Croatia plans to ease restrictions based on relative success of current trends

Optimistic signs stemming from Croatia's relatively successful imposition of travel and commerce restrictions, plus the observance of social distancing, have prompted plans for their easing. The Croatian Economic Chamber have advised that supermarket opening hours could be extended from this weekend and, at the same time, some other shops and services could re-open. Greater access to public transport may run in tandem. Large stores with few customers, such as car showrooms, could be among the first to open and it is hoped the more densely populated ones, such as shopping malls, could re-open by mid-May.

Decisions on the easing of restrictions are expected to be decentralized and may vary from county to county, with all such decisions being subject to the constantly updated epidemiological situation. Earlier this week, restrictions on inter-county travel were successfully removed. Also, Krunoslav Capak, director of the Croatian Institute of Public Health, in an interview for Croatian National radio, detailed a vision of how businesses would need to operate under the limited lifting of restrictions. He proposed that in cafes and restaurants 'what used to be a table for four will now be a table for a maximum of two' and that thorough disinfection of said places must take place between their use.