The death toll increased by 276, according to public health authorities.
A total of 4,637,776 people have tested positive for the coronavirus in Poland since the start of the pandemic, and 104,373 have died in connection with the COVID-19 respiratory disease so far, officials said on Wednesday.
Poland’s previous daily record was when 40,876 new coronavirus infections were confirmed nationwide on Saturday, January 22.
Of the new cases confirmed on Wednesday, the most—8,524—were in the central Mazowieckie region, which includes the national capital Warsaw.
Meanwhile, 8,042 new infections were reported in the densely populated southern coal mining region of Silesia.
The latest deaths in Poland’s coronavirus outbreak are 214 people with pre-existing medical conditions and 62 others who died directly because of COVID-19, the health ministry said.
On Tuesday, Poland confirmed 252 deaths and 36,995 new coronavirus infections nationwide, compared with two deaths and 29,100 fresh cases a day earlier.
On April 8, 2021, the country reported its highest daily toll of 954 deaths related to the coronavirus.
Poland's first case of coronavirus infection was reported on March 4, 2020.
14,018 in hospitals, 909,567 quarantined
The Polish health ministry announced on Wednesday morning that 14,018 COVID-19 patients were in hospitals nationwide, 1,147 of them on ventilators, with a further 909,567 people quarantined for possible coronavirus exposure.
Meanwhile, 3,868,655 people have now recovered from COVID-19 throughout the country, the health ministry also said.
Poland on Tuesday shortened the COVID-19 quarantine period from 10 to seven days and is also set to make free tests available to the public through pharmacies from January 27.
The government has made remote working mandatory for public-sector employees until at least the end of February as the country enters a fifth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic amid the spread of the omicron variant of the coronavirus.
Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki told a news conference at the end of last week that authorities would work to expand the number of hospital beds available to coronavirus patients to help deal with a spike in cases driven by the omicron variant of the virus.
Meanwhile, Health Minister Adam Niedzielski warned that coronavirus infections in the country would hit new records during the next few weeks, surpassing 60,000 daily cases and possibly approaching 140,000.
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Source: IAR, PAP