2020-03-02 13:38 update: 2020-03-06, 17:59
Mateusz Morawiecki. Photo PAP/Mateusz Marek
Addressing a special lower house sitting held on Monday to discuss the current situation regarding coronavirus, PM Mateusz Morawiecki and Health Minister Lukasz Szumowski called for not using it for political aims and said that there was no confirmed case in Poland.
"I am calling for mindfulness and seriousness regarding coronavirus and for not using it for party struggles," the PM said, adding that Poland was prepared in the best possible way for a potential occurrence of the virus in Poland.
"The justified anxiety of Poles could be easily aggravated by hasty and irresponsible comments on the Internet. Let us not do this. Keep calm and be professional," the prime minister said and appealed for not spreading false information that the virus was already present in Poland.
The prime minister admitted that it is highly probable, almost certain, that a case of coronavirus will occur in Poland and informed the Sejm (lower house) that three cases had already been recorded in the Czech Republic.
"Our uniform approach to this issue, a calm, toned-down, and cross-party-based dialogue is extremely important to properly prepare society for the emergence of this epidemic," Morawiecki said, adding that each effective and wise strategy had to be preceded by dialogue and best practices implemented into the system.
Referring to the current Sejm sitting, Morawiecki said it was the best proof of how seriously the authorities approached this problem and thanked President Andrzej Duda for the initiative of convening an extraordinary Sejm session on the issue.
The prime minister also said that the Polish government has initiated a number of activities on the EU forum, including a meeting of the EU Council, requested by Polish Health Minister Lukasz Szumowski. He added that he has also discussed the problem with European Council President Charles Michel and the prime ministers of the Czech Republic and Hungary, Andrej Babis and Viktor Orban.
Health Minister Lukasz Szumowski said that to date, no case of a disease caused by coronavirus had been reported in Poland. He also informed the lower house that 121 persons have been hospitalised and are undergoing tests, 237 have been put in quarantine while over 3,600 are under epidemiological supervision.
He admitted that the coronavirus will surely appear in Poland but added that it was our response that mattered. "The results of coronavirus tests have been constantly monitored. If there is a positive result (...), the public opinion will be immediately informed," he declared.
The health minister underlined that honest information, conveyed also by politicians, was of key importance for the security of Poles.
"I believe that no one sitting in this hall will use fear of the epidemic for the sake of direct party struggles," Szumowski said, adding that he wanted to inform the authorities and the public that "Poland is prepared for coronavirus."
The new virus first detected in China has infected more than 89,000 people globally and caused over 3,000 deaths. The World Health Organization has named the illness COVID-19, referring to its origin late last year and the coronavirus that causes it.
The ECDC (European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control) announced on Monday that the risk level has risen from moderate to high for people in the European Union, and that the virus continued to spread. Health commissioner Stella Kyriakides said on Monday 2,100 cases of coronavirus were confirmed in 18 of the 27 EU states, and 38 EU citizens had died because of the disease. (PAP)
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