ZAGREB, Sept 27, 2020 - Over the past 24 hours, Croatia reports 190 new cases of the coronavirus infection and three deaths, and the number of active cases currently stands at 1,316, the national COVID-19 management team said on Sunday.

There are 280 COVID patients in hospitals, including 23 who are on ventilators. In the last 24 hours, 3,945 coronavirus tests have been performed and 204 people recovered.

Currently, 9,372 people are self-isolating.

Since February 25, when the first case of the coronavirus infection was recorded in Croatia, a total of 16,197 people have contracted the disease, 14,609 have recovered, and 272 have died.

To date, 292,969 people have been tested for coronavirus.

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ZAGREB, Sept 26, 2020 - In the last 24 hours, 212 new cases and three COVID-19-related deaths have been registered in Croatia, while the number of active cases stands at 1,333, the national COVID-19 response team said on Saturday.

Among the active cases are 271 people receiving hospital treatment, of whom 25 are on ventilators.

In the last 24 hours, 4,575 tests have been carried out, 102 infected people have recovered, and 9,257 people are currently in self-isolation.

Over 16,000 people diagnosed with COVID to date, 14,405 have recovered

Since February 25, when the first case was confirmed in Croatia, 16,007 persons have been diagnosed with this infectious disease, 269 have died and 14,405 have recovered.

A total of 289,024 people have been tested to date.

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ZAGREB, Sept 25, 2020 - In the last 24 hours, 223 new coronavirus cases and five COVID-19-related deaths have been registered in Croatia, bringing the number of active cases to 1,226, the national COVID-19 response team said on Friday.

Among the active cases are 273 people receiving hospital treatment, of whom 22 are on ventilators.

In the last 24 hours, 5,414 tests have been carried out, 192 infected people have recovered, and 8,898 people are currently in self-isolation.

Since February 25, when the first case was confirmed in Croatia, 15,795 persons have been diagnosed with COVID-19, 266 have died and 14,303 have recovered.

A total of 284,449 people have been tested to date.

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September 25, 2020 - Croatia is the 14th most searched holiday destination in the world for next year. With over 810, 000 searches on Google, the country should expect a big return of English speaking visitors to Croatia in 2021

Aside from the drop in numbers, the country's accessibility and the implementation of epidemiological guidelines, the biggest effect the Coronavirus pandemic had on Croatia's tourist season of 2020 was the change in visitor demographic. The British, Americans, Canadians and Australians largely stayed away. All that looks set to change next year as Google indicates a big return of English speaking visitors to Croatia in 2021.

Over 810, 000 searches have already been made of Croatia as a holiday destination for 2021 on Google, informing that many thousands are already researching or actively planning a trip. Croatia ranked 14th among the most searched for 2021 destinations, trailing slightly behind the likes of Italy, the Maldives, Mexico, Thailand, Spain and Greece.

Their language mostly absent from beautiful Adriatic beaches in 2020, English speaking visitors to Croatia in 2021 look set to return © Croatian National Tourist Board

The good news for the return of English speaking visitors to Croatia in 2021 was published by the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA). The data has been taken from a period starting not before March 2020. This means that all searches took place in full knowledge of the ongoing Coronavirus and epidemiological situation. English speaking visitors are undeterred.

Iva Bahunek, the head of the Croatian Tourist Board in Los Angeles has not had the easiest of tasks since the pandemic began. Her appointment is a relatively recent one. Nevertheless, she has clearly done an excellent job of promoting Croatia as a destination for American tourists in 2021. She confirmed the trends are correct - that US citizens are ready for international travel again - by analysing data from the large American travel insurance company Squaremouth. 65% of all reservations for next year refer to international destinations.

Iva Bahunek accepting her Mediterranean Stars Award for outstanding achievement in promoting Mediterranean tourism, awarded at the 6th Mediterranean Tourism Forum in Malta, 2019. She now heads the Croatian Tourist Board in Los Angeles and analysed data which backs up Google's prediction for a return of English speaking visitors to Croatia in 2021

Indications from the British market are the same. Total Croatia News recently published an interview with Vedran Meniga, organiser of a music festival site in Sibenik that successfully hosted over 10, 000 festival-goers in summer 2020. Sadly, they were the only ones who braved it. All of the international music festivals that usually take place on the Croatian coast cancelled their 2020 events.

