August 15, 2020 - Austrian authorities expect large crowds at the borders this weekend as travelers may shorten their holidays after Croatia was included on the list of high-risk countries.

Slobodna Dalmacija reports that local revealed Austrian citizens have decided to ignore the government's warning and are still going on holiday to Croatia. Namely, at the entrance to Slovenia from Austria near the Karavanke tunnel, there was a wait of up to three hours on Saturday morning. In the early afternoon, traffic stretched 17 kilometers.

Kronen Zeitung wrote that they had yet to see anything from the big wave of returnees from Croatia because it seems that Austrians still want to enjoy the beach today. At the entrance to Austria near Sentilj, they waited for about an hour on Saturday morning.

The Austrian Automobile Club (ÖAMTC) expects that traffic from the south could intensify in the evening on Saturday and during Sunday.

They report that traffic at border crossings at the entrance to Austria is moderate with shorter delays. At Karavanke, the entrance to Carinthia takes 35 minutes, and at Sentilj, about an hour. They also wrote that Slovenian authorities have tightened controls and that this is causing a stalemate.

The Austrian government decided to include Croatia on the list of high-risk countries on Friday after news of a record number of cases in Croatia. Travelers returning from Croatia must show a current negative test for coronavirus from Monday or undergo testing within 48 hours.

According to current information from the Austrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, about 3,000 Austrian citizens are officially on holiday in Croatia. But at the same time, the authorities believe that this figure is many times higher.

"We start from the fact that there are a much larger number of Austrian citizens in Croatia," the ministry said in a statement.

The ministry also said that over 100 new cases of coronavirus infection had been reported in the last week alone, which were proven to have been brought from Croatian holidays.

Therefore, a larger number of inquiries related to travel to Croatia is expected from Monday.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will be assisted by 20 Bundeswehr soldiers on a special information telephone line.

"The military has soldiers at all times who are ready to help health facilities," said Defense Minister Claudia Tanner.

Soldiers are already helping to control entry into the country from the direction of Italy.

Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg said that after Croatia, further warnings regarding travel abroad are possible. This is especially true of the Spanish Balearics.

"We know that with these warnings and restrictions on freedom of travel, we are creating problems for many Austrians. But the summer of 2020 is not like other summers," Schallenberg told the public service ORF.

Journalists from the Kronen Zeitung also talked to Austrian tourists in Veli Losinj, who said that they were shocked by the decision of the Austrian government.

"We only came yesterday. I went to the beach without a cell phone to get as much rest as possible. When I came back, I had something to read. It just hit me," said Peter P. of Graz.

"We knew that there was a possibility that this would happen, but I did not think that the whole country would close immediately," he said, adding that he was returning home on Sunday and that he expected large traffic jams.

"There will be chaos on the roads, but it is great that the hotel was understanding and they will only charge us for as many nights as we spent here," he said.

They also spoke to a German couple who was hanging out with many Austrians on Losinj. They said that many would not interrupt their vacation in Croatia. One tourist had a special message for the Austrian Chancellor.

"Kurz would have to call me in person if he wanted me to come home," he said.

Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz has called for stricter coronavirus controls for returnees at the borders.

"Health offices are not doing their job properly. The controls should be more thorough and faster," Kurz told the daily "Oesterreich" on Saturday.

The opposition Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) criticized Kurz and accused him of putting pressure on local health offices. Secretary-General Michael Schnedlitz said that instead of putting pressure on these institutions, the Vienna government should take action against the growing number of falsified negative coronavirus tests on returnees from the Western Balkans.

"It has long been known that many of these allegedly negative tests of returnees from the Western Balkans are false," Schnedlitz said on Saturday.

Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz called for stricter control of holiday returnees due to the increase in the number of cases in Austria.

After staying in one of about 30 risk areas, people must have a negative test that is not older than 72 hours or must be in a 10-day quarantine.

“There have to be tighter controls,” Kurz said in Saturday’s edition of Oesterreich.

