Poland has coped well against COVID-19 epidemic - health minister

The coronavirus epidemic cannot be fully controlled, but the Polish government and medical services are reacting, figuratively speaking, as soon as they see smoke, Health Minister Lukasz Szumowski told the Do Rzeczy weekly.

Szumowski said that coronavirus outbreaks will continue to appear as the epidemic is not over, but thanks to the isolation of patients and placement of people in quarantine, the probability of meeting a person suffering from COVID-19 on the street is very low today.

"The epidemic is manageable because the state and all its services have responded very well, including the sanitary inspection, the National Health Fund (NFZ), provincial leaders and uniformed services. The medical services have also responded very well: doctors, nurses, paramedics, all medical personnel. Society also responded wonderfully. (... ) It is thanks to all this that we are coming out with the upper hand, when it comes to the epidemic," he noted.

Szumowski acknowledged that it was impossible to say that the epidemic was fully under control. He also denied that a pandemic peak could occur during the presidential election, which will take place on June 28.

Commenting on a possible second wave of the epidemic in the fall, the minister said there could be a return to designated infectious diseases hospitals, and that the hospitals were equipped with ventilators and protective equipment. "This is a completely different situation from the one in March," he noted.