Coronavirus in Croatia

Coronavirus in Croatia

The world’s a very strange place at the moment due to the Coronavirus outbreak. It doesn’t seem like anyone is unaffected by the virus – whether you’ve actually fallen ill yourself, are under quarantine or self-isolation, have had travel (or other) plans cancelled or are perhaps merely inundated with the latest news on the virus coming in every day. For those that are interested in how the outbreak is affecting Croatia – perhaps you’ve had a holiday booked to the country for later this year – we thought we’d bring together some of the latest information on coronavirus in Croatia. We will also take at some of the best sources for tracking the latest news on how the virus is affecting the country.

The New York Times published a very interesting article on how Croatia and Greece have coped with the pandemic, perhaps better than some other nations, and why: Europe’s Battle-Hardened Nations Show Resilience in Virus Fight (10th May 2020).

Coronavirus in Croatia

Newest update We now have a new post detailing the latest events – Coronavirus Situation in Croatia – Autumn Update.

Coronavirus in Croatia – stats

Newest update Please see Coronavirus Situation in Croatia – Autumn Update for all the latest stats. We will no longer be updating this post.

Update We obviously haven’t been updating these coronavirus statistics that much over the past few months, so it’s about time we did. As with many other countries, case numbers have risen and fallen over the weeks and months and at the moment things seem to be rising again in Croatia. During the week beginning 5th October 2020, there were new record daily case totals posted – the most being on 8th October when 542 new cases were announced. As of today, 12th October 2020, there are presently 2,712 active cases in the country. Sadly, there have been 327 deaths. Most cases are currently located in the City of Zagreb (781 active cases), Split-Dalmatia county (270 active cases), followed by Osijek-Baranja county (199 active cases). All stats related to cases can be found on the Koronavirus.hr website (in English) which now also shows active cases by county. The CroatiaCovidInfo website also shows active cases per 100,000 by region and maps out hotspots (or not).

Updated Since our last update, new cases have remained relatively stable (between 50 to 100 each day), with active cases falling…until 13th August when cases rose sharply again. On that day, a record 180 new cases were recorded, which was surpassed the following day when 208 new cases were announced. Since then, around 150-200 (or just over) new cases have been announced each day. As of 19th August, there have been 7,074 coronavirus cases recorded in total in Croatia with 219 new cases (a new record) announced today. There are presently 1,520 active cases in the country. Sadly, there have been 168 deaths. The majority of active cases are currently located in the City of Zagreb (389 cases), Split-Dalmatia county (363 cases), followed by Osijek-Baranja county (90 cases).

Updated As of 29th July, there have been 4,993 coronavirus cases recorded in total in Croatia with 71 new cases announced today. There are presently 753 active cases in the country. Sadly, 141 people have died. The majority of active cases are in Vukovar-Srijem county (178 cases), the city of Zagreb (133 cases), followed by Split-Dalmatia county (112 cases).

Update As of 21st July, there have been 4,422 coronavirus cases recorded in total in Croatia with 49 new cases announced today. There are presently 1,150 active cases in the country. Sadly, 123 people have died. The majority of active cases are in the city of Zagreb (259 cases), followed by Vukovar-Srijem county (158 cases) and Osijek-Baranja county (142). (These two counties are in eastern Croatia, by the border with Serbia.)

Updated As of 13th July, there have been 3,775 coronavirus cases recorded in total in Croatia with 53 new cases announced today. There are presently 1,142 active cases in the country. Sadly, 119 people have died. Unfortunately, Croatia achieved a record number of new cases in one day on 10th July – 116 – which was then beaten the following day when 140 new cases were recorded. The majority of active cases are in the city of Zagreb (363 cases), followed by Osijek-Baranja county (175) and then Split-Dalmatia county (96). All stats related to cases can be found on the Koronavirus.hr website (in English) which now also shows active cases by county.

