WHILE the new COVID-19 hotspots are appearing in some neighboring countries, and the coronavirus cases are spiking in Macedonia, Croatia has had a favorable epidemiological situation for weeks.

According to the Croatian Coronavirus Task Force, there were only 15 active cases a few days ago, with only ten people recovering in hospitals.

We asked our epidemiologists why that is the case and how they plan to continue this favorable epidemiological situation despite the opening of borders for tourists. 

Capak: We reacted quickly, and people were adhering to the social distancing rules

In an interview with Index, the Croatian Institute of Public Health Director Krunoslav Capak stated that people in Croatia were adhering to the social distancing rules more than citizens in some neighboring countries. 

"Some have clearly lost focus on this matter. Serbia had 96 cases a couple of days ago. Macedonia has had more than 100 cases daily for the last couple of days. Bosnia and Herzegovina had 43 cases a few days ago," said Capak.

Kaic: We were the first ones in Europe to implement key social distancing measures

The first Croatian epidemiologist, Bernard Kaic, agrees with Capak and thinks that a good epidemiological situation can be attributed to the implementation of social distancing measures in a timely manner. 

"For example, we were the first country in the EU to implement a 14-day quarantine, i.e., self-isolation of passengers from the affected areas. We implemented an active health control and free movement as early as the beginning of February, while other EU countries were still distributing flyers with information on how to maintain health," Kaic pointed out. 

The collaboration of experts was crucial, as well as the collaboration with citizens

The Croatian Coronavirus Task Force carried out a similar evaluation:

"We have a favorable epidemiological situation thanks to the combined results of the Coronavirus Task Force's decisions in sync with the recommendations, and most importantly, thanks to the collaboration of citizens who adhered to the social distancing measures. The epidemiological unit also shouldn't be forgotten - they worked 24/7 on tracing contacts and conducting health control. The collaboration with citizens was extremely successful. They understood the danger and adhered to the measures." 

"With all the effort from the epidemiological teams, as well as with the help of other public health services, a great job in fighting off the pandemic was done. Precisely because of effective collaboration, we didn't experience dramatic spread among the elderly people as in some of our neighboring countries," reported the Coronavirus Task Force.

Capak: However, the virus is still present

In Capak's opinion, there's no reason to worry, but he also points out that it's important to always have in mind that the pandemic is still present, and that's something that should be communicated with the public at all times.

"From what I see and hear from my colleagues, it seems to me that people are still adhering to the social distancing measures, although there are several cases where people ignore it. For example, if members of the same family sit together in a restaurant, that's not a problem. Otherwise, a distance should be kept between the tables. In my opinion, around 90% of people follow the recommendations, which is crucial. We've let tourists enter the country along with certain recommendations. We didn't introduce bans and controls, only recommendations. And we are still going to urge the citizens to follow the recommendations. Our success was partially the result of enforcing the recommendations, and informing the public, as opposed to those who implemented much stricter measures, even used the police power, which still didn't lead to much success. I think it's crucial to appeal to the citizens' sense of reason and take into account that the virus is still here and that they have to follow the recommendations for their own health and the health of their closest people," said Capak.

Kaic: The pressure to move faster on additional easing of the social distancing measures is pointless

Since we can notice a more relaxed behavior in Croatian shops, restaurants, and coffee shops, we wanted to know if we should expect the situation to worsen, especially now when the borders are starting to open for tourists. 

Kaic warns that the situation can quickly worsen if people relax too much. 

"Unfortunately, with the relaxation of the social distancing measures, the recommendations still in force are interpreted much more flexibly. Of course, we were also lucky. I would attribute to luck the low number of new coronavirus cases in the last two weeks," our epidemiologist points out. 

"Despite opening borders for tourists, the epidemiological situation will remain favorable, if the recommendations for social distancing and wearing masks in public spaces are followed. If not, the virus could easily be spread throughout the population. That's why it's difficult for me to understand the frequent demands from different sectors for an additional easing of measures, or numerous inquiries whether the recommendations are mandatory, linked to the notion that the measures shouldn't be followed if not mandatory and that no one will be punished if not adhering to the measures" said Klaic. 

