Poland’s Health Ministry confirmed yesterday that there are now more than 1000 known cases of Coronavirus in Poland, 25 of which are in Pomerania. The news comes as the Polish government yesterday approved an unprecedented economic relief plan to support businesses affected by the coronavirus pandemic.

The „Crisis Shield” would inject hundreds of billions of Złotych into the economy to shore up the financial system and would see the government pay up to 40% of employee wages for companies affected by the virus. The plan would be worth the equivalent of 10% or Poland’s GDP.

The plan is now due to be debated in parliament on Friday.

Poland’s borders to remain closed for further 20 days

The government also announced yesterday that border closures would be extended for a further 20 days up to the 13th of April.

Poland closed its borders on the 15th March for an initial period of 10 days, though it had been widely believed the closures would continue for longer.

The closure stops all non-residents from entering Poland except for essential personnel including health, logistics workers, and diplomats.

All returning Polish residents are required to observe a mandatory 14-day quarantine period.

The extension of the closures is bound to impact millions of Polish families as borders will now be sealed until after the Easter festival, the second-largest Polish holiday after Christmas.

The Global Picture

India this week joined a list of other countries, including Poland, in imposing a strict lockdown on its population of 1.3 billion people. The lockdown in India means one quarter of the world’s population is now living under social movement restrictions.

The Chinese city of Wuhan, however, will lift its lockdown on April 8th, after being in place since back in January.

In the United States, the governor of New York, Andrew Cuomo, has said social distancing measures seem to be having an effect in slowing down the spread of the virus. New York is the epicenter of the disease in the US with more than 33,000 known cases. But in recent days the rate of new cases has begun to fall, seemingly due to the state’s strict „shelter in place” order, requiring people to stay at home.

It comes after Germany said earlier this week that it too was starting to see the effects of social distancing,

Tricity shows its support for those on the front line

And lastly today, here in Trójmiasto, life seems to be on pause as people stay at home wherever possible.

in a display of solidarity and thanks to all those doing their bit to fight the virus, and especially the health and emergency workers on the front lines, buildings across the city have been illuminated with hearts.

Some, including the Olivia Star skyscraper used modern LED light displays, others just left a light on in some rooms to make the shape of a heart in illuminated windows.

The „#Heart4All” has spread the idea all over the planet with hotels as far as Brazil joining the movement to thank those fighting the virus.

Weather:

It was a beautiful start this morning but that sunshine will be leaving us for a day or so as clouds gather this afternoon. Temperatures this afternoon reaching about 8°C, or 47°F.

That cloud cover is going to mean a slightly milder night tonight with lows of 3°C, 37°F.

Radio Gdańsk News / TAH