Updated In the last week or so, there has unfortunately been an increase in cases in Croatia. (As you can see, we in fact stopped updating as for several weeks there were often zero or only one new case a day.) As of 1st July, there have been 2,831 coronavirus cases recorded in Croatia, with 54 new cases today. In total, there have sadly been 108 deaths. There are currently 568 active cases in Croatia, whilst 2,155 people in the country have recovered.

Updated As of 5th June, there have been 2,247 coronavirus cases recorded in Croatia. In total, there have sadly been 103 deaths. As you can see since the last update ten days ago, there have been only three new cases but two more deaths.. There are currently only 31 active cases in Croatia, which means 2,113 people in the country have recovered.

Updated As of 27th May, there have been 2,244 coronavirus cases recorded in Croatia. In total, there have sadly been 101 deaths. 2,047 people across Croatia have recovered. For the third day in a row there have been no new recorded cases; in the last five days, there has been only one new case of coronavirus in Croatia. There are currently 96 active cases in Croatia.

Updated As of 21st May, there have been 2,237 coronavirus cases recorded in Croatia. In total, there have sadly been 97 deaths. 1,978 people across Croatia have recovered.

Updated As of 19th May, there have been 2,232 coronavirus cases recorded in Croatia. In total, there have sadly been 96 deaths. 1,967 people across Croatia have recovered.

Updated As of 15th May, there have been 2,222 coronavirus cases recorded in Croatia. In total, there have sadly been 95 deaths. 1,869 people across Croatia have recovered. Today, 15th May, only one new case in the whole of Croatia was reported.

Updated As of 10th May, there have been 2,196 coronavirus cases recorded in Croatia. In total, there have sadly been 91 deaths. 1,784 people across Croatia have recovered.

Updated As of 7th May, there have been 2,125 coronavirus cases recorded in Croatia. In the last six days (2nd to 7th May inclusive), there have been 3, 8, 5, 11, 7 and 6 new cases announced on those six days – so you can really see that the number of new cases each day is really slowing down. In total, there have sadly been 86 deaths. 1,641 people across Croatia have recovered.

Updated As of 1st May, there have been 2,085 coronavirus cases recorded in Croatia. In the last five days (Monday 27th April to 1st May inclusive), there have been 9, 8, 15, 14 and 9 new cases announced on those five days – so new case numbers are now quite low. (The most ever announced in one day was 96 on 1st April.) In total, there have sadly been 75 deaths. 1,421 people across Croatia have recovered.

Updated As of 24th April, there have been 2,009 coronavirus cases recorded in Croatia. There have been, sadly, 51 deaths. The two most affected counties in Croatia continue to be the city of Zagreb (459 cases) and Split-Dalmatia (454 cases). The next most affected county is Krapina-Zagorje county with 130 cases. 982 people across Croatia have recovered.

Updated As of 20th April, there are 1,881 coronavirus cases in Croatia. There have been, sadly, 47 deaths. The two most affected counties in Croatia are still the city of Zagreb (450 cases) and Split-Dalmatia (409 cases). The next two most affected counties are Zagreb Country and Krapina-Zagorje county, which both have 124 cases. 771 people across Croatia have recovered. The rate of new infections in Croatia is certainly slowing down – there were only 10 new cases recorded since the day before.

Update As of 14th April, there are 1,650 coronavirus cases in Croatia. There have been, sadly, 31 deaths. The two most affected counties in Croatia – by far – are still the city of Zagreb (418 cases) and Split-Dalmatia (250 cases). Zagreb Country is still the third most affected county with 114 cases. 415 people (almost 200 more since our last update) across Croatia have recovered.

Updated As of 9th April, there are 1,407 coronavirus cases in Croatia with, sadly, 20 deaths. The two most affected counties in Croatia – by far – are still the city of Zagreb (382 cases) and Split-Dalmatia (246 cases). Zagreb Country (which is different to the city; it is the county that ‘surrounds’ the city) is now third with 102 cases. 219 people across Croatia have recovered.

