As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 15th of June, 2020, the Chief of the Crisis Staff of the Ministry of Health and a member of the National Staff of Civil Protection, Maja Grba-Bujevic, was a guest recently on N1 television. She spoke about coronavirus, the current epidemiological situation in Croatia and the surrounding countries.
Grba-Bujevic said that the Croatian Institute of Public Health had already made a number of recommendations, some of which were related to the holding of rallies, to the elections themselves, and that she would make recommendations for election day itself.
She also commented on non-compliance with physical/social distance measures and other epidemiological measures.
“When a person glances at the TV, they see that there’s some disinfectant sitting somewhere, but it isn’t important that it’s there, it’s important whether or not it is actually used. Gathering outdoors is seen as even less of a risk and the need to keep a physical distance is poorly respected. I’m really horrified by some scenes from television, I wouldn’t like to name the politicians in question now, but something is being shared and then hugs and kisses follow. My question is, what have we been doing all this time? Health is most important thing as far as we’re concerned,” Grba-Bujevic pointed out.
In the new case of coronavirus infection, she explained that there has been contact made with the patient who was reported on Saturday. “It’s a Croatian citizen who was in Bosnia and Herzegovina hunting and brought coronavirus back with him,” explained Grba-Bujevic.
She made sure to point out that going abroad should be reduced to a reasonable measure and going outside of the country’s borders shouldn’t be done if it isn’t absolutely necessary.
As for the number of people who are currently in self-isolation, she said Croatia was at a number of 68 people on Friday, and when we add more of these new cases then it will be somewhere around 80.
The increasing number of newly infected people in the countries in Croatia’s immediate region:
Grba-Bujevic noted that the National Headquarters is continuing to monitor the number of newly infected people in the countries in Croatia’s immediate region.
”When you look at what’s actually going on, it regards local areas. When this is well analysed, then it can be concluded that the measures in these areas have been terribly violated. Since they were violated, what happened happened,” she explained.
She pointed out that physical distance, hand hygiene and disinfection are the basic things that we really have no problem carrying on with. “I expect from all those who are in public spaces to spread the word and in that way contribute to staying healthy,” said Grba-Bujevic.
She also explained what the procedure is if a tourist gets infected with the new coronavirus in a hotel or camp.
“If someone falls ill, whether he is a Croatian national or a foreigner, the procedure is always the same. The person taking care of them will need to get in touch, and the way in which this will be done, ie the tourist ambulance, will be published on the pages of each county these days. We must first obtain a positive epidemiological history. If it is decided that patient Covid is suspicious, then testing is organized for him. He is provided with food in the room, everything he needs is taken to the room and left at the door. When the test is obtained, then it is decided on possible hospitalization “, said Grba-Bujević.
What if a tourist gets infected with coronavirus while on holiday in Croatia?
Grba-Bujevic says that all scenarios are foreseen. If it is a Croatian citizen, he can go home with the measures prescribed by epidemiologists, he explains.
“If the person is a Croatian citizen, we’ll provide them with accommodation and transportation home can be organised for them. Of course, this won’t be done by public transport,” she said, adding that foreigners can also return by car, but in a secured way and in close cooperation with the instructions of the epidemiologists.
She said that many people involved in dealing with the coronavirus pandemic believe that a second wave is certain and that the Headquarters has prepared three scenarios should it occur.
”One is a light variant, one is medium, and one is heavy. It would be difficult to return everything back to how we had it, that is, complete closure. An easy scenario would be to live with all of the protection measures in place. The middle ground would be to return to stricter measures and not close everything, but stick to those prescribe measures,” she concluded.
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