A total of 49 people in Croatia are infected with the novel coronavirus and nearly 8,000 are in self-isolation, the national civil protection service said on Sunday afternoon, announcing stricter measures to protect the citizens against infection.

“What you are seeing in the foreign media we will introduce at a certain pace. Our lives will change for the sake of protecting the public and our loved ones. We need to take responsibility for ourselves and for others. Measures will be put in place as of tomorrow, including a whole set of economic measures and a set of measures concerning social life, and everything will certainly be more restrictive,” the Minister of the Interior and head of the national civil protection service, Davor Bozinovic, told a press conference.

He did not rule out the possibility of closing the borders as a way of stemming the import of the virus from the west.

“It is important to maintain supply routes and the flow of goods. That must not be brought into question,” Bozinovic said.

He advised people, particularly the elderly, not to go out unless they had to.

Anyone in Croatia who disobeys the order to self-isolate or other measures imposed over the coronavirus outbreak faces a fine of HRK 8,000 (€1,060), while repeat offenders face a fine of up to HRK 120,000 (€16,000), the State Inspectorate decided on Sunday.

Health Minister Vili Beros said that so far 49 people in Croatia had tested positive for the virus, officially known as COVID-19, and that nearly 8,000 people were in self-isolation. “We are awaiting results for 745 people,” he said.

The Director of the Croatian Public Health Institute, Krunoslav Capak, said that over 80 percent of those infected were exhibiting mild symptoms, while there were also those with severe symptoms, mostly elderly people.

Capak called on the elderly to refrain from attending public gatherings, using public transport and shopping in large retail chains, adding that the government was considering ways of delivering food to those people.