THE CROATS are quite simple-minded: when the Minister of the Interior Davor Bozinovic, a man with a diploma, a master's degree and a doctorate obtained at the Faculty of Political Sciences, as a member of the Coronavirus Task Force, announces that "shops, with the exception of kiosks, bakeries, bread and pastry shops, and gas station shops, will not be allowed to work" on Sundays and holidays, they really believe that the reason lies in the protection of their health. Yes, there are indeed people in the Republic of Croatia who think that the newly adopted Sunday work ban for shops is based on epidemiological rather than on the lowest political reasons. Elections are coming up, Andrej Plenkovic won the inter-party elections, his party's ratings are growing, and the only thing left to do is for him to get on the Church's good side.

That is why next Sunday shops will be closed.

Capak also made a statement

Bozinovic's statement was not quite enough for the more suspicious Croats, so a statement was also made by Krunoslav Capak, director of the Croatian Institute of Public Health. He explained that they would also extend working hours for shops to 9 pm, but "in order to reduce the mobility of people during the pandemic, all shops will be banned from working on Sundays and holidays." This will last until the impact of the relaxation of measures on the epidemiological situation in the country is assessed.

"When we talked about extending working hours for shops, the intention was for people to have time to shop after work, namely until 9 pm, but at the same time, we wanted to reduce mobility a bit, as that is one of the main ways in which the virus spreads," says Capak.

Saturday grocery search

Let's imagine that all measures, recommendations, and advice that we have been bombarded with in recent weeks are in force, and that the virus continues to spread among people through close contact – not through texts or email. So how does it make sense to close stores one day a week? It would be rational to scatter all those people buying bread, milk, wine, cheese, salami, and of course, toilet paper, an absolute necessity of the modern age, across as many days as possible in order to limit grouping. If a thousand people want to go to a particular store next weekend, everyone will come flooding on Saturday. By what logic does that reduce "mobility" and the chance of the virus spreading?

And if, on the other hand, the decision is based on the sympathy towards store employees, why is that sympathy limited to one day a week? Stores will be open every day until 9 pm so Sundays could be free. And those free Sundays have nothing to do with viruses, epidemiology, or the fight for workers' rights, but with concessions to the Church. Abortion has more or less been expelled from many hospitals, and by banning work on Sundays, Plenkovic will try, and probably manage to alleviate Church and para-church dissatisfaction with the Istanbul Convention. That is why, as part of the post-corona normalization, they will open Churches rather than schools.

There is only one reason for such a decision

In short, there may be two sensible reasons for the Coronavirus Task Force's decision to ban work on Sundays: currying favor with the Church or a new and yet undisclosed discovery that the virus is most dangerous on Sundays, in stores.

That is, there is only one reason – Plenkovic is trying to prove himself to Bozanic and Markic.