There are indications that the epidemiological measures in place have started to work, Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said at a cabinet meeting on Thursday, appealing to citizens to adhere to the measures to help contain the spread of the coronavirus epidemic and avoid tougher restrictions.

“Although the numbers are continuing to grow as expected, there are indications that the measures we have adopted are starting to work. If this continues, we can expect the epidemic to reach its peak in two or three weeks,” the prime minister said.

“The numbers of new infections and deaths are increasing and we are seeing a two-digit number of fatalities every day,” he said. He added that countries in a worse situation than Croatia were imposing tighter restrictions and that Croatia had also tightened the measures to restrict public gatherings and reduce the rate of the spread of the infection in the population.

The prime minister said that the number of hospitalisations was also growing and that a sufficient number of beds had been ensured. He stressed the importance of adhering to the measures in place to prevent the further spread of the epidemic and avoid tighter measures.

“It depends on every one of us whether we will save hundreds of lives, hundreds of thousands of jobs, and whether we will manage to keep the economy going. I appeal to all fellow citizens to demonstrate maximum responsibility and solidarity,” Plenkovic said.

“The least we can do as a society is to be responsible and to reduce our private and family gatherings, maintain a distance, wear face masks indoors and where we cannot maintain a distance, to regularly air out enclosed spaces and take care of hygiene. These are no big sacrifices, and we are protecting lives and jobs,” Plenkovic said, expressing confidence that Croatia can do this.