A worker unloads mattresses for potential COVID-19 patients at a temporary hospital established in stadium Arena Zagreb in Zagreb, Croatia, Oct. 26, 2020. Having reported record daily increases in COVID-19 cases for five consecutive days as of Oct. 25, Croatia's National Civil Protection Headquarters announced new measures. (Luka Stanzl/Pixsell via Xinhua)
ZAGREB, Oct. 25 (Xinhua) -- Croatia has reported record-breaking new COVID-19 cases in five consecutive days as of Sunday, with 2,421 cases reported in the past 24 hours.
To contain the spread of the coronavirus, Croatia's National Civil Protection Headquarters announced on Sunday new measures that will take effect midnight Monday.
The measures include mandatory physical distancing, a ban on all public events with more than 50 people, the new limit of the number of people attending weddings and funerals and the provision that public events and gatherings can last up to 10 p.m. while weddings until midnight.
Sports competitions can be held without spectators, according to the measures, which banned the sales of alcoholic beverages from midnight to 6 a.m.
Croatian Interior Minister Davor Bozinovic, who is also the head of the National Civil Protection Headquarters, called on employers to enable employees to work from home and announced that the implementation of measures will be carried out by inspectors, police officers and civil protection staff.
Earlier on Saturday, the Croatian Medical Chamber (HLK) appealed to retired doctors to engage themselves in the work of health institutions in difficult times, national news agency HINA reported.
HLK says that the number of hospitalized patients is rising at an accelerated rate while more and more healthcare professionals have tested positive or are self-isolating.
As the world is in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, countries across the globe, including China, Russia, Britain and the U.S., are racing to find a vaccine.
