Polish government closes schools, cinemas and museums over coronavirus
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The Polish Government announced that all schools, preschools and nurseries will close from Monday due to the coronavirus.
Museums and cinemas will also be shut down, while the health minister has called for the whole of society to quarantine itself.
“This is a time of quarantine of our entire society,” said the health minister, Łukasz Szumowski. “This is a time we should spend at home in isolation, let’s take this seriously.”
“One must act quickly, in advance, wherever one can,” said the prime minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, announcing the new measures at a press conference alongside the health, interior, family and labour, education and higher education ministers.
“We are trying to stay ahead of the actions that are later copied by others. We want to slow down the spread of coronavirus as much as possible.”
From tomorrow, there will be no classes in schools. But parents can still leave their children there under the care of staff until the end of the week, to give them time to make childcare arrangements, added Morawiecki. But schools will close from Monday 16 March until at least Wednesday 25 March.
The prime minister also advised parents not to let children leave the house, “because children can easily infect others, they can unwittingly infect their grandparents”. It is better to take strong measures now than to regret not doing so later, he added.
As of Wednesday morning, there are 25 confirmed cases of the virus in Poland. One of those infected is the General Commander of the Polish Armed Forces.
