Poland’s government has announced the latest stage in the relaxation of its coronavirus restrictions. Among the new measures is the reopening of cinemas and hotels, as well as outdoor sports facilities and swimming pools.
However, restaurants, bars and gyms will remain closed to in-person customers for the time being. A growing number of such businesses have recently been reopening in defiance of lockdown rules, which they argue are not only excessively strict but also unconstitutional.
The latest lockdown loosening follows decisions last month to reopen museums, art galleries and stores in shopping centres, as well as the return of the youngest three year groups to in-person classes in schools.
At a press conference today, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, alongside the culture, health and development ministers, unveiled the further reopenings, which will begin from next Friday, 12 February:
- Hotels to reopen with maximum 50% occupancy (but with restaurants closed and food served only in guests’ rooms)
- Cinemas, theatres, concert halls and operas to reopen with a maximum 50% of seats in use, face-covering requirements, and no consumption of food and drink
- Outdoor amateur sports facilities (such as tennis courts, football pitches and ski slopes) to reopen
- Swimming pools to reopen
The government has emphasised that the reopenings will initially be provisionally allowed for two weeks, during which time the situation will be reassessed.
Among the facilities that must remain closed are: water parks, gyms and other indoor sports facilities, restaurants, cafes and bars. Other requirements – such as face covering in outdoor and indoor public spaces – also remain in place.
Morawiecki emphasised that the latest decisions have been made after consultation with experts and stakeholders from both medical and business circles.
The prime minister noted that, while coronavirus infections have declined significantly in Poland since their peak in October and November, “the number of deaths is still disturbing and that is why today we can only talk about a fragile stabilisation” of the situation.
“One can see how aggressively the virus is behaving and that we have to be very careful; we cannot afford to loosen too much,” he added. “We want to reach normality as quickly as possible [and] if we maintain the gradual rhythm of opening the economy, I think that the next stages are closer and closer.”
The health minister, Adam Niedzielski, emphasised that the next steps depend on how the Polish public acts. “In the coming weeks it will be up to us what happens next: if the situation develops for the better, further loosening is possible, but it all depends on whether we follow the sanitary rules,” he said.
Main image credit: Krystian Maj/KPRM (under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
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.
