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Poland downgrades COVID-19 to 'epidemic threat'

16.05.2022 08:00
Poland on Monday downgraded its classification of the COVID-19 pandemic, lifting "a state of epidemic" and announcing "a state of epidemic threat" instead.
Audio
Polish Health Minister Adam Niedzielski.
Polish Health Minister Adam Niedzielski.Photo: PAP/Tomasz Gzell

"We are not saying that the pandemic has ended, but, symbolically speaking, we are switching from red to yellow in terms of the alert level," Health Minister Adam Niedzielski told a news conference in Warsaw earlier this month.

"This means that the risk still exists, but the situation is moving in the right direction," he added.

Poland declared a state of epidemic on March 20, 2020, giving the government greater powers to introduce restrictions to limit the spread of the coronavirus.

In late March this year, the country lifted the requirement for people to wear face masks in indoor spaces, and it also abolished COVID-19 isolation and quarantine rules for those sharing households with infected persons.

Earlier this year, Poland lifted a host of other COVID-19 restrictions after the government said the coronavirus pandemic was easing in the country.

Niedzielski has said that a mounting refugee crisis triggered by Russia's invasion of neighbouring Ukraine has not led to an increase in coronavirus infections although more than 3 million people have arrived in Poland from that country since February 24.

Poland on Monday reported 95 new coronavirus infections and no new fatalities related to COVID-19, bringing the country's total number of cases during the pandemic to 6,003,531, with the death toll at 116,207.

Poland has welcomed 3.4 million refugees fleeing Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the Polish Border Guard agency said on Monday.

(gs)

Source: IAR, PAP

Click on the audio player above for a report by Radio Poland's Elżbieta Krajewska.