Representatives of the Istria County Chamber of Commerce  on Tuesday asked the county coronavirus response team to ease the present restrictions and allow restaurants and bars in the county to reopen on 8 February, adding that they would initially reopen only their terraces.

Restaurant and bar owners also requested timely announcement of easing of the restrictions so that they could prepare for reopening their businesses.

The head of the county response team, Dino Kozlevac, said at the meeting in Pula that they had asked the national team several times to allow for the possibility of measures being decided at county level, noting that the regional team had not found that restaurants and bars were hotspots of coronavirus infection.

The head of the Istria County Public Health Institute, Aleksandar Stojanovic, said that the two-week incidence in the county was below 70 cases per 100,000 people.

“The national coronavirus response team has announced relaxation of the measures. Gyms are expected to reopen soon … and they are expected to be followed by terraces. Restaurants and bars might resume work on their entire premises by the end of February, provided that they abide by the epidemiological recommendations and there is no increase in the number of infections,” Stojanovic said, adding that they all were aware of the importance of the tourist season and that everything should be done to ensure that it was well prepared and successful.