People in Poland will only be allowed to host up to five guests from outside their household over Christmas, the government has confirmed.
On Saturday, the prime minister announced that most current coronavirus restrictions – including the closure of schools, restaurants and gyms – would remain in place until after Christmas.
At the same time, the government issued plans for further steps to combat the pandemic over the holidays, including limiting the number of people who can meet. This has now been formalised with an ordinance published by the government in the official Journal of Laws.
The ordinance states that all private gatherings are banned until 27 December “except for…meetings of up to five people that take place in premises indicated as the place of residence of the person who organises the event”. It adds that “the limit of people does not include the person organising the meeting or those living with them”.
“We want to minimise interpersonal contact during Christmas,” deputy health minister Waldemar Kraska told state broadcaster TVP. “It will not be a good time to meet in a large family group. But of course, if we live in one place with, for example, ten people, then we can spend Christmas dinner in such a group.”
Christmas in Poland – which is celebrated primarily on 24 December – is usually a time of large gatherings in homes. It often sees people travel around the country to visit family members.
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But the government has appealed for Poles to avoid such trips this year and to celebrate only in small groups with the closest relatives. The prime minister announced on Saturday that they are “working on legal options that will limit the possibility of movement”.
“These are not and will not be holidays as we [usually] know them,” said the health ministry’s spokesman, quoted by Gazeta.pl. “It will be Christmas under a sanitary regime.”
Churches are also usually full at Christmas in a country where over 90% of people are officially classified as Catholic and religious belief remains strong. However, under restrictions that are in place until 27 December, attendance at religious services is limited to 1 person per 15 square metres of space.
Poland escaped the first wave of pandemic with relatively low numbers of infections and deaths. However, it has been hit hard by the second wave, and currently has one of Europe’s highest numbers of COVID-19 deaths in relation to population.
The number of new infections has, however, been falling over the last three weeks, with the health minister announcing last week that the situation has “stabilised”. But the government has warned that restrictions must be maintained and respected to avoid another surge in cases.
Main image credit: Pawe Loj/Flickr (under CC BY 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.
