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Central European PMs to discuss coronavirus threat

03.03.2020 13:05
Heads of government from four Central European countries are scheduled to meet this week to discuss ways of tackling the coronavirus threat.
A healthcare professional wearing a protective suit and a face mask at a testing laboratory in northern Italy on Monday. Italy is where Europes largest number of infections has been reported, at over 1,500, with at least 30 deaths from the Covid-19 coronavirus.
A healthcare professional wearing a protective suit and a face mask at a testing laboratory in northern Italy on Monday. Italy is where Europe's largest number of infections has been reported, at over 1,500, with at least 30 deaths from the Covid-19 coronavirus.Photo: EPA/MATTEO CORNER

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki has said on Twitter he and his Visegrad Group counterparts will gather for a special meeting in the Czech capital Prague on Wednesday.

The Visegrad Group is a regional cooperation platform comprising Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary.

The meeting was initiated by Poland, Morawiecki tweeted at the end of last week. "We want to develop solutions and strengthen cooperation on the most pressing issue of the coronavirus," he said in a Twitter post.

Morawiecki told deputies during a special session of Poland’s parliament on Monday that his country was prepared to deal with a coronavirus outbreak and urged Poles not to panic.

Meanwhile, around 2,100 cases of coronavirus infection have been confirmed across 18 of the 27 European Union states and 38 EU citizens have died, according to figures released on Monday by the European Commission, the bloc's executive, as quoted by the Reuters news agency.

On Friday, EU health ministers are scheduled to gather for a special meeting in Brussels to discuss the coronavirus situation in Europe.

That meeting will be held in response to a request by Polish Health Minister Łukasz Szumowski, public broadcaster Polish Radio’s IAR news agency has reported.

The Covid-19 virus has now infected more than 90,000 people globally, with over 45,000 reported to have recovered from the infection. The number of coronavirus deaths has exceeded 3,100 worldwide, news media reported on Tuesday.

No coronavirus case has been confirmed in Poland so far.

(gs/pk)

Source: IAR, Reuters