The downward trend is stopped in Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and there is a spike in the coronavirus cases in Macedonia, but Klaic doesn't know the reason behind it.

"I don't know the details about their social distancing measures against the epidemic, so I cannot answer this question," he concluded.

Capak: Tourists are coming from safe countries, but still…

Capak said there are still not many tourists in Croatia, and they are mostly from safe countries.

"The tourists are mainly from Europe, where the epidemic has mostly subsided. If you look at Italy, Austria, and Germany, their epidemiological situation has been favorable for some time. We mostly have Slovenian tourists, and they have a favorable situation longer than us," said Capak.

He warned us about the possibility of a tourist spreading the virus again, developing symptoms in Croatia, and infecting someone. 

"We are counting on having enough capacity by now, knowing well enough about the virus and its characteristics so that we can quickly stop the spreading of the virus. In collaboration with the Ministry of Health and other health system participants, we are working on the recommendations for accommodation providers about what to do in case of tourists showing symptoms of coronavirus," said Capak.

Croatian Coronavirus Task Force: We've protected the healthcare system from collapsing, but there's no relaxing yet; we're aware of the situation in our neighboring countries

The Coronavirus Task Force warns that we should always have to be on alert to prevent the COVID-19 outburst again, which is happening in our neighboring countries, as well as many countries in the world. 

"By gradually adjusting measures and opening the borders, life is going back to normal. We don't expect local transmission in Croatia if the number of cases remains low. Still, new coronavirus cases may appear when tourists arrive, which will affect the current epidemiological situation. However, the entire logistics is still available, and we're all in the standby mode to react on time, which we were doing so far. It's in everyone's best interest to be as safe as possible with the epidemiological situation, control the economy, ensure normal life, and be ready for every next day, week, or month.

We've protected the healthcare system from collapsing, we've purchased protective uniforms, but there's no relaxing yet. To follow the guiding principle of all of our recommendations is the most important - maintaining social distance, practicing hand hygiene, wearing masks, carrying a disinfectant in case of the lack of access to water and soap, wearing masks or medical face masks in larger groups of people when it's not possible to maintain social distance - these are the measures we'll not back away from that soon," warns the Coronavirus Task Force. 

It's important to instruct people in a simple way what to do and how to do it

Branko Kolaric and Nika Lazic, the epidemiologists from Andrija Stampar Teaching Institute of Public Health, have designed a COVID-19 digital assistant named Andrija, which is powered by artificial intelligence and gives personalized advice in connection with the epidemic. Instructions for tourists are their newest creation. 

"It was a novelty that caught the attention of many countries. I've got a call from the World Health Organization, the United Arab Emirates, etc. They were all interested because not many people are ready to take responsibility for advising on digital channels. In that regard, Andrija was a novelty on a global scale," said Kolaric. 

"Facebook donated the platform. Companies such as Mindsmith, Infobip, and Oracle were working on the project, and the Ministry of Public Administration and the Ministry of Health were the project carriers. Andrija already has around 90,000 users, and has answered more than a million inquiries so far," explained Kolaric.

"Andrija helps our citizens, who work with tourists, to understand better the rules for border crossing, which recommendations they need to follow, how to best prepare for their arrival to Croatia, and safe return to their countries. It enables our citizens to download infographics in foreign languages, which they can use to inform their guests adequately," said the intern epidemiologist who, in collaboration with the company Mindmishts, developed simple instructions for Andrija about the border crossings and infographics about the current epidemiological measures for foreigners. 

The responsibility for good epidemiological situation rests with every one of us

Lazic warns that the responsibility for a good epidemiological situation with COVID-19 in Croatia rests with every one of us. Thus, it's important to keep adhering to the current epidemiological measures. 

"With the summer season approaching, we mustn't forget that the world is still fighting the pandemic, that our neighboring countries mark an increase of new coronavirus cases again, and that we can continue our favorable epidemiological situation only if we collaborate, and if we ensure a safe stay in Croatia and return to their countries for foreigners. Let's together ensure the long and warm summer by following the epidemiological measures which protect our health and the health of all the people who will visit Croatia," said Lazic.