June 12, 2021 - What will entering events with Covid passports in Croatia look like? The latest. 

Covid passports from Saturday can also be used as tickets for cultural and sports events where epidemiological measures do not have to be adhered to, the National Civil Protection Headquarters decided. 

All organizers of concerts, festivals, performances, and sporting events can choose to organize events that can only be attended by those who have been vaccinated with two doses at least 14 days ago, those who have had Covid in the last six months, and people who have a negative test no older than 48 hours. Events can be organized without checking the Covid status, but then they have to apply all the rigorous measures: mandatory masks, distancing, one guest per four square meters, etc.

Jutarnji List thus learned from the National Civil Protection Headquarters the details of how to enter events with Covid certificates. The organizer will have to report the event and the number of people waiting. They will register to organize the event with Covid certificates. Visitors will have to show a document at the entrance proving that they have one of the conditions. This can be a Covid certificate or a certificate they have received from a doctor.

They must also be prepared to show an identification document, which confirms that the certificate they have is theirs. The National Headquarters explains that, since they attend voluntarily, visitors voluntarily agree to show the document, and the organizer is obliged to use it only for the purpose of reporting to the authorities to check the status of visitors.

This is actually a test phase, i.e., a period in which organizers and citizens learn about the new rules, and on the other hand try to show citizens, especially younger ones, that vaccination is the most effective and cheapest way to have fun. From the beginning of July, Covid confirmations will no longer be just an option, but a condition for organizing all major and risky events, adds Jutarnji List. 

Although new variants of the virus pose a threat, Europe, including Croatia, has a good epidemiological situation. In the last 24 hours, 134 new cases of infection were recorded, and the number of active cases is 1207 in total. Although the number of hospitalized and patients on respirators is decreasing, there are still those who have to go to the hospital. A total of 456 patients are in the hospital, and 44 patients are on a respirator. Thirteen people died.

"Last week we had 1,056 patients, and this week 814, which is 22.9 percent less. The current incidence is 67.6. It is the lowest in Istria, and the highest in Međimurje County. According to the 14-day incidence rate in the EU, Croatia ranks 12th and is lower than the European average. The mortality rate is 1996, which puts us in 21st place on the EU scale," said Krunoslav Capak, director of the CNIPH.

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.

ZAGREB, October 18, 2020 - In the night from Saturday to Sunday around 20 police officers were patrolling the area around the Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb to prevent a mass gathering of young people who used to gather there in the past five months.

The latest epidemiological measures, defined by the national coronavirus crisis team, went into force on Saturday, and they envisage, due to an increase in new infections in the capital city and the rest of the country, control of informal gatherings in public areas, as well as the wearing of masks outdoors where physical distancing is not possible.

The HNK square was almost entirely empty at 1 a.m. on Sunday after in the past five months several hundred or even up to a thousand young people used to gather there in the evening every weekend and sometimes on workdays.

Police last night were sending away young men and girls who as in previous months started arriving at the HNK square around midnight.

May 29, 2020 - After the National Civil Protection Headquarters lifted the ban on gatherings of up to 40 people in Croatia, on Thursday, the Croatian Institute of Public Health (CNIPH) specified the maximum numbers.

Therefore, Jutarnji List reports that, based on the recommendations of the Croatian Institute of Public Health, 300 people are allowed indoors, while outdoors, that number has risen to 500. 

Of course, as explained earlier this week, this is due to the favorable epidemiological situation and the small number of active cases, and the minimal or no number of new cases.

Regarding the recommendations, the CNIPH provided brief guidance. Thus, a distance of one and a half meters is recommended, except for people who live in the same household or otherwise socialize. Also, four square meters of space should be counted per person.

Among other recommendations, the CNIPH states that the mouth, nose and eyes should not be touched with the hands, hand disinfection is not mentioned, but indoors, mouth and nose masks should be worn by people who think they could develop more severe forms of the disease if they become infected with COVID-19.

It is not specified which categories of people these are, but considering the previous warnings, this should refer to the elderly, and people with a weaker immune system, i.e., the chronically ill.

Another big announcement on Thursday was that the borders have been fully reopened by Croatia to citizens of no less than ten countries. 

Citizens of Czechia, Slovakia, Hungary, Austria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovenia, and Germany can enter Croatia without restriction. 

“According to our comparative analysis of the epidemiological situation, those are the countries with either similar progress as Croatia or the trends are such that we can adopt such a decision and enable the arrival of those countries’ citizens during the tourist season, with the appropriate epidemiological recommendations and the special application that has already been made,” Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic told his cabinet.

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