Kurz did not rule out the possibility of conducting coronavirus tests at the border, which would be the task of the health authorities.

Risk areas include mainland Spain and the Western Balkans, as well as Bulgaria, Romania, Russia, Sweden and the United States.

As of Monday, returnees from Croatia will also have to present a negative test, Kurz said, adding: "There is a huge influx of cases from Croatia."

He added that the increase is not surprising given that holidays are underway.

"The current numbers are worrying," says Kurz. "We must do everything we can to stop the virus without introducing new comprehensive bans."

Nearly 230 new infections were recorded in Austria on Saturday, compared to a record 282 the day before.

Since the beginning of the epidemic, just over 23,000 people have tested positive for coronavirus.

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ZAGREB, Aug 15, 2020 - The Croatian Tourism Association (HUT) has warned that giving up on the tourist season in the current economic situation due to recommendations by some neighbouring countries restricting travel to Croatia would be irresponsible towards the tourism sector and citizens. 

"The foundation of this year's season has been a good epidemiological situation, and in the month and a half that we have had a favourable epidemiological situation across the country, we have shown that we can be winners in the Mediterranean," HUT director Veljo Ostojic told Hina on Saturday.

Statements that can be heard lately about the need to give up on the tourist season because of the imminent start of the new school year "are simply unacceptable to the tourist sector," said Ostojic.

"Giving up on the tourist season in the current economic situation would be irresponsible, not only towards those who work in that sector, which generates around 20% of Croatia's GDP but to all citizens. We believe that urgent action is needed to communicate facts through all available channels and to adopt measures to reduce the number of new infections," Ostojic said.

He noted that the situation in Istria and Primorje-Gorski Kotar counties is still more favourable than in many European countries, including the countries which generate the most tourist arrivals in Croatia.

"That fact should be constantly stressed in our communication with those key markets, including through diplomatic channels and the media," he said.

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ZAGREB, Aug 15, 2020 - A total of 162 cases of the coronavirus disease have been identified in Croatia in the last 24 hours, two more patients have died and there are 1,062 active cases, the national COVID-19 response team said on Saturday.

Of the total number of COVID-19 patients, 106 are hospitalised, including ten who are on ventilators.

Since February 25, when the first case of the infection was confirmed, 6,420 people have contracted the disease. Of that number, 165 have died and 5,193 have recovered.

Currently, 3,702 persons are in self-isolation.

To date, 136,280 people have been tested for the virus, including 1,538 in the last 24 hours.

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August 15, 2020 - Opatija Mayor, Ivo Dujmic, asked the Croatian Government and National Headquarters to divide Croatia into epidemiological regions as soon as possible. Dujmic believes that the counties of Istria and Primorje-Gorski Kotar should not bear the consequences of the unfavorable situation in Split-Dalmatia County.

We have transmitted his post on Facebook in its entirety:

"Urgently divide Croatia into epidemiological regions"

"This way, I must express my dissatisfaction with the current situation, i.e., that the Civil Protection Headquarters is avoiding dividing Croatia into regions and thus save the tourist season in those counties that have a favorable epidemiological situation.

I am primarily thinking of Primorje-Gorski Kotar and Istria counties, which have, by far, the most tourists in Croatia and, in addition, have a very favorable situation with the coronavirus. We must keep these good tourist figures, that is, take care of the existence of many families, entrepreneurs who depend on tourism, but also the budget of our cities, counties and the state itself.

I don't even have to say how many problems the citizens of Primorje-Gorski Kotar and Istria counties have who work in neighboring countries and go to Italy or Slovenia daily or weekly. Why do the new measures of the Headquarters apply to the whole of Croatia, i.e., why do our entrepreneurs have to bear the consequences of the bad epidemiological situation in Split-Dalmatia County?!

