‘We are still at growth stage of epidemic in Poland': health ministry
20:02
“We are still at the growing stage of the epidemic in Poland, we expect an increase in the incidence and the number of patients who will need respirators,” health minister Łukasz Szumowski said in an interview with Radio Zet on Saturday.
The minister reminded that in the disease caused by the virus, respiratory failure comes later.
"We have 10,000 beds ready, we have 1,600 ventilators waiting for patients. We are also starting to prepare for the possible increase in demand for these respirators in order to be one step or two ahead,” Szumowski noted.
When asked if this means additional purchases, he explained that these will be transfers from those places where they are currently unused.
The Minister of Health stressed that the equipment was bought all the time. "We have approximately 1,000 additional respirators contracted," he said.
Szumowski said that he was afraid of holidays and non-compliance, which would mean an increase in infections.
“A month after these long meetings at the table - because it looks like this - we can have tens of thousands of patients more than we could have, which means that some of these people will die,” he said.
He assessed that we are still threatened by the "Italian scenario" of the coronavirus epidemic and stressed again that much depends on our behavior during the holidays.
The Polish health ministry reported 6,934 confirmed cases of Covid-19 – the disease caused by the coronavirus – to date and at least 245 fatalities.
(PAP)
