The government has warned that Poland is in danger of experiencing a third wave of the coronavirus pandemic, following an uptick in new infections and evidence that the so-called British variant of the virus is spreading.
Ministers have also condemned the large crowds seen violating restrictions over the weekend following the loosening of lockdown measures on Friday. They say that such behaviour may lead to the renewed closure of businesses and institutions recently allowed to reopen.
Over 20,000 people "invaded" the mountain resort town of Zakopane this weekend after the easing of Covid restrictions on Friday, say police.
Officers intervened hundreds of times as street parties broke out, with many ignoring distancing and masking ruleshttps://t.co/kzoQesbwxT
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) February 14, 2021
On Monday, the health minister, Adam Niedzielski, noted that in testing of samples from 200 infected people from across the country, eight were found to have the British variant, which is believed to be more contagious.
“If we consider it to be representative, it comes out to about 5%,” said Niedzielski. This is “an alarm signal”. The minister also noted that, for the first time since mid-November (with the exception of a spike around Christmas) infections are rising again.
The number of new cases reported on Tuesday morning – 5,178 – was over a thousand higher than last week’s figure. “The reversal of the trend has become a fact,” said Niedzielski.
Odwrócenie tendencji staje się faktem. Dzisiejszy wynik – 5178 nowych zakażeń – jest o ponad 1 tys większy niż tydzień temu. Trend dla tygodniowej stopy wzrostu (średnia ruchoma 7-dniowa) po raz pierwszy od połowy listopada (pomijając anomalie postświąteczną) jest dodatni. pic.twitter.com/rTpZqGWtGB
— Adam Niedzielski (@a_niedzielski) February 16, 2021
Last month, Poland began the gradual loosening of lockdown. In mid-January, the youngest three year groups were allowed to return to school. At the end of the month, it was announced that shopping centres, art galleries and museums could reopen.
Last Friday, various sporting, cultural and hospitality facilities were partially reopened, including hotels, swimming pools, casinos and ski slopes. Subsequently, an estimated 20,000 Poles flocked to the mountain resort town of Zakopane at the weekend, where police had to intervene hundreds of times over violations of distancing and masking rules.
Ministers yesterday condemned the “irresponsible” behaviour, and warned that it could result in the reintroduction of restrictions. This morning, inside sources told Wirtualna Polska that the government was seriously considering rolling back its loosening of lockdown.
Main image credit: Krystian Maj/KPRM (under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
Maria Wilczek is deputy editor of Notes from Poland. She is a regular writer for The Times, The Economist and Al Jazeera English, and has also featured in Foreign Policy, Politico Europe, The Spectator and Gazeta Wyborcza.
