Of the new cases confirmed on Thursday, the most—5,601—were in the central Mazowieckie region, which includes the national capital Warsaw.
Meanwhile, 5,436 new infections were reported in the western province of Wielkopolskie, which is home to the major city of Poznań.
The latest deaths in Poland’s coronavirus outbreak are 183 people with pre-existing medical conditions and 79 others who died directly because of COVID-19, the health ministry said.
On Wednesday, Poland confirmed 310 deaths and 46,872 new coronavirus infections nationwide, compared with 286 deaths and 35,960 fresh cases a day earlier.
On January 27, the Polish health ministry reported a record daily rise in coronavirus infections, confirming 57,659 new cases, the most since the pandemic hit the country almost two years ago.
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.
19,055 in hospitals, 547,642 quarantined
The Polish health ministry announced on Thursday morning that 19,055 COVID-19 patients were in hospitals nationwide, 1,169 of them on ventilators, with a further 547,642 people quarantined for possible coronavirus exposure.
Meanwhile, 4,451,403 people have now recovered from COVID-19 throughout the country, the health ministry also said.
A day earlier, Polish Health Minister Adam Niedzielski announced new, more lenient COVID-19 isolation and quarantine rules and said the pandemic was beginning to ease in the country.
Speaking to reporters at a news conference in Warsaw, Niedzielski said: “We are in fact dealing with the beginning of the end of the pandemic.”
In a previous statement last month, he warned that coronavirus infections in the country could exceed 60,000 daily cases and possibly approach 140,000 in mid-February.
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Source: IAR, PAP
