June 19, 2020 - Health Minister Vili Beros said that the spike in coronavirus cases after a long time without any or a small number of patients is under control, and that the Republic of Croatia wanted to attract as many tourists as possible.

Slobodna Dalmacija reports that Minister Beros participated in the meeting of the County Civil Protection Headquarters in the Dubrovnik City Hall, from which they boasted that there are no more patients infected with COVID-19 in Dubrovnik-Neretva County, three months after the first recorded case of infection on March 19.

He stated that the coronavirus pandemic is a crisis, unlike anything we've witnessed before. 

"We talked about new circumstances and challenges. We are interested in getting as many tourists as possible, but it carries a certain danger. The task of the expert group of the Ministry of Health was to develop mechanisms in all cases, and I asked staff members not to relax. Some things we also need to anticipate because it is optimal if we are one step ahead of the virus," he said.

Speaking about the increase in the number of patients in the Republic of Croatia (11 new cases in the last 24 hours), Beros said that he had heard from the director of the Croatian Institute of Public Health, Krunoslav Capak, and that the situation was under control.

"All patients who came from abroad are not tourists, but Croatian citizens who have been to neighboring countries for short visits. We have a number of measures ready to limit such movements if we see that the cases are repeated in the coming days," Beros said.

He noted that all epidemiological measures should be adhered to, but also stated that the issue of wearing protective masks is not grounded yet.

Director of Civil Protection and Assistant Minister of the Interior Damir Trut said that the meeting of the County Headquarters discussed the coronavirus, but also the fire and tourist season.

"We have seen everything and we want to prepare the Headquarters for all activities. They have done all the tasks at school. The Headquarters will remain active in the summer months," said Trut.

County Chief Josko Cebalo said that after the opening of the borders and the beginning of the tourist season, there was an increase in the movement of people through the county, which increases the risk of the recurrence of the coronavirus in southern Croatia.

"To prevent this from happening, we are preparing measures and instructions with the epidemiological services for hotel houses, private renters and catering facilities, and we are also working out protocols on how to act in cases of infection among guests," Cebalo said.

Dubrovnik-Neretva County Prefect Nikola Dobroslavic pointed out that the absence of coronavirus infections in the county is the result of the work of the Government and the National and County Headquarters, as well as all other services and institutions.

"Many have contributed to the suppression of the pandemic so far. Of course, the key role was played by citizens who responsibly followed all measures and instructions. I believe we will know how to respond to a possible second wave, which should not be a significant danger when we have people like this." concluded Dobroslavic.

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June 18, 2020 - Health Minister Vili Beros said on Thursday that the appearance of new coronavirus cases in Croatia over the last few days is not unexpected, which shows that caution is still needed. So far, there are no tourists among those infected who have come to vacation in Croatia.

"The fact is that the virus is still among us. The most important thing is that in all new cases, we know the way of infection, that the epidemiological service quickly detected all patients and that all necessary epidemiological measures were taken," Beros said on N1.

He points out that among the infected, there are no tourists who came to Croatia on vacation, but it cannot be ruled out that there will be.

"We opened up at one point, it was our decision and need, and if there is a resurgence of patients, we have ready measures that we can take," said Beros, who is attending an exercise in Dubrovnik to establish the Emergency Helicopter Medical Service during the summer season.

New data from the National Civil Protection Headquarters on the number of patients are expected at 2 pm, and according to the latest data, two new cases of coronavirus were discovered today in Istria, while there are at least four infected people from Zagreb's Hrvoje Pozar Institute.

Furthermore, in Split-Dalmatia County, out of a total of 66 processed tests, there are 3 newly diagnosed patients - two from Split and one from Solin.

"Three new coronavirus cases were confirmed in Croatia on Wednesday, and in recent days, we have inputs from abroad and local transmission of the virus within Croatia," epidemiologist Bernard Kaic from the Croatian Institute of Public Health told HRT this morning, adding that we relaxed too soon.

According to yesterday's data from the National Civil Protection Headquarters, there is one newly infected person from Split-Dalmatia County, and two from Zagreb. One came from Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the other is the contact of an infected person from abroad. But due to the number of people placed in self-isolation, more are expected to be infected.

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