Jarosław Kaczyński warned it was important to avoid panic and insisted that the authorities had taken action to protect Poles.
Interviewed by public broadcaster Polish Radio, Kaczyński said: “The role of the state is to do everything to limit the impact of this epidemic, because avoiding it is probably beyond our capabilities.”
He added: “On the other hand, it is also important not to needlessly cause a state of great social excitement or panic.”
Health Minister Łukasz Szumowski said on Thursday that there were no cases of coronavirus yet in Poland, but added that it was a matter of time before it appeared in this country.
Szumowski said that 47 people suspected to have the coronavirus were in hospital in Poland, 55 people were in quarantine at home, and over 1,570 were being monitored by the country’s medical services.
Meanwhile, Michał Dworczyk, the head of the Prime Minister’s Office, said that there was a reserve in the budget of over PLN 1 billion (EUR 231million, USD 254 million) for dealing with crisis situations.
After a request by President Andrzej Duda, a special session of the Polish parliament is to be held on Monday during which the government is to brief deputies about the situation in Poland amid the international coronavirus outbreak.
(pk)
Source: PAP/IAR