ZCZC
BFF-39
HEALTH-VIRUS-POLAND
Poland shuts schools, theatres for two weeks
WARSAW, March 11, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – Poland’s prime minister on Wednesday
said the government has decided to close down all educational and cultural
facilities for two weeks to stem the spread of the coronavirus, which has
infected 25 people in the EU member to date.
“The fight against the spread of the virus is a priority for us,” Prime
Minister Mateusz Morawiecki told reporters.
He said all schools, nurseries, universities, theatres, cinemas, museums
and operas will be closed from March 12 to 25, although parents will still be
able to leave their children at school on Thursday and Friday in order to get
organised for the rest of the time.
“To those who will not be going to school and university: this isn’t a
vacation, it’s not time off. It’s a public quarantine,” Health Minister
Lukasz Szumowski told reporters at the same press conference.
“We should spend this time at home, isolated, trying not to contaminate
others… Let’s be responsible, let’s try to be reasonable and spend this
time at home,” he added.
Poland had earlier already banned mass gatherings and expanded health
checks to include all of its borders: with Germany, the Czech Republic,
Ukraine, Belarus, Lithuania, Slovakia and the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad.
BSS/AFP/RY/1844 hrs