Croatia: success in saving lives, will there be a success in saving the economy?
Croatia has not been affected by COVID -19 as harshly as it has happened in other countries of Europe and the World. On May 10th, 2176 cases of COVID-19 are confirmed, which makes 51 cases per 100 000 citizens. There are 87 deaths recorded (URL 1).
Currently, Croatia holds the presidency of the Council of the European Union and has initiated on February 13th meeting where the EU discussed more effective coordination and suppression of the risk of spreading the COVID-19.
Croatia has started its preliminary precautions at the beginning of January 2020. Self-isolation practice was applied very early, even before the virus occurred in Croatia. The first case was confirmed on February 25th, in a 25-year-old man. At the time, he came from Milan, Italy, where the sudden spread of infections happened. Croatian government had high hopes from the start because the number of cases was not increasing exponentially. Most of those were recorded in Croatian citizens who have come back from foreign countries. Individuals who suspected that are infected or those who were infected behaved very responsibly and cooperated with local epidemiological services. Anyway, the virus was faster, and it didn’t choose when or whom it will infect further.
Evil never comes alone.
On March 22nd, in all of the concerns for staying at home, a strong earthquake of magnitude 5.5 hit the capital city of Croatia, Zagreb. Can you imagine the paradox? People are supposed to follow #stayhome, but a home for many people at that moment became the least safe place to be. Some of those homes were severely damaged, and some of those homes vanished completely. One more struggle for Croatian people and government. There was one victim who died under the ruins, and 17 more people who were injured.
Croatia and Zagreb city gave financial aid to citizens whos properties experienced most damage. There were many donations organized from other parts of Croatia, neighboring countries, and the European Union. Immediate solution provided for people who lost their homes was to provide them with temporary accommodation in student dorms. Petrova hospital was compelled to move all the newborn babies to other hospitals, as it suffered damage and was under a risk for further damages. Zagreb citizens helped with the transfer of the babies.
Most severe damages occurred in the center of Zagreb, where cultural and historical heritage was shattered, as well as the building of the Croatian Parliament.
What about the golden gem of Croatia, tourism?
A big part of Croatia depends on tourism, which is one of the main sources of income for Croatian BDP. Already in March, there was almost 80 % less of the tourists and 70 % less of overnight stands (URL 6). At the beginning of this pandemic, the Croatian government knew that its tourism will be affected by it, indirectly and directly. Big concerns represent closed borders of countries from which tourists come to the Croatian coasts. Also, a large number of people work only seasonally in hospitality, and touristic season as Croatia knows it should have started in April. Unfortunately, this will be postponed, if not completely omitted this year. The government has offered financial help to tourist boards, private householders that host tourists, as well as hotels and camps. Hotels have managed to decrease their losses by closing their doors and saving on consumption (URL 4).
The most lethal measure was closing down many workplaces and thousands of people losing their job. Measures were implemented in many aspects of everyday lives, even impacting the regularities of holding a funeral or wedding. There was no quarantine as in other countries and people could have left their houses whenever they wanted. Despite that, they weren’t able to be in a group of more than five people. Citizens were prohibited to leave their place of residence, unless for work, in which case they were required to have the written confirmation from their employee. More than 60 measures are planned for the Croatian economy, involving 8 ministries. One of the most important was postponed payment of tax liabilities incurred during and due to special circumstances (URL 3).
The government and the press have been up to date with all the information multiple times a day, and Croatian citizens were sticking to their TVs and computers like never before, absorbing every word politicians and media said. Many people expressed their opinion about the government doing their jobs. Feedback was positive, people were satisfied. But of course, there always will be contra opinions (which is not bad). Some of the citizens felt like they were oppressed, and that the government’s measures were just a step leading to the tyranny.
The month of May — ‘’May we or may we not live as we used to live before?’’
Three phases of reducing measures were planned.
1. (April 27th) Opening of all the retail stores except ones in the Malls, libraries, museums, galleries. The ability for accessing required professional exams, professional sports training for competitions on the highest levels. Release of the city and intraregional public traffic. All of these need to follow strict rules of the epidemiology services (URL 2).
2. (May 4th) Public health care system is again in a full range service, as well as private health services. Openings of the beauty saloons (hairdressers, manicures, and pedicures). All of these need to follow strict rules of the epidemiology services (URL 2).
3. (May 11th) Most significant releases. Openings of all types of Shopping Malls, hospitality services are able to serve their guests (coffee shops and restaurants). Interregional public transport and domestic air traffic. Teaching in schools for children in the youngest school classes (1. — 4.) and opening of the Universities for practical and lab work. Up to 10 people are able to be in a group on the street (with respect to the 1.5 m social distance). Also, religious gatherings are allowed but in a smaller number of people. Opening of the national parks and nature parks. Again, All of these need to follow strict rules of the epidemiology services (URL 2).
One important change that is implemented is non-working Sundays and holidays for many stores, which by today’s date were regular working days here in Croatia. All large public gatherings will be forbidden until further notice, and one of the biggest tourist attractions in Croatia, Zrće beach, will be closed this summer. Also, gatherings on the beaches will be monitored.
Zadar city — coast, sea, coffee, and sun.
People are still waiting for clubs, restaurants, and coffee shops to open. Here in Croatia, there is a big culture evolved in drinking coffee in coffee shops for many hours, as a form of relaxation, reasons to hang out, or often to have professional business meetings. Indeed, it was hard to get people out of that habit, as they were still going with their own coffee mugs to sit on a terrace of a closed coffee shop, just to get the satisfaction of drinking their much-needed beverage in the sun. Of course, behaviors like this needed to be sentenced, as they were threatening to the safety of themselves and the other. Some cases of illegal working of some bars were also recorded but fortunately shut in time.
Somehow, people here in Zadar didn’t get much scared of the whole situation. They found nearby shops with drive-in and went there regularly, not minding if they would have to wait in line for some time or to follow by many safety rules proposed to them. Very few people seemed much concerned with the situation and many of them would say: ‘’That’s all imagined just to scare people’’ and similar theories. It seems like people discovered how to appreciate the magic of going out in nature, recreation, and that in general, it’s not polite to stand too close to someone in public space. Hopefully, this positive habits will be seen in the future again.
New adaptations or restoring old habits?
The most important thing now is that they are removing tents and beds which were intended for infected individuals in need of respirators and special care, and this represents a victory against the spreading of the virus. Undoubtedly this situation calls for adaptation in many ways. Maybe Croatia will realize that it cannot only depend on one source of the economic income (tourism), and will working from home and many other online services become a new normal for Croatian citizens? That also implies a further need for the digitalization and informatic literacy of the people. Maybe the educational system will reduce unnecessary school content imposed on students and focus more on new trends and digital skills that need to be acquired in today’s world.
For now, I think that Croatia has a very organized and controlled approach to the situation, without the highest levels of restriction. Of course, it is impossible to reason every individual in the city, especially the whole country, but behavioral changes can have a domino effect. You can ignore seeing new cautious habits that your neighbor is creating, but in some time there is a possibility that you will adopt them too. Unfortunately, it can go in another way too, and avoid any responsibility if you see that your friend or co-worker is avoiding them too.
The Croatian government is aware that this scenario may happen again in the near future, possibly in the autumn.
