November 25, 2020 – New measures for bars and restaurants in Croatia are likely to come into force from midnight on Saturday, November 28, and should last until Christmas Eve.
UPDATE: Index.hr confirmed on Thursday evening that these measures are final and will be announced by the Headquarters on Thursday.
A meeting of the Chief of the National Headquarters and Interior Minister Davor Božinovic was held with the prefects.
As Index.hr finds out, the final decision has been made to close all cafes and restaurants. The new strict measures should take effect at midnight, the beginning of November 28, and should last until Christmas Eve.
“The argument is that they are turning into disco clubs,” one of the meeting participants told Index.
According to Index, wedding ceremonies are temporarily suspended, and fitness centers, according to the latest information, remain open, but they must provide 10 square meters per user.
It was also confirmed that shops and shopping centers will continue to operate, but supervision will be intensified to ensure that the number of customers in them is in line with the prescribed number per square meter.
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A meeting of ministers on the new measures lasted through Wednesday afternoon, and while nothing is finalized yet, Index.hr gave us a closer look at what we can expect.
Thus, there could be a complete closure of cafes, while restaurants and bakeries will remain open for delivery only.
Food delivery would be possible, until 10 pm, and the ban on the sale of alcohol from 10 pm to 6 am will not change.
Hotels should remain open, and their restaurants will be able to work, but only for hotel guests.
If the number of new cases begins to drop and the measures prove successful, then bars, cafes, and restaurants would reopen on Christmas Eve.
Shops would work as before, but there would be a stronger control over whether their capacity follows the prescribed measure per square meter. Craftspeople would continue to work, so hairdressing salons and other beauty salons and shopping centers would remain open, while cinemas would close.
The new set of measures would also reduce the number of passengers in public transport, and epidemiologists advocate that it be about 25 percent of the total capacity of public transport.
Although epidemiologists are advocating the closure of gyms, it is not yet certain that this will happen, since gyms have been mostly empty.
As far as schools are concerned, for now, teaching would not be completely switched to online but will continue to be done in schools. High schools could partially transition to online teaching, and colleges are mostly already working that way.
The Headquarters would not introduce travel restrictions from county to county as they did during the first lockdown.
Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic addressed the media on Wednesday, as reported by Jutarnji List.
“We’ll talk about measures tomorrow. Minister Božinović is currently consulting with the counties,” he said when asked about the details of the new epidemiological measures that will be introduced.
“The measures will last until before Christmas. It’s not that far. If epidemiologists ask, they could take longer,” he said.
“We have shown throughout the crisis that we care about entrepreneurship. We will find and strive to find solutions,” he added.
When asked if the state has the money for that, he answered: “It will.”
Plenkovic did not want to explain the details, and only repeated that everything would be discussed on Thursday.
He commented on the fact that the measures are being introduced, although less than a week has passed since the new measures were introduced.
“We are considering the situation all the time. I said then that we should introduce measures and monitor the situation and consider the introduction of new measures,” Plenkovic concluded.
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