Croatia extends lockdown restrictions until Jan 31 

Zagreb (Photo: HINA/ Edvard ŠUŠAK/)

ZAGREB, 8 January (Hina/CW) – Croatia has extended the restrictions it put in place aimed at containing the coronavirus outbreak until the end of January, it was confirmed at a press conference on Friday. 

Croatia closed bars, cafes, restaurants, gyms, sporting facilities, casinos, gaming arcades, fairs, and betting shops at the end of November. There were also restrictions on working hours and gatherings put in place, 25 people at public events and no more than 10 people at private gatherings and ceremonies.

Today the decision was made to extend the measures. 

Bearing in mind our situation, which is somewhat more favourable, but also the situation in Europe, which is not so fabulous, we have made a decision together. There are no concessions to the measures, said Interior Minister Davor Božinović at a press conference on Friday, adding:

“All measures will be extended and remain in force until January 31. This means that until further notice, all catering facilities and gyms will be closed, and the number of passengers in public transport will be limited.”

The ban on travel outside counties was lifted after the devastating earthquake at the end of December. 

Supermarkets, shops, hairdressers and malls have always remained open. 

16.2% of tests positive 

Of 6,742 tests performed in the last 24 hours, 1,098 have returned positive (16.2%), and there have been another 38 related deaths bringing the death toll to 4,304, Croatia’s national COVID-19 response team said on Friday.

There are 2,251 COVID patients in hospitals, including 194 on ventilators. The number of active cases in Croatia stands at 5,794, and there are 18,277 people in self-isolation.

To date, 1.06 million people have been tested. Since the start of the epidemic in Croatia, a total 217,946  people have contracted the novel coronavirus and 207,848 have recovered, including 1,538 in the last 24 hours.

“Today we had 1098 new cases in Croatia. A week ago we had 1170 new cases. I would like to remind you that we had more than 4000 cases when the measures were introduced,” Croatian Public Health Institute director Krunoslav Capak said.