But, some organisers of these festivals have been seen in Croatia over recent weeks, inspecting improvements to the famous The Garden Tisno festival site, which lies at the approach to Murter island. The festival's hugely popular beach stage has had walls removed, its space widened and now looks very well equipped to take on social distancing advice. Music festivals bring tens of thousands of people to Adriatic beaches each summer and the return of the international events will entice English speaking visitors to Croatia in 2021. On the below video you can see Alex Lowes of the Suncebeat Festival and Nick Colgan of The Garden Tisno recently checking out the new layout of the site in preparation for the return of festivals in 2021.

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ZAGREB, Sept 24, 2020 - The European Commission on Thursday called on European Union member states to take all necessary anti-COVID steps to curb the spread of coronavirus and thus prevent another lockdown of the economy.

The Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, Stella Kyriakides, was quoted as saying in Brussels that "today's new risk assessment clearly shows us that we cannot lower our guard."

"With some Member States experiencing higher numbers of cases than during the peak in March, it is abundantly clear that this crisis is not behind us. We are at a decisive moment, and everyone has to act decisively and use the tools we have. This means that all Member States must be ready to roll out control measures immediately and at the right time, at the very first sign of potential new outbreaks. This might be our last chance to prevent a repeat of last spring," said the commissioner.

The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) today published its updated risk assessment regarding the COVID-19 pandemic, alongside a set of guidelines for non-pharmaceutical interventions (such as hand hygiene, physical distancing, cleaning, and ventilation).

The EU member states are urged to step up testing and contact tracing, improve public healthcare surveillance, ensure better access to personal protective equipment and medicines and ensure sufficient health capacity, in line with the actions presented by the Commission in July.

Regarding the epidemiological situation, the ECDC report says that in Croatia, Czechia, Hungary, Bulgaria, Malta, Romania,

and Spain there is a high infection risk for the general population and a very high risk for vulnerable groups.

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ZAGREB, Sept 24, 2020 - Over the last 24 hours, of 5,351 tests performed for coronavirus, Croatia reported 232 new cases and four more COVID patients have died, while there are currently 1,200 active cases, the national COVID-19 management team said on Thursday.

There are 266 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, including 24 who are on ventilators.

In the past 24 hours, 296 people have recovered. Currently, 9,329 people are self-isolating.

Since February 25, when the first case of the infection was registered in Croatia, a total of 15,572 people have contracted the disease, 261 have died and 14,111 have recovered.

To date, 279,035 people have undergone coronavirus testing.

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ZAGREB, Sept 23, 2020 - Over the last 24 hours, there have been 204 new cases of the coronavirus infection and two deaths, and the number of active cases in Croatia stands at 1,268, the national COVID-19 management team said on Wednesday.

There are 278 COVID patients in hospitals, including 27 who are on ventilators. In the past 24 hours, a total of 6,387 tests have been performed and 828 people have recovered.

Currently, 9,314 people are self-isolating.

Since February 25, when the first case of the infection was registered in Croatia, a total of 15,340 people have contracted the disease, 257 have died and 13,815 have recovered.

To date, 273,684 people have been tested for coronavirus.

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September 22, 2020 - For six consecutive weeks this summer, the Martinska venue alone welcomed over 10, 000 international visitors to its music festivals in Sibenik. Zero cases of Coronavirus occurred.

Over recent years, three things have firmly placed Croatia on the international stage – Game Of Thrones, the World Cup and music festivals. Running for over a decade now, music festivals are the oldest of these. They have elevated places like Pula and Tisno to become among the most-Googled destinations in the country.

So popular now are Croatia music festivals, that many say the summer season of music festivals in Croatia has supplanted the famous hedonistic holidays of Ibiza as the hippest place to go. Incredible disappointment was therefore felt by tens of thousands of expectant party people earlier this year when most of the international Croatia music festivals decided to cancel their 2020 events. They did so in response to the Coronavirus pandemic.

