reduce the kilometres-long lines of people waiting to get tested. I am confident that all the competent authorities will find the way and space for additional testing," Beros said on Facebook on Sunday. 

In the last 24 hours, 286 new coronavirus cases have been identified in Zagreb and 830 people have been ordered to self-isolate. Currently, the number of active cases in the city stands at 1,336 and 6,410 people are in self-isolation.

ZAGREB, October 19, 2020 - A total of 393 new coronavirus cases and 11 related deaths have been recorded in Croatia in the last 24 hours, the national coronavirus response team reported on Monday morning.

The number of active cases currently stands at 5,070. Among them are 571 people who are receiving hospital treatment and 35 of them are on ventilators.

Since February 25, when the first coronavirus case was confirmed in Croatia, 25,973 people have contracted the novel virus, of whom 374 have died and 20,529 have recovered, including 476 in the last 24 hours. A total of 21,329 people are currently in self-isolation.

To date, 400,636 people have been tested for coronavirus, including 3,636 in the last 24 hours.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 19th of October, 2020, as the number of newly infected people in Croatia grows and in recent days exceeds the numbers from 800 to 1000 people, rumours of a totally new lockdown are beginning to circulate, which according to many would be absolutely disastrous for the Croatian economy. Croatian PM Plenkovic, however, is steering clear of such moves.

From the appeals of enterprises and entrepreneurs across the country to the sporadic protests of hairdressers and those in the catering and hospitality sector, the messages about the possible consequences of a new lockdown on the economy are frighteningly clear.

''We're going to do everything we can to appeal to reason. So far, we have no plans for a new lockdown, but we must also raise the level of responsibility,'' Croatian PM Plenkovic assured on Saturday when he appeared on N1 Television. Plenkovic emphasised that everyone is aware of what another lockdown and the closure of the economy would mean for the country, because, if they weren't aware of the scale of the damage, he said later, the government would not have given six billion kuna to Croatian companies in support.

"We'll do everything we can to appeal to reason. So far we have no plans for a new lockdown, but we also need to raise the level of responsibility. I understand that people are having a hard time, that they're frustrated, nervous. This situation is happening to everyone. Some countries are taking restrictive measures once again. But if we aren't disciplined then we won't win this. That's how things stand across the whole of the EU,'' said Croatian PM Plenkovic.

819 newly confirmed cases of SARS-CoV-2 virus were recorded on Sunday, and the number of active cases in Croatia is above 5000. Among them, 548 patients were hospitalised yesterday, of which 32 were on a respirator.

Since February the 25th, 2020, when the first case of this infection was recorded in Croatia, a total of 25,580 people have become infected with the new coronavirus and have been recorded to date.

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