A total of 141,804 people have tested positive for the coronavirus in Poland since the pandemic began, and 3,217 have died in connection with the COVID-19 respiratory disease so far, public health officials announced.
Of the new cases confirmed on Wednesday, 1,188 were in the central region of Mazowieckie, which contains the national capital Warsaw.
Meanwhile, 1,137 new infections were reported in the southern province of Małopolskie, which includes the historic city of Kraków.
The neighboring Silesia coal mining region had the third-highest number of new infections confirmed by officials on Wednesday, at 520.
The latest deaths in Poland’s coronavirus outbreak are 105 people with pre-existing medical conditions and 11 who died directly because of COVID-19, the Polish health ministry said in a tweet.
On Tuesday, Poland reported 63 deaths and 5,068 new coronavirus infections nationwide, compared with 35 deaths and 4,394 fresh cases a day earlier.
On Thursday, October 8, the country reported its second-highest daily toll of 76 deaths related to the coronavirus.
6,084 in hospitals, 249,349 quarantined
The health ministry announced on Wednesday morning that 6,084 COVID-19 patients were in hospitals nationwide, 467 of them on ventilators, with a further 249,349 people quarantined for possible coronavirus exposure, and 33,071 under epidemiological supervision.
Meanwhile, 83,847 people have now recovered from COVID-19 throughout the country, including 1,843 over the last 24 hours, the health ministry also said.
Amid a spike in coronavirus cases, strict new rules came into effect in Poland at the weekend under which everyone is required to wear a face covering when going out in public.
The new rules kicked in after officials last week announced a stepped-up battle against the coronavirus epidemic following a surge in both COVID-19 infections and deaths.
Beginning Saturday, October 10, people must cover their mouths and noses when outdoors in public places as well as in most indoor environments nationwide.
Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki told reporters on Saturday that Polish schools would stay open for now despite rising numbers of coronavirus cases nationwide.
He also announced planned new measures to protect senior citizens, who are among those with the highest risk of dying from a COVID–19 infection.
Polish Health Minister Adam Niedzielski this month announced “zero tolerance” toward people who flout sanitary rules amid the spike in infections, warning that offenders would be "severely punished."
A senior official said on Monday that Poland was not ruling out introducing a state of emergency if the COVID-19 crisis worsened dramatically in the future.
With 80 COVID-19 deaths per million population, Poland remains far less affected by the coronavirus epidemic than many other countries in Europe, new statistics have shown.
To compare, Belgium has 878 deaths per million residents, according to data released by the Polish health ministry on Tuesday, while Spain has 708 and Britain reports 631.
(gs/pk)
Source: IAR, PAP, TVP Info