Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki announced today a plan to lift more of the lockdown restrictions implemented to combat the coronavirus pandemic. From May 4th, shopping malls, hotels, libraries and museums will be reopened. On 6th May preschools and nurseries will also function once more again. After the long May weekend break, rehabilitation centres will be able to open. A decision on further relaxations of the limitations will be announced every two weeks, if the epidemic remains under control in Poland.
From 4th May stores will reopen in shopping malls, as will hotels and some cultural institutions – museums and libraries. There will also be the option to visit rehabilitation facilities after special consultation. From 6th May, nurseries and preschools will function again, although with strict sanitary restrictions in place. In the middle of April the government presented the four stages of loosening limitations. The opening of shopping malls, nurseries and pre-schools was planned for stage III, but now a new plan is in force.
“We’re working faster to put the economy back on its feet, since we have a certain control over the virus, although not total control. We will sometimes speed up the lifting of limitations, but other times we will have to take a step back”, stated Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki.
However, the loosening of restrictions does not mean a complete return to normality.
“The shopping malls will now be reopened, but there still will be sanitary restrictions with only one person for every 15 square metres”, added the Polish PM.
So far, there have been more than 12 thousand people infected with COVID-19 in the country, although for the first time since the beginning of the epidemic the number of people recovered is higher than the number of new infections. Nonetheless, the Minister of Health, Łukasz Szumowski, appealed for people to remain cautious since the further spread of the virus depends solely on their behaviour.
“So far, it is as the Prime Minister said – the number of tests we perform is growing, and today we indeed had more people recovered than new cases of infection. Still, ladies and gentlemen, I took a bike to work yesterday and many people either walk around without a mask or with their masks hanging beneath their chins. It is not bravery, it’s disregard for the fact that we can infect others, it’s egoism”, commented Minister Szumowski.
On 4th May, some sports facilities and public pitches will reopen as well. Schools will remain closed until 24th May at the earliest . The 8th grade exams will take place between 16-18th of June but without the oral exams. On the other hand, according to the third stage of lifting limitations, education for the lowest grades – from first to third – will soon return to normal. At this stage, it is also planned to open up bars and restaurants, hairdressers and beauty salons but with special sanitary restrictions. The borders remain closed, and there is still no air traffic in the country. No mass events may be organised until further notice.