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Croatia Travel Update: Corona Virus, March 12
March 12, 2020
In our ongoing efforts to keep our clients and travelers informed as to the impact of the COVID-19 virus on travel in and to Croatia, we will provide regular updates as this situation continues to develop.
The virus has widened its worldwide spread with new cases being recorded on a larger scale in continents such as North America and Europe. In a bit of good news, the spread of the virus has slowed in China where preventative measures began months earlier than those efforts elsewhere.
Here is an interesting online article about Vitamin C
The current situation in Croatia
At the time of this update, there are 16 confirmed cases of COVID-19 within Croatia’s borders. The majority of these cases have been found in the country’s north (Pula, Rijeka, Zagreb) away from the larger tourist hotspots in the south of the country such as Split and Dubrovnik.
The current travel advisory for Croatia from the US Department of State remains at Level 1 which is defined as “exercise normal precautions” when traveling to the region. Level 1 is the lowest of all the travel advisory levels issued.
Croatia continues to take strict and decisive action to tackle and minimize the spread of the virus with the President of the Civil Protection Staff, Davor Bozinovic saying on Monday, March 9th that “foreign nationals entering Croatia from infection hotspots including China, Italy, and South Korea will be subject to a mandatory 14-day quarantine”.
- China: Hubei province, including the city of Wuhan
- Italy
- Iran
- South Korea: the city of Daegu and the County of Cheongdo
- Germany: County of Heisenberg in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia
Healthcare in Croatia is of a very high caliber, meeting and exceeding European Union standards and is free at the point of use for all Croatian citizens. Facilities are modern and advanced levels of care are provided for all patients requiring treatment.
The current situation in the US
On Wednesday evening and Thursday morning the Trump Administration announced the following directives:
- All non-US citizen travelers are barred from entering the US from countries in the EU for the next 30 days. (Travel from the UK is not included in this restrictions)
- American travelers returning from the EU will be screened upon entry and all will be asked to maintain a voluntary self-quarantine for 14 days from their arrival date back into the US.
- Americans can still fly to and travel within Europe and return through the UK without restriction or the request that they self-quarantine.
We will do our best to keep you abreast of any further Administration policy pronouncements affecting travel.
Given this difficult time for the travel and leisure industry, our CEO Pamela Robinson felt it important to share her thoughts on the current situation:
“As one of the premier providers of Croatian and Balkan travel, you can imagine how challenging the past few weeks have been for our team at Adventures Croatia, both in the US and in Croatia. We are committed to continued diligence in keeping travelers abreast of the Covid-19 situation and providing you with the latest information from Croatia and the region. We want all our travelers to feel peace of mind and we absolutely want our travelers to feel safe.
Adventures Croatia has a fully staffed ground team in Zagreb and an office in Pula, all of our in-country resources will be available to our travelers, should any emergency occur. We want to assure you again that Croatia has excellent and modernly equipped hospitals and health centers to care for patients if needed.
The relentless hourly reporting on this crisis is affecting us all. We recognize that changes to our daily routine are required to act in a sensible and careful manner so that we are all working to contain the spread of this virus. We also recognize that this is a crisis that will pass as more and more people and countries take the necessary measures to best manage the problem.
We will do our best to keep you responsibly informed and look forward to having you experience the magic of Croatia soon. If you have any queries about your booking or future travel please do not hesitate to reach out to one of our team members.”
Ask us about CFAR Insurance
As always, we recommend to all travelers to purchase “cancel for any reason” travel insurance. We can not stress this enough. We have found a few companies that offer this type of coverage and are happy to help our clients find insurance that is right for their needs.
Adventures Croatia is continuing to monitor the current situation, but please remember to always refer to the World Health Organization (WHO) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for constant coverage about the virus and your health & safety.
