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Poles celebrate Easter Sunday amid pandemic

04.04.2021 10:40
Poles are celebrating Easter Sunday, a key date in the Christian calendar which this year is marked by the shadow of the COVID-19 epidemic.
Image: Peter Biela
Image: Peter Biela Pixabay licence

Attendance at religious ceremonies in the staunchly Roman Catholic country is expected to be smaller than usual after the government introduced restrictions that limit the number of people in churches.

Places of worship are allowed to admit one person per 20 square metres of space, while the faithful are supposed to keep a distance of at least one-and-a-half metres from each other.

Easter Sunday is when Poles traditionally sit down to a big breakfast, while the Easter break as a whole is when Poles usually spend time with their extended families and travel extensively to visit their relatives.

Amid the spread of the coronavirus, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki has called on people to stay at home this year and spend time only with their immediate family.

Poland on Sunday reported 22,947 new coronavirus infections and 204 more deaths, bringing its total number of cases during the pandemic to 2,438,542 and fatalities to 54,941.

On Thursday, Poland confirmed a record 35,251 new coronavirus infections nationwide.

On November 25, the country reported its highest daily toll of 674 deaths related to the coronavirus.

Poland's first COVID infection was reported on March 4, 2020.

(pk)