Therefore, I ask the Government and the Civil Protection Headquarters of the Republic of Croatia to urgently divide Croatia into epidemiological regions, i.e., green, orange and red regions, which would be a clear message to other countries, especially those on which our tourism depends. I also ask that the measures be determined by regions and not linearly for all counties.

We don't have time anymore; decisions must be made as soon as possible!”

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ZAGREB, Aug 15, 2020 - The European Commission will provide support for 23 new COVID-19 research projects in the amount of €128 million as part of the response to the coronavirus pandemic, and Croatian scientists are participating in three projects, the Jutarnji List daily reported in its August 13 issue.

A total of 347 scientific teams from 40 countries are involved in the 23 chosen projects, including 34 participants from 16 countries outside the European Union. One of the projects is SHARE COVID, a study of social, health, and economic effects of COVID-19 on persons over the age of 50, in which Croatian scientists have also been involved.

The Faculty of Business and Economics in Zagreb is a partner on the project, and the work package dedicated to the quality of health care is led by Sime Smolic. The main goal of this project is to understand the unplanned effects of pandemic and devise improved health, economic, and social policies.

"In this project specifically we are monitoring how people over the age of 50 are coping with the effect of the lockdown and how it will affect them. Later, we will be able to compare these data with the 2008 crisis research, since we surveyed the same people then, so the data are comparable," Smolic said.

The second project on which Croatian scientists are working is a completely new project, Envision. The project is about smart digital monitoring of COVID-19 patients in real-time, which facilitates decision-making in intensive care units.

The third project involving Croatia is called unCoVer, and it is being implemented in cooperation with 29 European partners, while the project leader is the Institute of Tropical Medicine.

The funding will enable scientists to help contain the pandemic and its impact by strengthening the industry's ability to produce and use already available solutions, by developing medical technology and digital tools, by having a better insight into the behavioral and socioeconomic effects of the pandemic and by studying large groups of patients across Europe, the Jutarnji List daily said.

The ongoing coronavirus pandemic has delivered a heavy blow to the Croatian economy, which relies an enormous amount on tourism, and the virus has taken a concerning amount of jobs across the country.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Jadranka Dozan writes on the 14th of August, 2020, according to the Croatian Employment Service's records on the number of unemployed people recorded in the first two weeks of August, their number decreased by five hundred when compared to the end of July. Yesterday, there were 150,959 people registered as jobseekers, and last month ended with 151,433 registered unemployed persons. When compared to June, the number of registered unemployed increased by 782 persons in July, while compared to July last year, it increased by more than 37,000.

In parallel with the monthly increase in the number of unemployed people, however, employment measured by the number of insured persons at the Croatian Pension Insurance Institute also increased in July. When compared to the month before, there were 0.8 percent or 12.7 thousand more people, reaching a total of 1.55 million people. This was the third consecutive month of growth in the number of insured persons in Croatia, although the negative trend that began in April unfortunately continued in the year-on-year comparisons.

For months now, the real momentum of the negative consequences of the coronavirus pandemic on the Croatian labour market has been announced with apprehension, because, in addition to seasonal shock absorbers, most government subsidies will be fully expressed in the sense of needing to subsidise employee salaries. During July alone (for the payment of salaries for the month of June) these subsidies covered significantly fewer workers than they did back during the first wave; a total of 67,040 workers were paid, all of whom were working for a total of 16,200 employers, while a total of 577,000 workers were paid for the month of April.

Up to 300,000 unemployed people in Croatia as a result of the coronavirus pandemic?

How many jobs will prove vulnerable in a few months, under these conditions of considerable uncertainty about the development of the coronavirus crisis, can only be guessed through rough estimates. Drazen Orescanin, an entrepreneur who has recently been primarily exposed through his role of executive director of the Voice of Entrepreneurs (Glas Poduzetnika) Association, recently stated that with the end of the tourist season and the arrival of autumn and winter on its way, we can realistically expect "some 250 to 300 thousand unemployed people at the Croatian Employment Service". Anything beyond that, according to the aforementioned association, "would mean a very big crisis indeed."

