Waldemar Kraska made the appeal in an interview with public broadcaster Polish Radio on Tuesday, state news agency PAP reported.
Kraska said: “This season, the main problem is flu, not COVID-19.”
He added that the weekly number of cases was equal to figures usually recorded at the height of the flu season, in early February, and was set to rise further, according to pulsmedycyny.pl.
Some 300,000 flu cases from Dec. 16 to 22, one fatality
Kraska stated: “According to the latest data, there were almost 300,000 flu infections in the week between December 16 and 22. “
He added: “In terms of age groups, almost half of the infected are children up to 14 years of age. More than 1,600 people have been hospitalised.”
He added that one person, aged over 65, has died of the flu.
These official figures were also announced later in the day by Health Minister Adam Niedzielski.
Over 2 million flu infections this season so far
Kraska also said that the total number of flu infections this season had surpassed the 2 million mark.
“According to experts, one of the causes of this spike in flu cases is the fact that we had lived in isolation, ‘in a bubble,’ during the two years of the COVID-19 pandemic, and this has brought about a general decrease in immunity,” he told reporters.
Kraska also said that 162 COVID-19 infections had been reported over the previous 24 hours, while the overall number of cases "remained just below 1,200."
“Flu cases are much more frequent,” he added.
Poles urged to take flu vaccine
Kraska urged Poles to get vaccinated against the flu.
He said: “A vaccine is available, but unfortunately we are not using it. So far, around 700,000 Poles ... have vaccinated themselves against the flu.”
Kraska announced that the government had introduced new, free-of-charge “triple-tests,” allowing family doctors to establish if the patient has COVID-19, flu or the RSV virus, in order to prevent unnecessary antibiotic prescriptions, Polish Radio’s IAR news agency reported.
(pm/gs)
Source: IAR, PAP, pulsmedycyny.pl