Polish Health Minister Adam Niedzielski warns Poles to expect regionally-targeted coronavirus restrictions to be put in place as early as Saturday.

In an interview earlier this morning with TOK FM, Niedzielski said that the British variant of the coronavirus is definitely present in Poland, and steps would need to be taken, particularly in hard-hit provinces like Warmia-Mazury, to limit the rapid spread of the mutation.

The move comes in response to a reported 30% rise in the average number of new infections over the past two weeks, with a record 12,146 new cases reported this morning, compared to 8 700 last week.

„The situation does not look good at the moment… we have an average of 7 300 new infections, and a week earlier, we had 5 500, so the scale of the change is quite large” assessed Niedzielski.

In addition to better masks and regionally-targeted restrictions, government officials are mulling additional travel restrictions for Poland’s southern neighbors, particularly the Czech Republic and Slovakia. A formal announcement is set to be made later today.

Source: PAP

Poland is urging European Union leaders to impose further restrictions on officials connected with oppressive regimes in Russia and Belarus.

EU foreign ministers gave the green light on Monday to impose additional sanctions on Russian officials connected with the arrest of opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who is set to be sent to a penal colony for 2.5 years after losing an appeal in court last Saturday.

Sanctions against Belarus were also under discussion this week after Minsk imprisoned two young journalists for filming the ongoing protests there. Some 33,000 people have been detained in connection with the Belarusian protests, which began in response to a contested August presidential election opposition leaders say was rigged.

Current president Alexander Lukashenko, who is often referred to by Western media as “Europe’s last dictator,” has been in power since 1994.

Source: PAP

Polish adventurer Aleksander Doba, who completed three solo kayak trips across the Atlantic, passed away during an attempt to scale Kilimanjaro earlier this week.

The family of the 74-year-old explorer announced on social media that Doba had died while „fulfilling his dreams…conquering the highest peak in Africa.”

Doba achieved worldwide fame, primarily for his exploits at sea. He was the first man in history to complete a solo transatlantic voyage in a kayak, crossing from Senegal to Brazil in 2010 in 99 days.

In 2013, at the age of 68, he paddled 5,400 miles across the Atlantic’s widest point, from Lisbon in Portugal to Florida in the US, in 167 days. The feat earned him the 2015 „People’s Choice Adventurer of the Year” title from National Geographic magazine.

His last trip across the Atlantic was in 2017 at the age of 70.

Doba was a guest of Radio Gdańsk several times, most recently in 2016, when he spoke with Ewelina Potocka about his approach to life and the excursions he had planned at that time.

For more on the world-traveler and a link to his interviews (in Polish), visit https://radiogdansk.pl/wiadomosci/item/122845-nie-zyje-aleksander-doba-podroznik-zginal-zdobywajac-kilimandzaro.

Source: Radio Poland, Radio Gdańsk

Twenty-three Polish athletes are gearing up to compete in the 2021 Nordic World Ski Championships, set to begin in Oberstdorf, Germany today.

Team Poland includes 11 ski jumpers, both men and women, 10 cross-country skiers, and two Nordic combined competitors.

The Polish ski-jumping contingent is led by three-time Olympic champion Kamil Stoch and reigning world champion Dawid Kubacki; while the cross-country skiing squad includes under-23 world champions Izabela Marcisz and Monika Skinder.

The competition runs from February 24 through March 7.

Weather

Today will be mostly sunny and relatively warm, with a gentle breeze coming in from the southwest and very little chance of rain. Temperatures will reach a high of 12°C, or 54°F, dropping to 5°C or 41°F overnight. Skies will remain mostly clear throughout the day, with Thursday set to be even sunnier and warmer.

Elizabeth Peck/mw