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Up to 15,000 Poles waiting to return from abroad amid coronavirus outbreak: official

26.03.2020 13:56
Between 10,000 and 15,000 Poles are still waiting to return from abroad as their government flies citizens home on special chartered flights amid the coronavirus outbreak, an official said on Thursday.
Photo: Free-Photos Pixabay
Photo: Free-Photos /Pixabay Pixabay License

Deputy Foreign Minister Marcin Przydacz said the air operation was set to gradually wind down.

National carrier LOT said it had brought over 36,000 Poles back on 266 flights, using 44 planes.

The airline was on Thursday set to fly Polish travellers home from cities including Colombo in Sri Lanka, Geneva, Madrid, Brussels and London.

All passengers returning to Poland as part of the operation have their temperature taken and then have to undergo a 14-day quarantine.

Poland on March 15 closed its borders to non-residents and suspended scheduled international passenger air connections under a state of "epidemic emergency."

The government later declared a “state of epidemic" and announced that the country’s borders would stay shut until April 13 in a move to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

(pk/gs)

Source: PAP