“As long as we do not have a certain threshold of hospitalisations related to covid, which is around 5,000, we will not return to mass testing. The current number of hospitalisations due to COVID-19 is about 400 patients. So, we are still very far from that threshold,” said Health Minister Adam Niedzielski, when asked about the return of testing for coronavirus.

Referring to the recommendations he will possibly make to the Prime Minister in relation to the next wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, the head of the health ministry said that “we need to reorient the way we monitor the epidemic, in a situation where part of the population is vaccinated, part of the population has got ill”.

The burden of monitoring is definitely shifting from the number of cases, and daily infections, to the situation in hospitals. This is, at the moment, the main parameter that will be used for decision-making and what resources we will mobilise will depend on it,” added Niedzielski.

He stated that governors are prepared to restart temporary hospitals. “These plans are ready, they are simply waiting for a decision” he explained and reassured that, despite the increases of cases, “these are not, for now, ranges that trigger the crisis management procedures”.

The health minister also reported that the number of new infections in Poland today is 1,068. From 30 June to 6 July, there were 4,163 cases of coronavirus infection, including 556 recurrences and 16 people died.

Meanwhile, the masks in Cyprus have been returning since Friday, 8 February. It is the first European Union country to decide to reintroduce the compulsory wearing of masks in all public indoor areas.

Adrian Andrzejewski