August 12, 2020 – The director of the Croatian Institute of Public Health, Krunoslav Capak, commented on the 91 new cases on Tuesday, which is the highest number in the last 20 days, and what awaits us in autumn.
“We have daily variations. Last week we had between 20 and 30, yesterday we were under 50, and today our number jumped. Any such situation is worrying, but we will see how it will be tomorrow. In general, we have a downward trend and we hope that this will continue and that today’s figure is a peak and that there will be nothing to worry about,” said Krunoslav Capak for HTV’s Dnevnik, commenting on Tuesday’s 91 new cases.
Asked what he intends to do about nightclubs, which are once again emerging as coronavirus hotspots, Krunoslav Capak said the National Headquarters has been communicating with local governments, club owners, event organizers and sending inspections for some time.
“When irregularities are found, we ask them to be corrected. Experiences are that situations are good somewhere and worse somewhere else, and then it gets better. We have several clubs where it is repeated and it would be good for the local headquarters to take the initiative, warn them a little more, and possibly write some sanctions,” said Capak.
You can see the new measures for nightclubs HERE.
Information has arrived from some countries, such as Germany, the Czech Republic, and Italy, that their citizens became infected during their vacation in Croatia. Capak says that there was a lot of such information in the media and that the authorities of those countries were asked.
“But we react exclusively to official reports because when we reacted to the unofficial ones we read online, we did not get adequate information.” He confirmed that there are several official applications from Germany, Italy and Slovenia.
“In all such cases, epidemiologists are reacting and investigating the sources of the infection and the places where these people were,” Capak said.
Regarding the request from Dubrovnik for the entry of cruisers, which is advocated by Mayor Mato Frankovic and opposed by Srđ je Grad!, Capak said that it is about an Italian company with two large cruisers on the Mediterranean.
“They worked out the measures and sent them to us for inspection. Our epidemiological assessment is that these are excellent measures. If everything is really done that way, those cruisers could be released. We also have a few additional questions. If the answers are satisfactory, then we will let the cruisers of that owner dock in Dubrovnik when they organize trips that are only now being planned,” explained Capak.
What awaits us in the autumn, and how will classes look?
To this question, Capak answered that a slightly worse situation awaits us in autumn than today because we will be indoors more and because schools and universities will begin.
Will children in school have to wear masks?
“This has not been discussed yet,” he says and reiterates that next week it will be decided whether children will go to school and what measures will be taken in schools. “It is important that we take action,” he says, adding that all events will be worked out and that citizens will be informed promptly.
To conclude, Capak also commented on the Russian vaccine.
“If that were true, that would be great news. The Russians are capable of it, but I am afraid it is much too early, with clinical studies starting in June, it is too early for the vaccine to be tested. It needs to be safe and effective; I’m afraid it’s been too short a time for that to happen,” he said, adding that he thought it was impossible to test the population by October.
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