Poland reports new daily record of 57,659 COVID cases

Reuters
Updated ·1 min read
FILE PHOTO: Medical staff members treat patients inside the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) ward at the Hospital of the Ministry of Interior and Administration in Warsaw

WARSAW (Reuters) -Poland reported a record 57,659 new daily COVID-19 infections on Thursday, the health ministry said, as the Omicron variant takes hold.

Authorities have said the latest wave will drive case numbers to levels not yet seen in Poland, with estimates of the peak ranging from 60,000 to as many as 140,000 daily infections.

Older primary school students and high school students were due to move to remote learning on Thursday, the education ministry said earlier in the week.

The government has other limited restrictions in place, including wearing masks in enclosed public spaces, but they are not strictly enforced.

Poland's health ministry also announced on Thursday that children aged 12 through 15 will be allowed to receive booster shots from Friday.

Poland, a country of around 38 million people, has reported 4,695,435 COVID-19 cases and 104,636 deaths. Over 1 million people are quarantined, the health ministry said on Thursday.

(Reporting by Pawel Florkiewicz, Anna Koper and Alicja Ptak;editing by Frank Jack Daniel and Jason Neely)