In the analysis published over recent days, Hanfa estimated the consequences of the coronavirus crisis on the labour market at around 66,000 lost jobs across Croatia in the first half of the year. The number of unemployed people in the first six months was a little less, more specifically 19 thousand less, but the analysis states that in recent years, at that time of year, the number of unemployed decreased by an average of 48 thousand, so the effect should be attributed to this variable.

According to Hanfa's analysts, the rise in unemployment will hit the younger population the hardest, as the higher share of permanent contracts is among them, and seasonal workers, especially those working in the provision of services and in the tourism sector.

"In terms of the share of the total aid for job preservation, the processing industry and the trade sector are significantly endangered, as they rely heavily on cross-border trade, which has decreased,'' they emphasised. In most of the current economic forecasts, the unemployment rate in Croatia, after falling to seven percent last year, could rise to ten percent again this year. The speed and intensity of the return to lower single-digit rates will depend to a large extent on the availability of European economic recovery assistance programmes.

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ZAGREB, Aug 14, 2020 - Austria's foreign ministry on Friday warned against travel to Croatia, as concerns grow that vacationers could catch the coronavirus and spread it once they return, the Reuters news agency reported.

Austria fears that when holiday-makers return from Croatia, which on Thursday recorded a record number new cases of the infection, that could lead to accelerating the spread of the virus on its territory.

The ministry said that the warning is effective from August 17 (you can read the full text of the warning, in German, on this link).

On Thursday Italy introduced a mandatory test for the coronavirus for anyone arriving from Croatia, Greece, Malta and Spain. That same day spokesman for Slovenia's COVID response team, Jelko Kacin, hinted that Croatia might be denoted to the red list of unsafe countries.

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ZAGREB, Aug 14, 2020 - In the last 24 hours there have been 208 new cases of the infection with coronavirus in Croatia, and the infection took two more lives, the national COVID-19 crisis management team reported on Friday.

The number of active cases rises to  961, the head of the Croatian Institute of Public Health (HZJZ), Krunoslav Capak told a news conference in Zagreb.

This is the second day in a row with record-high daily numbers of new cases. On Thursday, the team reported 180 new infections.

Currently, 106 COVID patients are receiving hospital treatment, and of the 10 are placed on ventilators.

The latest two fatalities were a patient born in 1960 and a patient born in 1934 with underlying health conditions.

Since 25 February when the country reported its first confirmed case of this communicable disease, 6,258 have tested positive, and of the 163 have died, while 5134 have recovered.

Currently, 3,158 people in Croatia are self-isolating.

Since the outbreak of the disease, 134,742 people have been tested, including 1,249 in the last 24 hours.

The average age of the newly-infected patients is 31 and they usually develop mild symptoms, Capak said.

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August 14, 2020 - Citizens of Croatia, Bulgaria, Romania, and North Macedonia will have to take a negative PCR test no older than 48 hours to enter Serbia as of Saturday (August 15), the Serbian government's Crisis Headquarters said on Friday.

N1 reports that the decision applies to North Macedonia, Croatia, Bulgaria and Romania, and the validity of the test is calculated 48 hours from the day the reference laboratory issued the result, Crisis Headquarters member Darija Kisic Tepavcevic explained to Radio Television of Serbia (RTS).

The headquarters has decided that the restrictions that applied to the citizens of Montenegro will cease to be valid, and all measures will come into force on Saturday, August 15, and will be valid until the epidemiological situation changes.

According to Kisic Tepavcevic, these measures do not apply to Serbian citizens who come from those countries, for now.

She explained to RTS that the decision was made based on an assessment of the current epidemiological situation and the trend in the incidence of the infection in recent days.

She pointed out that the epidemiological picture in Serbia has been changing for the better in recent days, and hospitals are gradually leaving the COVID system.

