Five million infections across the globe. Poland near 20,000

The latest test results have confirmed new cases of coronavirus infection in the following voivodeships (provinces) of Poland: Silesian (189), Greater Poland (16), West Pomeranian (12), Lesser Poland (10), Świętokrzyskie (4), Lublin (4), Pomeranian (3), Lubusz (3), Lower Silesian (3), Kuyavian-Pomeranian (1).

The Ministry of Health has also confirmed the death of further 3 people. All 3 had been suffering from co-occurring conditions. One falsely positive test result has been subtracted from the overall tally, the ministry added. In total, Poland has recorded 19,983 coronavirus infection cases so far, of which 965 have been fatal.

More than 5.01 million people have been reported to have been infected by the novel coronavirus globally and 327,383 have died, according to a Reuters tally. Infections have been reported in more than 210 countries and territories since the first cases were identified in China in December 2019.

The European Commission will present a pandemic recovery plan next week that will exceed one trillion euros in a mix of grants and loans, Executive Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis announced on Tuesday (May 19). Dombrovskis, speaking at a news conference after a meeting of EU finance ministers, explained the commission proposal would be bolder than the 500-million-euro one put forward by France and Germany on Monday (May 18).

The former Latvian Finance Minister and Prime Minister added the proposal would comprise both "loans and grants". The commission's proposal on May 27, linking the Recovery Fund with the EU's next long-term budget for 2021-2027, will be the basis for discussions of all EU governments in June.