Croatia announces new COVID measures

ZAGREB, Oct 25 (Hina) – Croatia’s COVID-19 crisis management team on Sunday presented a new set of restrictions which include the maximum number of people at public gathering up to 50, and sports events will be held without spectators in the next 14 days.

Outlining the new restrictions, Interior Minister Davor Bozinovic, who is at the helm of the crisis management team, said that the tougher measures would go into force at midnight on Monday.

Their implementation will last 14 days, and after that the authorities are expected to decide whether they should be extended or changed.

According to the new measures, any contact within less than two metres in closed space and less than 1.5 metres outdoors should be avoided.

In attendance at wedding parties as well as at funerals no more than 30 persons can be present.

Other private gatherings are capped at 15 people, Bozinovic said.

All public gatherings and ceremonies can last until 22 hours.

The authorities have banned the sale of alcohol from midnight to 6am.

Wearing protective masks is compulsory outdoors when it is impossible to keep a distance.

Masks are mandatory during visits to graveyards and cemeteries.

Particular protocols are specified for plays and cultural programmes, film screenings in cinemas, religious rites, exhibitions in museums and similar events.

Workers with a high body temperature and problems in their respiratory systems are required not to go to work.

Also working from home, if possible, is recommended.

Bozinovic told the news conference that about a million kuna (€133,000) had so far been collected as fines for the failure to adhere to the restrictions. However, he says, the point is to make sure that all will comply with those measures.

Turning Zagreb’s Arena into makeshift hospital, if necessary

Preparations are under way for turning  sports venues into makeshift hospitals, and Health Minister Vili Beros said today that there was a plan to adapt Zagreb’s Arena hall to accommodate COVID patients with moderate symptoms who need hospital treatment.

It is possible to set up 1,000 beds in Arena, he said, admitting that ” the essential challenge is the medical staff and the risk of overburdening them.”

The number of active cases in Croatia stands at 11,144. There are 825 COVID patients in hospitals, and 58 are on ventilators, according to the latest data.

The head of the Croatian Institute of Public Health (HZJZ), Krunoslav Capak, told the news conference that currently in Croatia, the coronavirus incidence rate is 389.9 persons per 100,000 inhabitants, which puts the country in the middle of the rankings in Europe, while the current reproduction number, or R value, for Covid-19 is 1,99 in our country, Capak said.