Of the new cases confirmed by public health officials on Tuesday, 1,486 were in the southern province of Małopolskie, which includes the historic city of Kraków.
Meanwhile, 1,282 new infections were reported in the central region of Mazowieckie, which contains the national capital Warsaw.
The western Wielkopolskie province, home to the major city of Poznań, had the third-highest number of new infections confirmed by officials on Tuesday, at 1,186.
The latest deaths in Poland’s coronavirus outbreak are 98 people with pre-existing medical conditions and nine who died directly because of COVID-19, the Polish health ministry said in a tweet.
On Monday, Poland reported 41 deaths and 7,482 new coronavirus infections nationwide, compared with 49 deaths and 8,536 fresh cases a day earlier.
On Saturday, October 17, Poland confirmed 84 deaths and a record 9,622 new single-day cases, the most since the pandemic hit the country in early March.
On Friday, October 16, the country reported a daily record of 132 coronavirus-related deaths and 7,705 fresh cases.
8,962 in hospitals, 289,447 quarantined
The health ministry announced on Tuesday morning that 8,962 COVID-19 patients were in hospitals nationwide, 725 of them on ventilators, with a further 289,447 people quarantined for possible coronavirus exposure, and 44,675 under epidemiological supervision.
Meanwhile, 95,956 people have now recovered from COVID-19 throughout the country, including 1,942 over the last 24 hours, the health ministry also said.
Tougher measures to battle COVID-19 were introduced in Poland on Saturday, October 17, with the number of “red” zones - those with the most severe restrictions - increased to cover almost half the country.
On Monday, secondary schools and universities in such areas, among them Warsaw, switched to distance learning.
Poland last week introduced special shopping hours for people aged over 60 between 10 a.m. and noon.
Amid a spike in coronavirus cases, strict new rules came into effect in the country earlier this month under which everyone is required to wear a face covering when going out in public.
The new rules kicked in after officials announced a stepped-up battle against the coronavirus epidemic following a surge in both COVID-19 infections and deaths.
Beginning Saturday, October 10, people must cover their mouths and noses when outdoors in public places as well as in most indoor environments nationwide.
Polish Health Minister Adam Niedzielski this month vowed “zero tolerance” toward people who flout restrictions amid the spike in infections, warning that offenders would be "severely punished."
A senior official said at the start of last week that Poland was not ruling out introducing a state of emergency if the COVID-19 crisis worsened dramatically in the future.
Amid an escalating epidemic, the country is setting up its first field hospital to treat coronavirus patients at the National Stadium in Warsaw.
With 80 COVID-19 deaths per million population, Poland remains far less affected by the coronavirus epidemic than many other countries in Europe, recent statistics have shown.
To compare, Belgium has 878 deaths per million residents, according to data released by the Polish health ministry last Tuesday, while Spain has 708 and Britain reports 631.
(gs/pk)
Source: IAR, PAP, TVP Info