Poland eases coronavirus restrictions

WARSAW — Poland is partially reopening cinemas, theaters and sporting venues as well as ski slopes from February 12, walking a tightrope between economic recovery and controlling the pandemic, the government said Friday.

Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said the decision came despite a still worrying coronavirus situation.

“We have been observing a stabilization for many weeks and we have a better situation when it comes to the occupancy level of COVID-19 beds and ventilator beds. [But] the number of deaths is still disturbing and that is why today we can only talk about a fragile stabilization,” Morawiecki told a news conference.

Poland has recorded a fall in the seven-day average of new coronavirus cases from over 9,000 in mid-January to just under 5,500 now. But the seven-day average of deaths has hardly fallen and has remained around 270 to 320 since Christmas.

Some experts have long warned that the third wave of the pandemic is still ahead, with some cases of the more contagious B.1.1.7 strain of the virus already detected in Poland. 

“We still live in a pandemic society and complete lifting of restrictions could end up very badly,” Franciszek Rakowski from Warsaw University’s math modeling unit told radio station Tok FM earlier Friday.

“We have to wait until most people have been vaccinated,” Rakowski added.

Poland has so far vaccinated nearly 1.6 million people and plans to reach 3 million by the end of March.

Under the new rules, hotels, cinemas and theaters will reopen at 50 percent capacity and under a strict sanitary regime as of February 12. Outdoor sports will also be allowed from next Friday.

Earlier this year, the government decided to bring back classroom teaching for the youngest grades and earlier this week it reopened shopping malls, museums and art galleries, although with limits on the number of people.

Morawiecki suggested Friday that the third wave might not hit Poland to the extent it has affected countries like the U.K. or Portugal, where a more virulent strain of the virus has wreaked havoc, leading to the reintroduction of lockdown measures.

“We can’t rule out that some echoes of the third wave will reach Poland,” Morawiecki said.

But the government is under growing pressure from businesses worried about surviving the lockdown.

Earlier this week, a restaurateurs’ association said it was preparing to sue the government for as much as 1 billion złoty (€225 million) over keeping restaurants closed. The fitness industry is also reportedly readying a lawsuit.

Despite the pandemic, Poland still recorded a relatively mild recession last year, its GDP dropping just 2.8 percent versus 2019. This year, an economic recovery of around 3 percent to 4 percent is expected. 

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