Updated As of 6th April, there are 1,222 coronavirus cases in Croatia and, sadly, there have been 16 deaths. The two most affected counties in Croatia continue to be the city of Zagreb (346 cases) and Split-Dalmatia (181 cases); Krapina-Zagorje county (north of Zagreb) is now third with 80 cases. 130 people across Croatia have recovered.

Updated As of 2nd April, there are now 1,011 coronavirus cases in Croatia and there have been 7 deaths. Coronavirus cases now exist in all of Croatia’s counties; by far the most cases – 279 – have been in the city of Zagreb, followed by 143 in Split-Dalmatia county and 73 in Istria. 88 people across Croatia have recovered.

Updated As of 30th March, there are now 713 coronavirus cases in Croatia and 6 deaths. There are still 2 counties in Croatia – Virovitica-Podravina and Pozega-Slavonia (both towards the north-east of the country) – that have no cases recorded. 52 people have recovered.

Updated As of 27th March, there are now 551 coronavirus cases in Croatia and, sadly, 3 deaths. Cases are now present in all but 2 of Croatia’s 20 counties (see map on koronavirus.hr) for exact numbers. 37 people have recovered.

Updated As of 24th March, there are now 382 coronavirus cases in Croatia. Cases are present in all but 3 of Croatia’s 20 counties (see map on koronavirus.hr) for exact numbers. 16 people have recovered.

Updated As of 20th March, there are now 113 coronavirus cases in Croatia. There are now cases (at present, only 1 or 2) in the Dalmatian counties.

As of the latest update provided today, 16th March, there are 56 cases of coronavirus in Croatia – a rise of 7 on the previous day. These cases only exist in the city of Zagreb and the counties of Primorje-Gorski Kotar, Osijek-Baranja, Istria, Sisak-Moslavina, Varazdin, Zagreb (different to the city of Zagreb) and Karlovac. (You can see a map of the counties of Croatia here.) There have been no deaths so far.

There have not yet been any cases in counties such as Zadar, Sibenik-Knin, Split-Dalmatia and Dubrovnik-Neretva (which together make up Dalmatia) in which many of Croatia’s most popular destinations are located.

Travel Advice – UK

Newest update We now have a new post detailing the latest events – Coronavirus Situation in Croatia – Autumn Update.

  • Update Easyjet have said they will resume some of their flights on 15th June 2020, although initially only (with a few exceptions) domestic flights in the UK and France.
  • Updated Jet2.com plan to restart their flights on 17th June 2020.
  • Updated Easyjet is apparently advising its customers that it intends its holidays in June, July and August to go ahead.
  • Updated TUI appear to expect that their holidays can resume on 12th June 2020.
  • Updated Croatia Airlines has a page (updated daily) that shows all of their flight operating for that day and the following ones.
  • Updated Ryanair has said it expects its entire fleet to be grounded from today, 24th March 2020. It has also said that it does not expect to operating any flights during April and May, indicating that it presently expects to start operating again only in June.
  • Updated Easyjet have also said that they’re grounding most of their fleet from today, 24th March 2020.
  • Updated Jet2.com have suspended all their flights until 30th April. They plan to look at commencing their flights on 1st May.
  • Updated Easyjet have now grounded their entire fleet, as of 30th March 2020.
  • Updated British Airways has temporarily suspended all of its flights to and from London Gatwick as of 31st March 2020. This of course affects its route to Dubrovnik which was due to run daily from 29th March.

Updated A number of flight routes from the UK to Croatia would normally start operating for the year at the end of March. We’ve updated our Flights to Croatia from the UK and Ireland page to show how some routes have been pushed back later. We suspect that there will be many more changes to this page to come over the next few weeks and months, so do keep checking back.

Updated Croatia has closed all of its borders as of 19th March, for a period of 30 days. Croats will be allowed to return home, and workers in certain sectors (e.g. healthcare workers, police officers) are exempt from this ruling.

