AUSTRIA'S foreign ministry on Friday warned against travel to Croatia, as concerns grow that vacationers could catch the coronavirus and spread it once they return, the Reuters news agency reported.

Austria fears that when holiday-makers return from Croatia, which on Thursday recorded a record number new cases of the infection, that could lead to accelerating the spread of the virus on its territory.

The ministry said that the warning is effective from August 17.

On Thursday Italy introduced a mandatory test for the coronavirus for anyone arriving from Croatia, Greece, Malta and Spain. That same day spokesman for Slovenia's COVID response team, Jelko Kacin, hinted that Croatia might be denoted to the red list of unsafe countries.