As unconcerned as some media spread it at the moment, one should not approach Croatia journeys in times of the Coronavirus pandemic obviously nevertheless: The Robert Koch Institute has once again designated the region around Zadar (Zadar County), which is particularly popular with water sports enthusiasts, as coronavirus risk area, German vacationers returning from Zadar County must complete a digital entry registration and additionally, no later than 24 hours after entry, complete a coronavirus antigen test.
Zadar – digital entry registration and test
The Internet page of the German Foreign Office literally states: “…. In case of a previous stay in a risk area (i.e. neither virus variant area nor high incidence area) and entry by means other than air; i.e. by land or sea (e.g. by car or ship): negative Covid-19 test result, proof of vaccination or recovery after infection. Proof must be received no later than 48 hours after entry.”
7-day incidence in Zadar increased
In Dalmatia, particularly in the Zadar region, the 7-day incidence on June 27, 2021, was again 91, meaning 91 new infections per 100,000 inhabitants were reported in the last seven days. Thus, the automatic mechanisms take effect, according to which the German Robert Koch Institute must again classify Dalmatia County as a coronavirus risk area, with the consequences described above for vacationers from Germany.
Tourism managers from Zadar warn
This is not surprising, because even Croatian media repeatedly report about undisciplined behavior in the Zadar region, but not caused by the tourists, especially not the boat and yacht owners, but by parts of the local population. Regional tourism managers already warned publicly in the media about the consequences and called for consistent compliance with the Corona rules.
Istriens with incidence value is 0.5
But things are not going as they are in Zadar in all of Croatia! Istria shows how things can be significantly better: With a 7-day incidence of just 0.5 (6/27/2021), northern Croatia fares significantly better than most other counties, even significantly better than probably most regions in Germany and Austria. But also the other counties show relatively good values from an epidemiological point of view. Water sports enthusiasts, especially boat and yacht owners in the Croatian coastal regions are not affected by an increased risk of infection anyway, as last year showed.
Portugal vacationers must cancel vacation
How fast-moving the events surrounding the Corona pandemic are, can be seen in the example of Portugal: Due to a sudden increase in cases, Portugal was designated at short notice as a virus variant area by the RKI, many Portugal vacationers are now being flown back to Germany prematurely, because a return from a virus variant area threatens a 14-day quarantine in Germany, which currently cannot be shortened by a negative Corona test.
