Croatia reports 92 new cases in last 24 hours: Serbia, Montenegro removed from EU list of safe countries

(Photo credit: HINA/ Damir SENCAR/ ds)

ZAGREB, July 15, 2020 (Hina/CW) – There were 92 new COVID-19 cases reported in Croatia in the last 24 hours, the national crisis management team said at a press conference on Wednesday in Zagreb. 

Today’s new cases bring the total to 3,953.

There were no new COVID-19-related fatalities reported in the last 24 hours. The current death toll stands at 120. There have been 2,629 recoveries so far, 67 more than yesterday. 

There are 1,204 active cases currently in Croatia with 132 people in hospital and five patients currently on a ventilator.

Since late February, Croatia has conducted 97,724 tests, including 1,804 in the last 24 hours. 

Most of the active cases are in the capital Zagreb, Osijek-Baranja and Split-Dalmatia counties. 

Mandatory face mask-wearing extended 

Wearing face masks has become mandatory in companies and state institutions in Croatia as of today, both for staff and for customers, the national coronavirus crisis response team said.

The earlier decision requiring masks in retails shops and restaurants has now been expanded to include post offices, banks, and all services involving close contact, such as hairdressers or nail technicians, the head of the Croatian Institute of Public Health, Krunoslav Capak, said.

He said that they had not yet received a reply from Czech health authorities whether Czech tourists had contracted the virus in Croatia or not. He said that among 16 Czech tourists staying in Sisak-Moslavina County one was positive and wanted to remain in Croatia until he recovered while the others want to return home.

The national response team has also been notified that a Swiss family staying in a holiday apartment in Split-Dalmatia County has also become infected, but the team has not contacted them yet and does not know how they contracted the virus.

Serbia, Montenegro removed from EU list of safe countries

EU member states decided on Tuesday to remove Montenegro and Serbia from the list of third countries from which it is allowed to travel to the EU without restrictions due to an increase in coronavirus cases, according to diplomatic sources.

After the removal of Serbia and Montenegro, there is no European country on that list, except perhaps Georgia, a state on the border between eastern Europe and western Asia.

Thirteen countries remain on the list: Algeria, Australia, Georgia, Japan, South Korea, Canada, China, Morocco, New Zealand, Rwanda, Thailand, Tunisia and Uruguay.

A meeting of the Committee of Permanent Representatives heard proposals to remove Algeria and Morocco from the list as well, but the proposals were not supported.

The list was adopted at the end of June and is revised every two weeks, depending on the epidemiological situation in a third country. The main criterion for the entry of third-country citizens to the EU as of July 1 is that the number of new coronavirus cases in said countries over the past 14 days is close to or below the EU average.