The Health Ministry said that 236 more people had died of the virus. This takes the total number of confirmed cases to nearly 550,000 and the death toll to 7,872 as new restrictions came into force on Saturday to curb the pandemic's spread.
Of the new cases confirmed on Sunday, the most were in the southern coal mining region of Silesia – 4245. The central region of Mazowieckie, which contains the national capital Warsaw, came third with 2099 new infections.
Meanwhile, 209,000 people in total have recovered from COVID-19.
On Saturday, the country reported a record 27,875 new cases, the highest daily figure since the epidemic hit the country in March. On Friday, Poland saw a daily record 445 coronavirus-related deaths.
Infections have risen sharply over the last month, with doctors telling Polish media that the country is running out of hospital beds, ventilators and medics.
Poland’s prime minister on Thursday announced a swathe of new restrictions aiming to curb the escalating epidemic. Mateusz Morawiecki warned that if the number of coronavirus infections exceeded 70 to 75 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, a “national quarantine” (i.e. lockdown) would be announced, with “very strict bans on travel and movement”.
Meanwhile, Health Minister Adam Niedzielski told reporters that Poland could see 25,000 to 30,000 new coronavirus cases a day, adding that was an “optimistic scenario.” Niedzielski warned that Poland’s health-care system was near the limit of its capacity.
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Source: IAR, PAP