WARSAW (POLAND) -The number of coronavirus infections in Poland has doubled in less than three weeks, said the health ministry on Wednesday, adding that it has crossed 200,000. It also marked a new daily record of 10,040 cases.
Poland’s lower house of parliament is holding an emergency session on Wednesday to discuss a draft bill proposed by the ruling Law and Justice party (PiS) to unblock the overwhelmed health system.
The meeting was postponed from Tuesday at the request of the opposition, which said it needed more time to analyse the bill.
“We have prepared about forty amendments. We have found some obvious errors, including one that allows calling young female doctors the day after giving birth to work in infectious wards,” said Cezary Tomczyk, who heads the parliamentary caucus of the biggest opposition party, Civic Coalition.
PiS lawmakers say the situation demands quick action.
Government COVID-19 advisor Andrzej Horban 10,000 daily cases is the upper limit of the health system’s current capacity, with up to 2,000 patients admitted to hospitals every day.
As of Wednesday, COVID-19 patients occupied 9,439 hospital beds and were using 757 ventilators, compared with 8,962 and 725 a day earlier, the ministry said.
Its spokesman said that capacity as of Wednesday is around 17,000 COVID-19 hospital beds.
Poland is building temporary hospitals, mostly in big cities, which report the biggest spikes in new cases. Horban said if the number of daily cases does not increase, field hospitals may not be necessary.
“If we manage to stop the transmission at this level, if we manage to get off this transmission in a moment, the entire healthcare system will stand up beautifully,” Horban told radio RMF24.