Polish President Andrzej Duda started off his two-day visit to Lithuania yesterday by announcing that Warsaw and Vilnius would continue to support calls by Belarusians for fair elections.
In a joint press conference yesterday with President Gitanas Nauseda, Duda praised the “good, neighborly and friendly” relations between Poland and Lithuania, going on to emphasize the two countries’ “great common history”.
Outgoing Lithuanian Prime Minister Saulius Skvernelis echoed Duda’s remarks, claiming relations between the two countries are “the best in several decades.”
On his last day in Vilnius, Duda is scheduled to meet with Ingrida Simonyte, the incoming leader of Lithuania, and will later end his trip with a visit to the mausoleum where Marshal Józef Piłsudski, one of the architects of Polish independence, is buried.
Source: Radio Poland
No plans for further lockdown restrictions
Government officials are cautiously optimistic about the trend in coronavirus cases, stating that current data coming in did not justify the introduction of further restrictions.
In an interview with Radio Poland yesterday, government spokesman Piotr Müller emphasized that the incoming data “confirm[s] that no further step will be needed in the coming days, and certainly not this week.”
He left the door open, however, for the extension of remote learning requirements, stating that a decision on the matter would be made by the end of next week or earlier. In the meantime, current restrictions will remain in place until November 29.
Source: Radio Gdańsk
Coronavirus rates drop slightly
The Polish Health Ministry reported a slight drop in new coronavirus rates yesterday with 19,952 new infections and 357 deaths, down slightly from the over 25,000 infections and record 548 deaths reported on Saturday.
The hardest-hit areas continue to be the southern coal-mining regions of Silesia (Śląsk) and Dolnośląskie (which includes the city of Wrocław), followed by Warsaw and the region of Mazowia. Pomerania’s rates have been increasing and it currently ranks 6th, with 1,325 new infections reported yesterday, along with 29 additional deaths.
Source: Ministerstwo Zdrowia, WSSE
Polish centenarian beats COVID
A 101-year-old Polish woman has recovered from COVID-19 after developing only mild symptoms in a nursing home near Opole, according to local media stations.
Anna Niemiec, who was born in 1919, contracted the virus after a large outbreak in her nursing home in Strzelce Opolskie near the southern Polish city of Opole.
Niemiec beat the illness after developing only a mild cough and a slightly elevated temperature, according to a report by Radio Opole. She is expected to make a full recovery.
Source: Radio Poland
Poland to face off against Netherlands tonight
Poland’s national football team is set to take on the Netherlands at home tonight in its final match in the group stage of the Nations League.
The match follows a bitter 0-2 defeat at the hands of coronavirus-hit Italy in Poland’s penultimate Nations League group-stage match last Sunday.
After five rounds of Nations League fixtures, Poland is sitting in third place in their Nations League Group A1, with seven points, two behind Italy and one less than the Netherlands.
Despite an expressed desire for redemption, tonight’s match will be an uphill battle for the Poles, as the Dutch side dominated when the two teams last met in September.
Tonight’s match kicks off at 8:45 pm in the southern Polish city of Chorzów.
Source: Radio Poland
Gdańsk music festivals move online
This year’s Gdańsk Autumn for Pianists festival hosted by the Polish Baltic Philharmonic has moved online, with new concerts and recitals being recorded and streamed on Youtube throughout November and December.
This Friday, British concert pianist Jonathan Plowright will be performing a selection of Polish works, including “Genesis II” by contemporary classical composer Henryk Mikołaj Górecki and “Piano Concerto No. 2” by Jewish composer and virtuoso pianist Aleksander Tansman.
All events will be broadcast online starting at 19:00 on the YouTube page of the Polska Filharmonia Bałtycka: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCO2RrpiOQimj-1206D1v07g
Weather
Today will be mostly cloudy and cool, with a slight breeze coming in from the southwest and very little chance of rain as the day progresses. Temperatures will peak around a high of 12°C, or 54°F, dropping slightly to an overnight low of 8°C or 47°F. Similar weather is expected tomorrow, with an increasing chance of sunshine as we move into the weekend.
RGEN/EP
