The Croatian Public Health Institute (HZJZ) has issued recommendations for religious ceremonies ahead of the Orthodox Christmas Eve and Christmas Day in accordance with epidemiological measures for the prevention of the spread of the coronavirus infection.

It is recommended to use protective mask while in the church building, especially during speech and singing, the faithful should wear face masks or medical masks (except when they receive communion).

Before and after the service, restrictions on physical contact with people outside one’s household should be adhered to, and physical contact (handshaking and kissing) should be avoided when exchanging Christmas greetings.

It is necessary to disinfect one’s hands when entering the church.

It is recommended to reduce the duration of all services in the Christmas period as much as possible and to increase their number, and all services should end by 10 p.m.

The maximum number of people attending service should be limited so that the number of people that can be in the church at the same time depends on the size of the building — each person should have seven square metres at their disposal. There should also be two metres of distance between each person in all directions.

A notice with the maximum number of faithful should be displayed at the entrance and a person should be in charge of monitoring the number of faithful entering the building.

Members of one household and family who attend the service together do not have to keep a distance of two metres.

The service should be organised without choral singing, the HZJZ’s recommendations say.