Minister of Health Adam Niedzielski announced that Poland will go into lockdown from December 28, 2020, to January 17, 2021. During this lockdown, called a “national quarantine” by the minister, ski resorts and hotels will be closed, for business trips as well.
Shopping malls are also to be closed except for stores selling essential items and pharmacies.
Moreover, on the night between December 31 and January 1, between 7 p.m. and 6:00 a.m., there will be a country-wide ban on movement. The only exception will be necessary work activities and other exceptions mentioned in the regulations. Additionally, any person traveling to Poland via public transport will have to quarantine for 10 days.
Poland has already put a string of restrictions in place, including the closing of restaurants, fitness centers and schools. Wedding parties are banned, and public gatherings are limited to five people. Poland has recorded 1,171,854 confirmed coronavirus cases, including a total of 24,345 deaths, with recent daily death rates ranging from 400 to 600.
The decision to impose a “national quarantine” has created a wave of backlash. Many people online declared that New Year’s Eve has been canceled, pointing out the movement ban on the night of December 30 to January 1.
Former Polish PM and current European People’s Party President Donald Tusk also decided to comment on the lockdown decision. His entry on Twitter is surprising because he compared the lockdown to the martial law imposed in Poland back in 1981, during the communist era.
“The difference between martial law and PiS’s government is that back then, curfew was lifted for New Year’s Eve, whereas now, they are imposing it. No info concerning casinos. The Christmas Midnight Mass is also without change,” he wrote. Deputy Minister of the Interior Paweł Szefernaker responded to Tusk’s entry, calling his words villainy and cynicism. “Apart from fighting the deadly virus, all of Europe is also facing a fight against the political villainy and cynicism of those who seek to build political capital. I believe that we will overcome this difficult time and will come out of this a stronger nation,” he said. When asked about Tusk’s post in the Friday morning program of Polsat News, PiS MEP Adam Bielan answered : “It is sad that a former PM is reduced to being nothing more than a malicious internet troll. He clearly has nothing interesting to say in Polish politics. He’s experiencing the fact that he is in political retirement.”
