Slovenia to issue quarantine orders at all border crossings with Croatia

ZAGREB, July 17(Hina) – Slovenia will as of Monday issue quarantine orders for anyone arriving from countries in the “red” zone via border crossings with Croatia, Interior Minister Ales Hojs confirmed on Friday.

This refers to all Slovenian citizens and foreign nationals with residence in Slovenia who visit countries on the red list which are considered high risk regarding the Covid-19 epidemic, such as Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Kosovo and Montenegro, and who transit through Croatia.

So far such orders have been given at four border crossings between Slovenia and Croatia, and from Monday they will be issued at all border crossings. The orders will be electronically produced by the health ministry and the entire process will last 5 to 7 minutes, Hojs said.

He added that longer waiting periods could be expected at border crossings during weekends when traffic is greater, particularly at the Gruskovje/Macelj and Obrezje/Bregana crossings.

Hojs confirmed that for the time being Croatia would remain on the yellow list of less safer countries, which means that Slovenians who spend their summer vacation on the Croatian Adriatic coast will not have to go into quarantine once they return to Slovenia but will be asked by border police precisely where they have been and to produce evidence of their stay if they suspect that they are just transiting through Croatia.

Slovenia has seen 19 new cases of the novel coronavirus each day for the past three days, and government spokesman Jelko Kacin said on Friday that the latest cases have come from already identified clusters. They proved positive after being tested while they were in self-isolation, adding that the spread of the virus in the country is under control.v