One venue stood alone – Martinska, a 20-year-old site for music festivals in Sibenik. Over six consecutive weeks, all of their 2020 festivals took place. They did so under strict adherence to epidemiological guidelines. And, following a wait of two weeks after the final event (to cover any potential Coronavirus incubation period), site organisers Pozitivan Ritam have released their results - zero cases of Coronavirus.

“It's not only the five festivals and one concert event that we did,” Pozitivan Ritam director Vedran Meniga told TCN, “The Fortress of Culture in Sibenik had more than 30 events this summer and Project Vojarna in Sibenik had two parties this year with over 4000 people. On one RTL television show, they described Sibenik as the Croatian Wuhan when 3000 people were in the town for one techno party there. But, at the end of the season, none of these events resulted in a single Coronavirus infection. Not one.”

Following a successful lockdown earlier in the year, cases of Coronavirus were limited in Croatia at the start of the season. Yet, some were understandably hesitant to come. Music festivals in Sibenik still managed to attract visitors from Britain, France, the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany to Martinska. Even after the middle of August when cases began to appear in other regions and international visitor numbers dried up, the festival site was still busy with Croatians and partygoers from near-neighbouring countries. At the end of August, there were no more than five infected persons in Sibenik. None were music festival or music event attendees. Throughout much of the summer, Sibenik recorded zero cases.

“The music festivals in Sibenik are proof that it's possible to work doing events during the era of Corona,” Meniga tells TCN. “Of course, all of our events were open-air and no doubt that helped.”

"When cases started to reappear elsewhere at the end of July, I went to the civil authorities and epidemiologists immediately, before they came to us,” says Vedran. “The civil authorities and the police grant the license for the events. I presented them with a plan and they were satisfied. They allowed us to continue.”

“It helped that Martinska is across the bay from Sibenik. Festival attendees don't even need to go into the town to come, they drive here straight from the Magistrala (Croatian coastal highway). Also, Martinska's capacity is five times bigger than the numbers we were going to cater for. The site can accommodate six to seven thousand. We expected no more than 1500 daily. That was more than enough space to maintain physical distance. We carefully took all contact details for each attendee at the entrance, in case something appeared and we (or authorities) had to later contact people. We also took everyone's temperature. And in addition to the required epidemiological sanitization, we also installed disinfectant pillars at every single point where money or goods exchanged hands. All our staff wore not only masks but also gloves. Four times the civil authorities made surprise visits to the site for inspection along with epidemiologists and police. Each time they were completely satisfied.”

Current forecasts for the Coronavirus response predict that a vaccine will not be available to cover everyone until the autumn of 2021. This has serious implications for at least one more tourist season. Yet, with the incredible achievements seen this summer at Martinska's music festivals in Sibenik, we can all take hope that events, tourism, and even life itself may continue to be enjoyed in the near future, as long as we're all smart about it.



All photos 2020 Martinska © Seasplash / Pozitivan Ritam. 

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ZAGREB, Sept 19, 2020 - In the last 24 hours, of 5,457 tests performed for coronavirus, 212 have returned positive, and there have been no COVID-related deaths, Croatia's COVID-19 crisis management team reported on Saturday.

Currently, there are 2,128 active cases, and 9,714 contacts are self-isolating.

Of those active cases, 288 are receiving hospital treatment, including 24 placed on ventilators.

Since 25 February, when the first case of the disease was registered in Croatia, a total of 14,725 people have been diagnosed with this infection. Of them, 12,353 have recovered and 244 have died.

To date, Croatia's health authorities have conducted 254,480 tests for this novel virus.

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ZAGREB, Sept 17, 2020 - In the last 24 hours, of 5,948 tests performed for coronavirus in Croatia, 250 have returned positive, and the number of active cases stands at 2,108, the national COVID-19 response team said on Thursday.

There have been two more fatalities, bringing the COVID-related death toll to 238.

Currently, 300 infected patients are receiving hospital treatment, and of the 24 are placed on ventilators.

Since February 25, when the first case of the disease was reported in Croatia, 14,279 people have contracted the disease and 11,933 of them have recovered.

The team reported that 8,756 people were now self-isolating.

Since the outbreak of this infectious disease, 242,886 tests have been performed.

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