Poland's health minister Łukasz Szumowski informed on Thursday there were 38 more confirmed cases of coronavirus infection in Poland. The total number of infections went up to 325. Five people died. Poland's "patient zero" has left the hospital after recovering from coronavirus infection.
Minister Szumowski informed at a press conference on Thursday about 20 latest cases of coronavirus infection. In total 38 new cases were reported as of 1pm on March 19, taking the total number up to 325, of which five people died.
Health ministry informed that by Thursday noon 11.196 samples have been tested, of which 10.891 turned out negative, and 305 positive. Over 1.600 test have been taken within the last 24 hours.
On Wednesday, Poland proposed a 212 billion zloty ($51.5 billion) programme on Wednesday to mitigate economic damage caused by the coronavirus outbreak.
The package will boost infrastructure and healthcare spending, and help struggling companies pay salaries to avoid layoffs and allow them to defer social security payments.
The hospital in Zielona Góra, western Poland, informed on Thursday that the man who has been reported as the first carrier of coronavirus in the country (referred to as patient zero) has fully recovered and left the clinic.
Worldwide situation
The World Health Organization has asked countries to scale up testing for the new coronavirus.
The WHO Emergencies Programme Executive Director, Michael J. Ryan, also warned about the risks of health workers running out of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).
He also reiterated WHO's policy of delaying and reducing mass gatherings in order to contain the spread of the virus.
The WHO informed on Thursday there were 125.000 SARS-CoV-2 infection worldwide, mainly in Europe and the Middle East. This figure pertains to people still infected with this pathogen, who haven't recovered from it yet.
In total, since the outbreak of the epidemic in China in December 2019, until Thursday morning there were over 220.000 cases of coronavirus infection and some 9.000 deaths. At the same time, nearly 86.000 people recovered. The vast majority of those people are in China.
Ninety five percent of those infected (over 118.000) showed only mild or moderate symptoms. Only some 6.800 displayed serious or critical symptoms.
Autorka/Autor: gf
Źródło: TVN24 News in English, PAP, Reuters