STA, 19 August 2020 - Slovenia plans to put Croatia on the red list of countries from which travellers must undergo a 14-day quarantine. Those already in Croatia have until the end of the week to avoid quarantine, those travelling there as of Friday will have to quarantine, government spokesman Jelko Kacin said on Wednesday.
The decision to red-list Croatia will formally be made at Thursday's cabinet session and published in the Official Gazette the same day.
It will also be clear tomorrow how long exactly those who are currently in Croatia will have to return without quarantining, with Kacin saying the deadline may be extended to Monday if necessary.
"Fact is that the situation in Croatia is deteriorating dramatically. Data on infections show that the situation is really bad," Kacin said after the government meet epidemiologists to discuss the way forward.
He said Croatia was likely to today exceed 40 new cases per 100,000 inhabitants in over a 14-day period, the threshold in Slovenia for putting countries on the red list.
Can I transit Slovenia? Find out from the police...
"We don't have any other choice but to urge our citizens to return from the dangerous country as soon as possible, regardless of what kind of arrangements they have. The situation is deteriorating rapidly and will get much worse," he said.
The decision comes after the government started issuing increasingly stern warnings to Slovenian holidaymakers in Croatia that the situation was getting out of hand, in particular due to beach parties at several popular tourist resorts in Dalmatia.
Almost half the new cases Slovenia registered on Monday were imported from Croatia, and most of the infected persons are young, under 35, raising fears that a surge in infections could derail the start of the school year.
Unofficial information indicates several options were under discussion in recent days, including mandatory quarantine just for those under 35 or a waiver of quarantine for those who own boats and property in Croatia.
These considerations appear to have been shelved now, although Kacin said boat and property owners would get a chance before winter to sort things out.
"This will be a one-off opportunity, strictly limited and expressed in hours, in order to prevent people heading to Croatia this weekend and making traffic even worse," he said.
Several exemptions will be available in order to facilitate cross-border commerce and transport, but Kacin did not elaborate what they would be.
The latest statistics on coronavirus and Slovenia, and the latest police news on red, green and yellow list countries. All our stories on coronavirus and Slovenia