Seeing as we’re a UK-based travel site, we’d absolutely suggest that you check the travel advice for Croatia from the Foreign Office first. As you will see, at present (since 12th March) Croatia is requiring all foreign nationals arriving from the UK to be placed in self-isolation for 14 days. This same requirement also applies to foreign nationals that have arrived from France, Germany, Switzerland, Sweden, Italy, Spain, Austria, Netherlands, China, the Republic of Korea, Japan, Singapore and Iran, as well as a number of other countries. The full list can be seen here on the Croatian Ministry of Foreign Affairs website.

If you did have plans to travel to Croatia in the near future, we also suggest checking with the airline you’re booked with. Some airlines are allowing changes to bookings, free of charge:

  • Ryanair have cancelled a large number of flights – check online to see the status of your flight. If you were due to fly this month (March), then you can change your flight without incurring a change fee.
  • British Airways are allowed passengers to change their destination or date of travel (or both) for free for existing travel arrangements up until 31st May.
  • Croatia Airlines are allowing a change of date on tickets for travel up until 31st May and will not charge a fee

Just today (16/03/20), news has come through stating that Ryanair and Easyjet are grounding most of their fleets, whilst TUI is to suspend the ‘majority’ of its operations. These three airlines all have a significant number of routes to Croatia. It is not yet known for how long these measures will need to last.

Advice and news from Croatia

Newest update We now have a new post detailing the latest events – Coronavirus Situation in Croatia – Autumn Update.

Updated Croatia is to open its border for citizens of the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Austria on 29th May.

Updated The Croatian National Tourist Board has now published a Q&A page detailing useful information for visitors.

Updated It is expected that, as of 27th May, new rules in Croatia will allow indoor gatherings of up to 100 people and outdoor gatherings of up to 300 people.

Updated It is possible that each hotel may have medical professionals that would be in charge of the health of incoming tourists.

Updated The Koronavirus.hr government site has published some new information (in English) for future visitors to Croatia. These include What to Expect in Croatia [link no longer works] and Recommendations and Instructions for Crossing the Croatian Border [link no longer works]. (You may also like to read up on recommendations for hotels and renters, camps and marinas and travel agencies [links no longer work].

Updated Croatia Airlines has announced that from 25th May 2020, they will restart their Zagreb-Amsterdam-Zagreb route and also add a further daily flight to their Zagreb-Frankfurt-Zagreb route (so two daily flights to Frankfurt and back).

Updated Cafes and restaurants have been allowed to reopen in Croatia today, 11th May 2020. According to a government minister, about 50% of hospitality venues have reopened.

Updated Although cross-border travel in Europe is limited at present, the Croatian government have provided advice in English for foreign citizen and Croatian nationals entering Croatia, and what procedures they need to adhere to.

Updated The Plitvice Lakes National Park will reopen on Monday 11th May. Click on the link for details of opening hours and prices.

Updated Krka National Park (and other national and nature parks) is also to reopen on Monday 11th May. They will initially offer a special promotion price to visitors – tickets will cost 50 Kunas for adults and 25 Kunas for children.

Updated Intercity bus travel will resume on Monday 11th May. Getbybus have a very useful guide to some of the routes and companies that will start operating from that date.

Updated Croatia Airlines have released their initial timetable for domestic flights, which are to resume on 11th May. You can see details of this on our Flights in Croatia page.

Updated On 29th April, three tram routes in Zagreb commenced operation – lines 3 (on its normal route), 5 and 14 (on routes different to normal). You can see timetable/route details here on the Zagreb Transport website. The funicular in Zagreb also commenced operation again on 28th April, also passenger numbers for each journey are limited to enable social distancing.

Updated Train services in Croatia will resume on 11th May 2020. Here are details from the Croatian Railways website on which routes will (and will not) run from that date.

