Croatia makes indoor mask-wearing mandatory amid COVID-19 surge

Croatia’s national civil protection authority adopted new measures on Monday to tackle the recent resurgence of COVID-19 outbreak, including mandatory mask-wearing in all public indoor places.

Croatian Interior Minister Davor Bozinovic announced at a daily press briefing that starting from Monday, wearing a mask is required in all public indoor settings where a minimal two-meter distance can not be maintained.

“We are not satisfied with the epidemiological situation in Croatia, although we can say that it does not differ from the situation in Europe,” Bozinovic, who also heads the national civil protection authority, told reporters after the introduction of new measures.

Masks are mandatory in bars and restaurants, and customers can take them off only when they are seated at the table. New restrictions also include mandatory use of masks in churches.

Until Monday, wearing a mask was just a government recommendation. The minister also called for the right use of the masks, with both mouth and nose being covered all the time.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), face masks should be used as part of a comprehensive set of measures to suppress COVID-19 transmission and save lives. Since the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak in early 2020, wearing masks in public has been widely accepted in Asian countries like China, South Korea, Japan and Vietnam to limit the spread of COVID-19.