"We want a stable epidemiological situation because we are going to school, the season of respiratory infections is coming, and we want to reduce the intake of potential points of infection in our country," said Kisic for RTS.

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August 14, 2020 - The first official COVID-19 Croatia weekly report has been released by the Koronavirus government website, covering August 4-10.

Croatian Institute of Public Health report for the previous 7 days and daily report for the Republic of Croatia on the 10th of August 2020. 

*number in the last 24 hours

There are currently 22 testing places in the Republic of Croatia that perform RT-PCR analysis and collect samples. All processed samples enter national Croatian Health Insurance Institute platform, which is accessible to all county public health institutes. County public health institutes submit data about positive cases, sources of infection and hotspots as part of their daily reports to the Croatian Institute of Public Health. The Croatian Institute of Public Health collects information about hotspots, hospital treatment of COVID-19 positive persons, COVID-19 positive patients on respirators and the deceased.

Daily report
In the past 24 hours, 45 new cases of SARS-CoV-2 virus infection were recorded and the number of currently ill (active cases) in Croatia today is a total of 585. Among them, 124 patients are in hospital and 8 of them are on a respirator. There are currently 2,057 people in self-isolation. One person died. Until today, a total of 129,379 people has been tested and 1,247 in the last 24 hours. The share of confirmed cases in the total number of persons tested is 4.37%. The average age of confirmed cases is 46.37 years, and 49.03% of confirmed cases are men and 50.97% women.
 
Important numbers

• the number of new confirmed cases per 100,000 inhabitants in the last 14 days: 18.8/100,000
• the number of new cases in intensive care per 100,000 inhabitants in the last 14 days: 0.19/100,000
• the number of tested persons in the last 24 hours, the overall share of confirmed cases in the last 14 days: 1247, 4.6%.

Epidemiological situation in Croatia

Geographical distribution of new COVID-19 cases by counties
Since 25 February, when the first case of infection was recorded in Croatia, a total of 5,649 people infected with the new coronavirus was recorded, 158 of which have died and 4,906 have recovered. In this wave of epidemics from 18 June until today, 10 August, 51 people have died. Most of the people who died had significant comorbidities which in connection with COVID-19 were associated with a high probability of developing even more serious form of the disease. The largest number of the deceased refers to those of advanced age. The average age of the deceased in this wave of epidemics is 77.8 years. Fourteen people died on a respirator.    

 

Table 1. Total number of patients and number of patients in the last week by counties, total rate of confirmed cases per 100,000 inhabitants and rates of confirmed cases in the last 7 and last 14 days per 100,000 inhabitants

Hotspots

Continental Croatia
In one county, Međimurje, there are no new reported cases of the SARS-CoV-2 virus infection in the past 7 days. In other counties, except Vukovarsko-srijemska County and the City of Zagreb, there are no hotspots or a significant increase in the number of confirmed cases. In Croatia, the infected persons are mainly the contacts of previously confirmed cases, imported cases and those with a negative epidemiological history. In Vukovarsko-srijemska County, the focus is on two family gatherings. One of them has been monitored for 5 weeks and tertiary contacts are still being recorded. Currently, there is an active focus in this county on providers of accommodation services for the elderly. Immediately after the outbreak, anti-epidemic measures were carried out, users and employees were tested and they are in self-isolation. Patients were relocated to the infectious department of the territorial hospital. A similar situation was recorded in the City of Zagreb with one provider of accommodation services for the elderly. The procedure was similar to that in Vinkovci.

