The death toll increased by 130, according to public health authorities.
A total of 202,579 people have tested positive for the coronavirus in Poland since the pandemic began, and 3,851 have died in connection with the COVID-19 respiratory disease so far, officials announced.
Of the new cases confirmed on Wednesday, 1,315 were in the southern province of Małopolskie, which includes the historic city of Kraków.
Meanwhile, 1,162 new infections were reported in the central region of Mazowieckie, which contains the national capital Warsaw.
The country's southern Silesia coal mining region had the third-highest number of new infections confirmed by officials on Wednesday, at 1,008.
The latest deaths in Poland’s coronavirus outbreak are 117 people with pre-existing medical conditions and 13 who died directly because of COVID-19, the Polish health ministry said in a tweet.
On Tuesday, Poland reported 107 deaths and 9,291 new coronavirus infections nationwide, compared with 41 deaths and 7,482 fresh cases a day earlier.
On Friday, October 16, the country reported a daily record of 132 coronavirus-related deaths.
9,439 in hospitals, 335,060 quarantined
The health ministry announced on Wednesday morning that 9,439 COVID-19 patients were in hospitals nationwide, 757 of them on ventilators, with a further 335,060 people quarantined for possible coronavirus exposure, and 42,688 under epidemiological supervision.
Meanwhile, 98,884 people have now recovered from COVID-19 throughout the country, including 2,928 over the last 24 hours, the health ministry also said.
Tougher measures to battle COVID-19 were introduced in Poland in the middle of this month, with the number of “red” zones - those with the most severe restrictions - increased to cover almost half the country.
At the beginning of this week, 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 has decided to set up a network of temporary hospitals to treat coronavirus patients.
With 96 COVID-19 deaths per million population, Poland remains far less affected by the coronavirus epidemic than many other countries in Europe, new statistics have shown.
To compare, Belgium has 897 deaths per million residents since the start of the pandemic, according to new data released by the Polish health ministry on Tuesday, while Spain has 727 and Britain reports 643.
(gs/pk)
Source: IAR, PAP, TVP Info