Four members of Poland’s government have been required to enter quarantine after one of their colleagues was infected with coronavirus. The swearing in of a new cabinet, due to take place today, has also been postponed.
This morning, Przemysław Czarnek, an MP for the ruling national-conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party, announced that he had tested positive. Czarnek was last week nominated as education and science minister in a reshuffled cabinet.
Shortly afterwards, the prime minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, requested a postponement of today’s ceremony at which the president, Andrzej Duda, was meant to swear in the new government.
Meanwhile, all those who have had contact with Czarnek since Friday have been required to enter quarantine.
They include a deputy prime minister, Jacek Sasin, who appeared at a public event with Czarnek on Saturday; the outgoing education minister, Dariusz Piontkowski; the head of the prime minister’s chancellery, Michał Dworczyk, who holds ministerial rank; and Jacek Ozdoba, a deputy climate minister.
Another of those who attended the event in Lublin with Czarnek is Michał Moskal, the head of PiS’s youth organisation, who works closely with the party’s chairman Jarosław Kaczyński, Poland’s de facto leader.
Moskal confirmed today that he had had no contact with Kaczyński since Friday and had not gone to party headquarters today after learning of Czarnek’s positive test. Moskal has also entered isolation.
Społeczny Komitet Budowy Pomnika Prezydenta Lecha Kaczyńskiego w Lublinie zainaugurował swoją działalność.
W miejscu gdzie stanie pomnik, na Skwerze im. Grażyny Chrostowskiej, w pobliżu dworca PKP w Lublinie odbyła się konferencja podczas której poznaliśmy szczegóły projektu. pic.twitter.com/WUmKfmYAuN— Jarosław Stawiarski (@JarekStawiarski) October 3, 2020
News of the ministers’ quarantine was confirmed this afternoon by the Chief Sanitary Inspectorate (GIS) and government spokesman Piotr Müller. Those who have had contact with Czarnek will be tested for the virus.
“The government has been holding sessions via videoconference for many months,” said Müller. “The decision to quarantine members of the cabinet does not adversely affect the proper functioning of the government.”
W ramach postępowania epidemiologicznego przeprowadzonego w związku z stwierdzeniem zakażenia koronawirusem u posła @CzarnekP na kwarantannę zostali skierowani wicepremier @SasinJacek, ministrowie @D_Piontkowski, @michaldworczyk oraz wiceminister @OzdobaJacek.
— Piotr Müller (@PiotrMuller) October 5, 2020
Separately, a deputy speaker of parliament, Piotr Zgorzelski of the Polish People’s Party (PSL), announced today that he had also tested positive for coronavirus.
The developments come as Poland experiences its highest ever levels of new coronavirus infections. On Friday, a record number of new cases, 2,292, was announced for the second day in a row. Since then, daily figures have remained around 2,000 or above.
In response to the recent rise in infections, new restrictions were introduced last week. The health minister, Adam Niedzielski, today announced that further measures may now be implemented.
Main image credit: Jakub Orzechowski / Agencja Gazeta
Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland. He has written on Polish affairs for a wide range of publications, including Foreign Policy, POLITICO Europe, EUobserver and Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.
