While noting that new infections have dropped markedly in recent days, Waldemar Kraska said there were “disturbing signals that Poles do not want to be tested.”
“They’re afraid that a positive result will complicate their lives, because they’ll have to go into isolation and their family will have to be in quarantine," he added during an interview with state broadcaster TVP Info.
Kraska added that testing was key “for our safety, for the safety of our loved ones".
He also said that Poland would start an anti-coronavirus vaccination programme as soon as a vaccine appears.
“We want to vaccinate as many Poles as possible, so when there is a vaccine, we will immediately begin vaccination," Kraska said.
He added the health minister would on Wednesday give details of how Poland is preparing for such a programme.
On Tuesday, the country reported 9,105 new coronavirus infections and 449 more deaths, bringing its total number of cases to 999,924 and fatalities to 17,599.
On November 25, officials reported a record 674 new deaths linked to the coronavirus.
On November 7, the Polish health ministry reported 27,875 new single-day cases, the most since the pandemic hit the country in early March.
(pk)
Source: PAP