"Coronavirus in Poland is just a matter of time, but, so far, there has not been a confirmed case in our country" - the Minister of Health Łukasz Szumowski informed on Thursday. "If coronavirus appears in Poland, we will immediately inform the public opinion" - he added. The ministry also called not to spread rumours regarding virus infection cases.
Furthermore, minister Szumowski announced 47 people were hospitalised as coronavirus suspected cases, 55 were quarantined at home, and over 1570 were being monitored by sanitary authorities.
"I think it is a matter of the coming days, of the nearest future, when this virus will come to Poland" - he added.
Earlier on Thursday, the spokesman for the health ministry Wojciech Andrusiewicz also said there were no confirmed cases of the virus in Poland, and called not to disseminate rumours stating otherwise.
He referred, thereby, to the alleged first coronovirus case in Poland. One of the senators asked about the rumour during upper house debate on epidemiological situation.
As of February 26, 2020, there have been over 81.000 cases of coronavirus-induced pneumonia worldwide, of which 2763 were fatal.
Coronaviruses (CoV) are a large family of viruses that cause illness ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases such as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-CoV) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS-CoV).
A novel coronavirus (nCoV) is a new strain that has not been previously identified in humans. It causes a disease called COVID-19, most often manifested by fever, cough, dyspnea, muscle pain and tiredness.
Deputy speaker of the Sejm Ryszard Terlecki (PiS) informed on Thursday that government would present a report at the special session of the lower house on Monday, March 2, regarding the coronavirus situation.
Źródło: TVN24 News in English, PAP, Reuters, WHO
Źródło zdjęcia głównego: TVN24