Croatia’s coast no longer green on ECDC’s COVID map

Croatia's coast is no longer in the green on the map of the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control due to the uptick in Covid cases in the country’s coastal regions, which rely heavily on tourism.

Croatia reported 139 new coronavirus cases and zero deaths on Thursday. The ECDC tracks the 14-day incidence rate per 100 thousand residents and the test positivity rate. The latest numbers have put Croatia's coast in the orange, while continental Croatia is still in the green. Most European countries are green but Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands, Malta, Cyprus, parts of Greece, Belgium and Denmark are red.

COVID-19 cases are ticking up in Dubrovnik-Neretva County, which reported 13 new infections on Thursday. Dubrovnik Mayor Mato Franković took a tough stance on bars and restaurants that fail to comply with prevention measures, saying if the trend continued, the tourism season will fail.

"We're going to go down a very restrictive route. We are going to close outdoor seating for a year for any business that fails to comply with measures on the first strike. We are trying to protect our tourism business. We want the tourism season to continue until the end of October because we have bookings into the fall. We can make it through the year if we keep the situation under control. If we don't, we're going to lose business and we won't be able food on our table,” Franković said.

The county's chief epidemiologist, Mato Lakić, says it is imperative that the public abides by the core prevention measures - masking and keeping a distance.