Croatia to ban leaving place of residence, shut down markets

Davor Božinovic (Photo: HINA/ Daniel KASAP)

ZAGREB, March 22 (Hina) – The Minister of the Interior and head of the national civil protection team, Davor Bozinovic, said on Sunday that containing the spread of the coronavirus pandemic remained a “number one priority”, announcing the closure of farm produce markets and a ban on leaving one’s place of residence.

“The strong earthquake that struck Zagreb today has made our fight against the coronavirus considerably more difficult, but preventing the spread of the virus remains our number one priority,” Bozinovic told RTL television.

He said that people in Zagreb finally realised that they should stay at home and today there were far fewer of them outside than in recent days, despite the fact that many of them took to the streets in the wake of the earthquake.

Nevertheless, Bozinovic announced stricter measures because of poor organisation and failure by people to observe the measures passed by his team, announcing the closure of farm produce markets.

The closure of farm produce markets “is already in force, and people will be banned from leaving their place of residence as of tomorrow morning. All inter-city travel is banned,” he said.

On Sunday, the number of those infected with coronavirus in Croatia had risen by 19 and now stood at 254.

Asked about victims of the earthquake, Bozinovic said that a 15-year-old girl was still in a critical condition, while 27 people were injured, of whom 12 have been hospitalised.

The government will prepare a financial framework in the coming days to repair the damage caused by the earthquake, he said.