Of the new cases confirmed on Saturday, the most—3,470—were in the central Mazowieckie province, which includes the national capital Warsaw.
The latest deaths in Poland’s coronavirus outbreak are 146 people with pre-existing medical conditions and 40 others who died directly because of COVID-19, the health ministry said.
On Friday, Poland confirmed 152 deaths and 15,904 new coronavirus infections nationwide, compared with 250 deaths and 15,515 fresh cases a day earlier.
On April 8, the country reported its highest daily toll of 954 deaths related to the coronavirus.
On April 1, the Polish health ministry confirmed 35,251 new single-day cases, the most since the pandemic hit the country early last year.
Poland's first case of coronavirus infection was reported on March 4, 2020.
9,473 in hospitals, 400,821 quarantined
The Polish health ministry announced on Saturday morning that 9,473 COVID-19 patients were in hospitals nationwide, 798 of them on ventilators, with a further 400,821 people quarantined for possible coronavirus exposure.
Meanwhile, 2,736,292 people have now recovered from COVID-19 throughout the country, the health ministry also said.
Officials have warned that the number of COVID-19 infections in the country could rise in the weeks ahead as the Delta variant of the coronavirus begins to spread more quickly.
Health Minister Adam Niedzielski said at the end of last month that the number of daily COVID-19 infections was growing sharply and that “drastic steps” could be necessary to counteract what he called an “explosion of the pandemic” in the country.
Niedzielski said in a media interview published this week that the fourth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic was expected to reach its height in Poland in late November or early December, with up to 40,000 daily cases.
(ał)
Source: IAR, PAP