POLAND ENTERS THREE-WEEK NATIONWIDE LOCKDOWN

Following the Christmas holidays, Poland is going to enter a three-week nationwide quarantine. Starting on Monday, the East European country will live under an almost complete lockdown for three weeks, TASS reported.

In early November, the government of Poland imposed a partial quarantine, closing cultural venues and sports centers, while urging citizens to stay home and work remotely. A mask regime has been imposed nationwide, with bars and cafes serving only take-out/to-go orders. People are banned from gathering in groups of over five individuals.

Between December 28 and January 17, besides the existing restrictions, Poland will shut down hotels, ski resorts and all stores, apart from groceries, pharmacies and general stores. This decision was made in order to avoid mass gathering of people amid the two-week school holidays that start on January 4. According to Health Minister Adam Niedzielski such measures are necessary in order to avoid a third wave of the epidemic, which may run the risk of daily case surges of 40,000 or even 60,000 people in a worst-case scenario. According to the top official, Poland's healthcare system will not be able to cope with this sort of caseload.