Coronavirus: sharp increase in contamination in Poland

Poland recorded a sharp surge in coronavirus infections over the weekend, particularly linked to a coal mine in the south of the country, the Health Ministry said on Sunday. The country has recorded 1,151 new Covid-19 cases, including 576 on Saturday and 575 on Sunday.

Among those infected, almost two-thirds are employees of the Zofiowka mine and members of their families, from the town of Jastrzebie-Zdroj, the same source said.

W kopalniach @jsw_sa # JastrzębskaSpółkaWęglowa potwierdzono 2771 przypadków zarażenia # koronawirus.em. W #KWK # Pniówek to 1587 osób, 1148 osób w # Ruch.u # Zofiówka, 13 w #kopalnia # JastrzębieBzie, 10 osób w kopalni #Budryk i 13 w Ruchu #Borynia. Na #kwarantanna przebywa 196 osób.

Zofiowka is owned by the state-owned mining group JSW, which also reported on Sunday a significant number of contamination at the Pniowek mine. This mine is located in Silesia, the current epicenter of the pandemic in Poland.

Also in the Czech Republic

Poland, a country of 38 million inhabitants, currently has 26,561 cases of coronavirus for 1,157 deaths. The country introduced containment measures in early March to prevent the spread of Covid-19.

Since the end of May, the government has relaxed these measures, by allowing, among other things, gatherings of up to 150 people. Poles are no longer obliged to wear a mask provided they maintain a distance of two meters between two people.

In the neighboring Czech Republic, hundreds of new cases of Covid-19 have also been diagnosed in recent days at the Darkov mine in the northeast of the country, with Polish employees among the patients.