SAFE HARBOUR WIN
It’s a strange kind of race to have won, but this beautiful country in the west-central Balkans is the first in Europe to declare “victory” over Covid-19. Its health department officially declared the country coronavirus-free last Sunday, with no active cases — 68 days after its first case was recorded. On Monday Prime Minister Dusko Markovic said the borders of this tiny nation, which is heavily dependent on income from tourism along its Adriatic coast, would open to visitors from June 1, but only those from countries with “a similar epidemiological status”. Specifically, that means countries with no more than 25 Covid-19 cases per 100,000 people. Currently, the qualifying nations are Croatia, Slovenia, Austria, Germany, Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Albania and Greece.
The country’s size and swift action were no doubt both assets in its battle against the virus: it is one of the smallest in the world with a population of 620,000. It went into lockdown in March, imposing stay-at-home orders and a nationwide curfew, as well as shutting airports, seaports and borders. Restrictions started to ease in April as infections dropped.
Over the past 10 weeks it has reported 324 infections and nine Covid-19 deaths. The last recorded case was about three weeks ago.
One of Europe’s “youngest” countries, it was previously part of Yugoslavia and gained independence after a referendum in 2006.
In recent years, it has been ranked as one of the world’s fastest-growing tourism destinations, thanks in part to the growing popularity of its neighbour to the north, Croatia (whose bustling airport in Dubrovnik is but a few hours away) and to its own combination of historical and scenic attractions: 72km of beaches and several well-preserved “old towns”. Its coastal town of Kotor, a popular stop on cruise itineraries, was named the best city to visit by Lonely Planet in 2016.
Pictured here is the sleepy town of Perast, 12km from Kotor town, as seen from the Bay of Kotor. The bay is often called one of the most beautiful in the world, and, with its eponymous town, is a Unesco World Heritage Site. In 2016, however, Unesco threatened to strip the area of its status due to rampant overdevelopment. The government responded with a ban on construction, which applies to historic parts of Kotor and to pretty Perast.