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Poland to have 10,000 extra hospital beds amid coronavirus outbreak: official

16.03.2020 13:30
Poland will have around 10,000 extra hospital beds after converting 19 hospitals into centres for treating infectious diseases amid a coronavirus outbreak, an official has said.
Photo: pexels.com
Photo: pexels.comCC0

The country currently has 79 infectious wards with around 3,000 beds, Wojciech Andrusiewicz, a spokesman for Poland’s health ministry, said on Monday.

Andrusiewicz added that if an infected person does not have serious symptoms that require hospital treatment, doctors may decide he or she should stay at home.

The health ministry said on Monday that 25 further coronavirus cases had been confirmed, bringing the total number of infections in Poland to 150, with three deaths.

Poland has declared a state of "epidemic emergency" and is temporarily closing its borders to non-residents.

International passenger air and rail connections were suspended on Sunday, though the government is chartering special flights to help its citizens return home.

The first case of coronavirus infection was confirmed by Polish authorities on March 4, while the country's first coronavirus fatality was announced last Thursday.

(jh/pk)

Source: PAP