US presidential candidate Joe Biden said he was headed toward a victory over President Donald Trump in the U.S. election after claiming the pivotal Midwestern states of Wisconsin and Michigan yesterday.
Razor-thin margins and a surge in mail-in ballots due to the pandemic led many media outlets to declare the race “too close to call,” leaving Biden with 253 electoral votes and Trump with 214 as of this morning.
Voting concluded as scheduled on Tuesday night, but many states routinely take days to officially finish counting ballots; Arizona, Nevada, Georgia, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania were still counting votes as of last night.
With the likelihood of recounts all but assured in the closely-contested states of Wisconsin and Georgia, the official outcome of the election may not be known for several days, if not weeks.
Poland is set to join other countries across the EU in further tightening lockdown restrictions in an effort to slow the spread of coronavirus.
During a press conference yesterday, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki announced a series of new restrictions aimed at curbing the escalating COVID-19 epidemic as new confirmed infections and deaths hit record levels.
As of Saturday, non-essential stores in shopping malls will be closed, and only grocery stores, pharmacies, and drugstores will be allowed to remain open. Hotels will be restricted to accepting guests on business trips only, and cultural activities like theatres, cinemas, museums and galleries will be temporarily closed.
All primary school students, including grades 1-3, will shift to remote learning as of next Monday. Secondary schools and universities throughout the country have already switched to distance learning.
The Polish Health Ministry reported an all-time high of 24,692 new coronavirus infections and a record 373 new deaths yesterday, its worst daily toll since the start of the pandemic.
Officials warn that hospitals are rapidly approaching capacity and November will be “an extremely difficult month.” In his remarks yesterday, Prime Minister Morawiecki appealed to Poles to stay at home and for employees to work remotely when possible. He also asked for protesters opposed to the tightening of abortion laws not to take to the streets and instead move their protests online.
In a similar vein, Morawiecki appealed to organizers of the annual Marsz Niepodległości to call off the march planned for November 11 in Warsaw. The head of the Independence March Association, Robert Bąkiewicz, has insisted the rally will take place despite the epidemic, adding that organizers will encourage participants to wear masks “and comply with the restrictions in force.”
Large gatherings are officially forbidden under the current restrictions, though protests have largely been allowed to continue.
The 15th-annual Goldberg Festival, which highlights the musical heritage of old Gdańsk, kicked off online yesterday after being postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The festival, which runs from now until next Tuesday, brings together various international ensembles performing Medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque music using period-specific instruments and arrangements.
Tonight’s performance will be broadcast live online starting at 19:00, and will feature the vocalists of La Capella Ducale and the early music ensemble Musica Fiata performing a series of 17th-century German works.
The Goldberg Festival was founded in 2006 to mark the 250th anniversary of the death of Johann Gottlieb Goldberg, an 18th century harpsichordist and composer born in Gdańsk. Goldberg’s name became famous largely due to a composition by Johann Sebastian Bach entitled The Goldberg Variations, which Goldberg himself reportedly performed.
To watch the concerts or view the full schedule, visit http://goldbergfestival.pl/
Weather
Thursday will be mostly cloudy and cool, with a brisk breeze coming in from the east and a slight chance of rain in the late evening. Temperatures will peak around a high of 11°C, or 51°F, dropping to an overnight low of 9°C or 48°F. Similar weather is expected tomorrow, with some sun.
Elizabeth Peck/ako
