Poland on Thursday announced that a national lockdown would be introduced from December 28th to January 17th as it battles the coronavirus epidemic.

The country’s Health Minister said that shopping malls will have to close during that period, though grocery stores and drug-stores will be exempt. Ski slopes will also be shut.

Meanwhile, a curfew will be imposed on New Year’s Eve, with restrictions on free movement from 7pm on December 31st to 6am on January 1st. Anyone arriving in Poland on organized transport between December 28th and January 17th will have to undergo a 10-day quarantine.

The Health Minister told reporters on Thursday that „Appeals alone will not help, appeals alone are not enough.”

Source – Polskie Radio

Polish star striker Robert Lewandowski has won FIFA’s 2020 Best Men’s Player award, beating other candidates such as Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo and Argentina’s Lionel Messi.

The Polish goal machine, who plays for Champions League winners Bayern Munich, was named the winner of the annual award at an online ceremony broadcast from FIFA’s headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland.

The award was determined through a voting process in which four groups had an equal say: football fans, selected media representatives, and the captains and head coaches of national teams from around the globe.

Source – Polskie Radio

A Polish province governor has lost his job amid criticism that he greenlighted a construction project in the middle of a protected forest.

The governor of the western Wielkopolskie province, was fired by Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, amid a wave of controversy surrounding the residential high-rise project in the village of Stobnica in the Notecka Forest in west-central Poland.

The dismissal was announced to the public after the Interior Minister said he had lost confidence in the governor after the contested project in late November received the green light „against public interest and in violation of the law,” according to a spokesman for the Polish Ministry of the Interior and Administration.

Poland’s anti-corruption agency opened a probe into the project in 2018.

Source – Polskie Radio

Gdańsk city councillors have voted to approve the 2021 budget despite opposition from some council members. The new budget was voted in by 21 votes for, to 12 against.

The vote was preceded by a lengthy debate where points for and against the budget were made. Many councillors allied with the current Polish government objected to the budget.

More than PLN 4.3 billion of expenses and nearly PLN 3.8 billion of revenues are planned in the budget for next year meaning that there will be a deficit of 565.2 million which is higher than this year’s deficit. The deficit will mainly be covered by loans.

Sources – trojmiasto.pl

Weather

Today will be another cloudy day with a gentle breeze and temperatures of 7 degrees centigrade (45 degrees Fahrenheit) during the day, dropping to 3 degrees overnight. Saturday will remain cloudy and grey with temperatures reaching a modest 3 degrees centigrade during the day, and 2 degrees overnight.

MC/am