Ten nuns in a monastery in the eastern Croatian town of Djakovo have tested positive for Covid-19 after two had recently returned from a trip abroad, Croatian Institute of Public Health director, Krunoslav Capak, said on Tuesday.

“Two nuns from that monastery had travelled abroad and it seems they didn’t follow the recommended measures when they returned to the country. This is the result – ten nuns are infected,” Capak told N1.

The monastery in Djakovo is home to about 180 nuns, and Capak warned that about three hundred people visit the place every day, saying that urgent action was needed to stem the spread of the infection at the site.

There is a gerontology centre and a kindergarten that operate as a part of the monastery, and epidemiologists are on the scene to identify everyone who is at risk of infection. Both the centre and the kindergarten have been closed until further notice.

According to initial reports, the nuns had probably visited Kosovo.