There are 16 new confirmed cases of coronavirus infection in Poland - the Ministry of Health informed on Thursday (March 12). Total number of infection in Poland has gone up to 47. Health minister reassures hospitals are ready to handle the inevitable, yet foreseeable surge in the number of new infections. Poles should work from home due to the coronavirus outbreak - the Prime Minister's Chief of Staff Michał Dworczyk said on Thursday.
The Ministry of Health informed on Thursday morning about 16 new confirmed cases of coronavirus infection in Poland.
The total number of COVID-19 disease cases, caused by the new SARS-CoV-2 virus, has gone up to 47.
Due to the coronavirus spread, the government informed on Wednesday that schools and universities would be closed for two weeks. All mass events, cultural institutions, including theatres, cinemas and museum have also been closed.
Health minister Łukasz Szumowski said in an interview for TVN24 on Thursday that "most likely, soon, we will have a hundred people infected with coronavirus, and in a week or so, we should have the same number of patients like other countries, (...) up to a thousand, maybe less". The minister reassured that the scale of the spread was "foreseeable".
Minister Szumowski also said Poland had several thousand coronavirus tests ready to use. "Daily we can make 2.000 tests. It's not a small number. This is more or less as many as the United Kingdom" - he added.
The minister admitted that there were problems in Europe with purchasing face masks and overall suits. "Yet we're buying, and even launching Polish production lines" - Szumowski explained.
"If we manage to slow the increase of the number of patients, then our hospitals will cope. Patients will have a chance to go hospital, receive necessary respiratory treatment, and walk out healthy making room for those next in line" - said the minister.
He also called upon students to act responsibly during school break. "This is no holiday, it's not a time for parties or clubbing. Let's stay indoors during these two weeks. In Italian villages that had been locked down, there were zero new infections after 14 days" - he stressed.
Minister Szumowski also cautioned that going shopping and standing in queues carries big risk of infection.
Poles should work from home due to the coronavirus outbreak, the Prime Minister's Chief of Staff Michał Dworczyk said on Thursday. "I would like to appeal to you to use the opportunity to work from home in accordance with the law," Dworczyk told a news conference.
Źródło: TVN24 News in English,
Źródło zdjęcia głównego: TVN24