Spike In Cases Forced Poland To Turn Stadium Into Hospital

Photo illustration (SJ Objio / Unsplash)

JAKARTA - Poland will convert a national stadium in Warsaw into a temporary hospital. This was done in response to the surge in coronavirus cases in the country.

Authorities have admitted their health system is not good enough. The surge overwhelmed many health facilities.

Poland has set new records in daily cases and deaths in recent weeks. Doctors reported shortages of personnel, hospital beds and equipment.

"On Saturday, October 17, the prime minister ordered the preparation of the first temporary hospital which will be located at the national stadium," said Chief of Staff to Prime Minister Michal Dworczyk, who is in charge of the project.

The hospital is set to be set up in the stadium's conference room and will provide beds for five hundred COVID-19 patients. The authorities also opened up the possibility of adding another thousand beds.

The first number of beds will likely be available this week. Dworczyk said other areas were also working on creating temporary hospitals.

He said the government had no plans to close burial places or stop people from traveling across the country on and around November 1. Millions of Polish citizens, around November 1, usually visit the family graves to celebrate All Saints' Day.

Earlier this week, the government urged people to stay at home. The government also decreed that fitness centers and swimming pools should be closed, restaurant opening hours were restricted, and universities and high schools undertook distance teaching and learning.

The government says it is trying to avoid a complete lockdown. Even so, experts say a complete quarantine may be inevitable if the situation becomes critical.