Medical Poland Admission Office statement based on the Polish Government decision announced on 13.03.2020, 8:15 pm (Polish Time)
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki announced new measures to fight the spread of coronavirus, including a ban on foreign nationals (excluding e.g. international students studying in Poland, workers or people related or with a reasonable reason to be in Poland) entering the country, and a suspension of international air and rail connections as of midnight on Saturday (Saturday/Sunday). It will still be possible to leave Poland via road transport.
Mr Morawiecki said that while the number of confirmed cases of the novel virus in Poland - 68 - remained relatively low, the country needed to act fast to prevent a repeat of the acceleration of the virus seen in other European countries. "Ahead of us is a time of social challenge. And ahead of us is a time of intergenerational solidarity," he said, urging to heed the government's advice (...) But our biggest asset will be calmness, calmness which leads to Poland getting through this epidemic in a safer manner than most European countries."
The latest Polish measures announced by Mr Morawiecki are similar to the steps taken by Slovakia and the Czech Republic, which have both announced states of emergency, and effectively closed their borders to foreign visitors.
The measures introduced on 13.03.2020 include: the suspension of international rail and air connections from midnight on Saturday; a ban on foreigners entering the country; mandatory two-week quarantine for those returning from abroad. The measures will initially apply for 10 days, but can be extended by a further 20 days, and if necessary again, by a further month.
Restaurants, cafes, bars, clubs, pubs and other places for entertainment would have to shut down, while in shopping malls only supermarkets, dry cleaning shops and pharmacies would be allowed to stay open. Take-aways and delivery services will remain operating. Banks, services, ATMs will remain operating.
Public gatherings involving more than 50 people will be banned.
International transport of goods will continue.
Mr Morawiecki also said that Poland takes so decisive measures as one of the first countries, but believes others will follow. He named “responsibility” and “security” as the most important now. "This is the last moment for decisive action," said Poland's health minister Lukasz Szumowski. "There is no more time for half measures. In Spain we have more than 4,000 ill people. In Italy more than 17,000."
Department of Foreign Affairs' information line number: +48 22 523 8880.
To avail from Medical Poland’s support our students studying medicine, medical sciences and veterinary medicine in Poland and their families can reach the Medical Poland Admission Office via email support@medicalpoland.ie or Adam and Artur via telephone +353 83 4279427, +353 83 3833426. Medical Poland will schedule regular conference calls via Google Hangouts/Meet - please follow our Facebook closed group for updates.
Please note, that each of our medical and veterinary universities has also put in place counselling services for their students. We recommend that students avail of this support as informed by their respective universities.