Coastal Croatia
In coastal Croatia the increase in the number of cases occurred due to family gatherings, celebrations and staying in crowded places with large number of unknown persons. Currently, the largest number of cases is recorded in Splitsko-dalmatinska County, where the increase in the number of cases in the last three weeks occurred due to a wedding celebration followed by secondary and tertiary contacts of confirmed cases and the outbreak of the virus in the accommodation establishment for people with disabilities. The described hotspots were placed under surveillance. In Istarska County, less than 4 weeks ago, the virus spread to the accommodation provider for the elderly in Umag, and among groups of people after friendly gatherings in Buzet and Labin. Several imported cases were recorded and they infected friends and contacts at family gatherings and outings. The described spreading of the virus at these locations contributed to a significant increase in the 14-day cumulative rate of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Istarska County. However, these hotspots were localized and very quickly brought under control and the situation in the Istarska County is evaluated as favourable.
All the described hotspots did not disrupt the availability or functioning of the health system or any other economic sector, i.e. public service.

Nightclubs as hotspots
In the period of little more than a week, we have started to see new cases associated with nightclubs, mostly on the coast, which is why new cases of COVID-19 have been recorded among foreign and domestic tourists. These are mostly people of younger age who have visited one or more nightclubs during their stay at the seaside (night clubs in Makarska, Vodice, Novalja and Vir). Because of this new situation, measures need to be strengthened in nightclubs, and tourists vacationing on the Adriatic are urged to observe all epidemiological measures. They have to avoid going to nightclubs and all other overcrowded places with no possibility to maintain the necessary physical distance.
In addition, during holidays and events, potentially the largest possible source of infection are coffee shops, nightclubs, family gatherings and staying with several strangers in an area that makes it impossible to maintain the necessary physical distance. We’re appealing to all citizens to wear face masks even outdoors, during celebrations and events where a large number of people is present and it is not possible to maintain the necessary physical distance.

Measures

Measures to maintain physical distance, maintain hand hygiene and disinfection are still in force. Also, it is mandatory to wear face masks or medical masks indoors for all health workers and professionals, employees who work in social care system, and the ones who work in hospitality facilities.

The STOP COVID-19 application was presented in Croatia. The Decisions of the Civil Protection Headquarters and the recommendations of the Croatian Institute of Public Health (CIPH) published on the website are in force.

Stop COVID-19 app
https://zdravlje.gov.hr/vijesti/predstavljena-mobilna-aplikacija-stop-covid-19/5259

Decisions of the Headquarters

• June 24 - Decision about changing the Decision on the manner of organizing public transport during the declared epidemic of the COVID-19 disease (mandatory face mask/medical mask in public transport)
• June 26 - Decision about controlling compliance with the Recommendation for the prevention of infection with COVID-19 in the catering industry of nightclubs (control of the implementation of recommendations in nightclubs)
• 30 June - Decision about a temporary prohibition on crossing the border of the Republic of Croatia (prohibition on crossing for third-country nationals, with the exception of those with long-term residence in the EU and other listed exceptions)
• July 10 - Decision about the necessary measures for the organization of gatherings attended by more than a hundred participants during the declared epidemic of the COVID-19 disease
• July 10 - Decision about the necessary measure of mandatory use of face masks or medical masks for the duration of the declared epidemic of the COVID-19 disease
• July 14 – Decision about changing the Decision on the necessary measure of mandatory use of face masks or medical masks for the duration of the declared epidemic of the COVID-19 disease
• July 14 - Decision about changing the Decision on the temporary prohibition on crossing the border crossings of the Republic of Croatia
• July 31 - Decision about changing the Decision on the temporary prohibition on crossing the border crossings of the Republic of Croatia

Lower testing prices on COVID-19

• https://www.hzzo.hr/nove-cijene-dtp-a-testiranja-na-bolest-covid-19/

CIPH recommendations

• Changing and amendment of the guidelines for the prevention and suppression of the COVID-19 disease epidemic for social service providers in the social welfare system – ver. 8/2
• Priorities for testing for SARS-CoV-2 (Consolidated revised recommendations of priorities for testing for SARS-CoV-2, handling of contacts, ending of isolation and self-isolation)
• Recommendations for the production and recording of audio-visual and music content during the epidemic of COVID-19 - ver. 2 (in Croatian and English)

Sources

• https://www.hzjz.hr/
• https://zdravlje.gov.hr/
• https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en