Updated On 23rd April, Croatia announced its plans to loosen coronavirus restrictions in three phases. Under the first phase, on 27th April 2020 local and suburban public transport will resume; catamaran lines for islands not connected to the mainland by ferry can restart; non-food shops and businesses can reopen (aside from those in shopping centres); locations such as libraries and galleries can reopen. On 4th May 2020, business services which require people to be in close contact with customers – such as hairdressers and beauty salons – can reopen. On 11th May 2020, inter-city (inter-county) transport and domestic flights will resume, gatherings of up to ten people can take place (with appropriate social distancing); national and nature parks can reopen; nurseries and schools for lower grades will reopen; outdoor terraces of cafes and restaurants can reopen; shopping centres can reopen.

Updated Despite city public transport being allowed to resume from 27th April, Zagreb will see only its bus routes resume – not trams. This is largely down to damage caused by the earthquake on 22nd March. (See information at the end of this page.)

Updated The Zadar – Ancona – Zadar ferry line is due to restart on 26th April 2020, as a freight only service to help the flow of goods between the two countries (and others close to Croatia). The reintroduction of this freight line is likely to help the reintroduction of the passenger ferry line when borders reopen.

Updated Dubrovnik Airport – due to reopen on 15th April – remains closed and may now potentially reopen on 2nd May 2020.

Updated As of 14th April, Croatia Airlines only appears to be running two flights daily – from Zagreb to Frankfurt and return.

Update If you’d like to read a run-down of all the early steps taken in Croatia to combat the spread of coronavirus, here‘s an interesting page on the government website (in English).

Updated All catamaran services in Croatia have been suspended and many, many ferry services have too. You can see which of the Jadrolinija services continue to run in this list here – this timetable is in effect from 24th March to 30th April 2020. In addition, only certain passenger types (e.g. islanders) can board ferries. You can see this info on Jadrolinija’s homepage.

Updated As of 23rd March 2020, Croats must remain in the town/city of residence.

Updated As of 23rd March 2020, long-distance car travel (which has already been limited to motorway journeys) has been prohibited.

Updated As of 22nd March 2020, all train services and intercity bus services have been suspended.

Updated There is now a new website from the Croatian government – Koronavirus.hr – which, although mostly only in Croatian, pulls together all sorts of information and news on coronavirus in Croatia. Perhaps of most interest to non-Croatian readers is the map at the top of the page showing the number of cases around the country – you can see an English version of it here: www.koronavirus.hr/en.

Updated Dubrovik Airport is closed until 29th March 2020.

The Croatian Government website does offer up some news in English – albeit brief – on a daily basis.

The news agency HINA has a relatively extensive section in English and often publishes a number of news articles daily on the virus in the country. However, again, these can sometimes be quite brief.

The Croatian Institute of Public Health does provide daily updates on coronavirus in Croatia. Unfortunately, that page is not in English but you can find it here if you’d like to take a look.

However, probably the best source of information in English is the Total Croatia News site which provides detailed, daily updates on the coronavirus situation in Croatia.

Advice if you’re a foreign visitor currently in Croatia

Updated As of 19th March 2020, is estimated that there are currently 4,600 foreign tourists in Croatia, making up around 7,500 tourists in total (when combined with domestic visitors). These tourists are mostly expected to be in Zagreb, Split and Dubrovnik. Accommodation facilities can continue to operate, and can also continue to serve food to their guests (taking into account distancing rules).

There is some information to help visitors on the Croatian National Tourist Office website. They advise contacting your country’s embassy or consulate for assistance in returning back to your home country.

Earthquake in Zagreb

Sadly – in amongst all this chaos in Croatia and across the world – Zagreb was hit by an earthquake at 6.24am on Sunday 22nd March measuring 5.3 on the Richter scale. This was the strongest earthquake there for 140 years.

Sadly, one person lost their life and around 16 people were injured. There was also some damage to a number of buildings – including Zagreb’s cathedral, which saw the top of one of its spires break off. As you can imagine, the earthquake did cause some issues with residents that had been sheltering at home due to coronavirus now evacuating buildings and heading out on the streets, but people were allowed to return to their homes relatively quickly.

Everyone – please stay safe! We would absolutely recommend the advice given by your own country’s government – which may be different from other countries – is followed.