Poland Warsaw/Xinhua: Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said on Thursday that starting from Saturday the wearing of face masks will be mandatory in all public spaces and commercial buildings across the country amid a steep rise in COVID-19 infections.
Last week saw daily records broken a number of times, and a record 4,280 confirmed cases were added on Thursday, taking the total to 111,599 with 2,867 deaths since the start of the pandemic.
Other measures include limiting opening hours for bars, restaurants and cafes; sports events can host 25 percent of normal capacity; and weddings and other family events are to be limited to 75 people.
The use of face masks is currently only required in public buildings and on public transport throughout Poland. Regions with increased infection rates are already subject to the new rules, and the entire country will now be effectively designated as a so-called "yellow zone" by default, Morawiecki said.
However, some outside locations, including parks, forests and gardens, will be exempt from the face mask requirement.
The hardest hit regions -- 32 counties and six cities -- will be designated as "red zones," where most events will be banned and other activities will be subject to additional restrictions.
At a joint press conference with Health Minister Adam Niedzielski, Morawiecki said the new rules are meant to avoid a full lockdown similar to the one in April and May. "The second wave has arrived now, and we need to react in a decided and determined manner," he said.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), face masks should be used as part of a comprehensive set of measures to suppress COVID-19 transmission and save lives. Since the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak in early 2020, wearing masks in public has been widely accepted in Asian countries like China, South Korea, Japan and Vietnam to limit the spread of COVID-19.
Poland is also struggling to control the pandemic. One candidate medicine, developed from the blood plasma of former patients, is now undergoing testing in the eastern Polish town of Lublin. Many countries, including Germany, China, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States are racing to find a vaccine against COVID-19.
According to the website of the World Health Organization, as of Oct. 2, 193 COVID-19 candidate vaccines were being developed worldwide, with 42 in clinical trials.
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