City authorities in Gdańsk have reassured residents that there are no known cases of the COVID-19 Coronavirus in Gdansk or anywhere else in Poland. According to city website Gdańsk.pl, measures are being taken to monitor and prepare for cases of the virus in Gdansk and Pomerania.

Gdansk airport has begun testing all passengers arriving from certain parts of northern Italy where a major outbreak has emerged, including Bergamo.

Passengers from China have already been subject to tests for some weeks.

Meanwhile, the provincial sanitary inspector’s office says it currently has 321 people being monitored for the disease but no cases have yet been detected.

The sanitary inspectorate has also asked anyone returning from Italy in the past 14 days and experiencing symptoms of fever, cough, shortness of breath or breathing problems to inform the epidemiological station by telephone.

Internationally, Australia has extended its travel ban for foreigners arriving from China while Saudi Arabia has banned foreigners from entering the Muslim holy cities of Mecca and Medina.

Several sports games have also been cancelled and cases have now been reported on all continents except Antarctica.

More information here (in Polish):

https://www.gdansk.pl/wiadomosci/koronawirus-gdansk-prewencja,a,165319

PKO lowers growth forecast

In other news, Poland’s largest bank, PKO BP, has lowered its forecast for the country’s economic growth this year from 3.7 percent to 3.5 percent.

PKO chief economist Piotr Bujak said the bank’s new forecast was prompted by „dark clouds gathering over the global economy” and the impact of the coronavirus epidemic.

The bank also raised its inflation forecast from 3.4 to 3.8 percent. Adding that they expected inflation to peak this quarter and then fall from April onward.

Revitalisation on Ołowianka Island and former shipyards

Here in Gdańsk, plans have been revealed to build a new garden space on Ołowianka island.

Ołowianka, home to the Ambersky ferris wheel as well as the philharmonic concert hall, is a favourite spot for tourists and locals. But the island’s northern headland is currently home to a sewage pumping station and is rarely visited.

However, this could be about to change as the Gdansk Water and Sewage, or GIWK, plans to build a new green space with biodiverse shrubs, trees, and grasses.

There’s also set to be a place for walking and enjoying the Motława’s beautiful waterfront scenery.

And in a unique twist, the garden will also feature a collection of Gdansk manhole covers from throughout history. There’ll also be manhole covers from other Polish cities and around the world.

Elsewhere in the city, there are also plans to build a new so-called woonerf in Gdańsk’s Young City district, on the site of former industrial shipyards.

A woonerf is a type of street pioneered in the Netherlands. It features cars and pedestrians sharing a single street area without curbs.

The Dutch street designs have proved popular in other Polish cities, especially Łódź, where woonerfs have revitalised more than a few old streets.

Gdańsk’s new woonerf, to be built on Narzędziowców street, is set to be the first of many as part of plans to rejuvenate the former shipyards.

Weather

Partly cloudy today but plenty of sunshine around in the afternoon.

Temperatures slightly cooler than yesterday though at 4°C, thats 39°F.

RG/Thomas Holdstock/ak