Adam Niedzielski discussed the latest figures at a news conference, Polish state news agency PAP reported.
Meeting reporters in the eastern city of Puławy, Niedzielski said that the daily number of COVID-19 cases surpassed 5,000 at the start of this week.
Smaller weekly increases
He added: “But there is one positive phenomenon, namely the weekly increases in new infections are becoming smaller.”
Niedzielski said that over the past four weeks, "the weekly increases amounted to over 60 percent," and there was one week where they reached 80 percent.
“Today’s figure of 3,514 new infections actually represents a rise of 17 or 18 percent on the previous week,” he told reporters.
Summer wave to peak in August
Niedzielski said that, according to the latest forecasts, "the summer wave of COVID-19 infections will crest in the second half of August," reaching around 10,000 daily cases.
He added that "the wave could possibly peak in the first half of August," in which case "the daily number of cases will total around 7,000-8,000."
Niedzielski announced that so far, more than 320,000 Poles had signed up for the second booster dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, available for those aged 60 or older, and for people with impaired immunity aged over 12.
He recommended that members of these two at-risk groups have the additional dose.
Curbs ‘not under consideration at the moment’
Asked if the government would introduce new COVID-19 restrictions, Niedzielski replied that this would "depend on the number of hospital cases."
He said that infections could potentially rise in September, when "people return to schools and workplaces."
“Depending on the number of hospitalisations at the end of August, we’ll decide whether to impose curbs in September, such as mask wearing on public transportation,” he declared, adding that “this is not under consideration at the moment.”
Poland on Thursday reported 3,514 new COVID-19 cases, including 551 reinfections. Twelve people with COVID-19 died.
Last Thursday, there were 2,999 new coronavirus cases, including 495 reinfections, and six deaths of people with COVID-19.
Since March 4, 2020, when the first coronavirus case was detected in Poland, there have been 6,061,946 confirmed infections and 116,547 deaths of people with COVID-19 in the country.
In May, Poland downgraded its classification of the COVID-19 pandemic, lifting "a state of epidemic" and announcing "a state of epidemic threat" instead.
(pm/gs)
Source: IAR, PAP, rmf24.pl