Poland’s Health Minister, Łukasz Szumowski, has said „all procedures worked as they should” as Poland discovered its first confirmed case of the Coronavirus that’s been spreading around the world. Mr Szumowski said the patient had self-reported to a doctor by telephone. The doctor conducted an interview and decided to contact the sanitary inspectorate, which then took the patient into isolation.

The Health Minister added that family and recent contacts of the patient had been quarantined and that authorities were working to prevent any further spread.

Around the world countries are struggling to contain the virus. Italy has closed all schools and universities for a period of 10 days and has also said all sports games must be played in empty stadiums. Italy has had more than 100 deaths from the virus.

Meanwhile, California declared a state of emergency yesterday as another cruise ship was quarantined after a former passenger died.

And Australia’s chief medical officer has called on Australians to stop panic-buying toilet paper. Some supermarkets have run out and manufacturer Kleenex has said it is operating 24hrs a day to meet demand.

Rail links for smalltown Poland

President Duda has announced a programme to restore rail links to small towns around Poland.

The President made the announcement on the platform of a disused railway station in the town of Końskie in central Poland. The plan, named 'Rail-plus’, will allocate 6.6 billion PLN (about 1.5 billion EUR) to restoring old rail links to towns of more than 10,000 residents.

MSC Ambra to dock in Gdansk on maiden voyage

One of the world’s largest ships is to visit Gdansk this weekend as part of her maiden voyage. The MSC Ambra Is the latest of the Gülsün class, the largest container ships in the world. Side by side, the ship would stand taller than New York’s Empire State Building or the Eiffel Tower.

It’s the 23,000TEU vessel’s first voyage as she travels from Xingang in China to Europe. So far the behemoth of the seas has stopped in Spain and Germany and is heading for Gdańsk this weekend, arriving Saturday evening.

Organ music to return to St John’s church this weekend with toccatas and concertos

St John’s church in Gdansk is to once again resonate with the sound of organ music this week after decades of silence.

The church has been without an organ since the 1940s when it was badly damaged in the war and the church was abandoned.

In the 1990s the church was brought back to life and is now shared with the Baltic Sea Cultural Centre. But the church remained without its historic organ until last month when, after months of careful reconstruction, an organ sounded once again in the church.

Organ music will fill the St John’s once again this weekend when the Baltic Sea Cultural Centre inaugurates the new organ with a series of concerts.

First, on Friday, a solo organ concert featuring toccatas by Bach. And then on Saturday concertos of Thomas Arne with accompaniment of the Gdansk Goldberg Baroque Ensemble.

Tickets are on sale from the Baltic Sea Culture Centre and cost 10zł.

Weather report for Thursday

Remaining mostly sunny with some cloud around throughout the afternoon. Temperatures similar to yesterday at 7°C, 44°F. Enjoy it while it lasts though, as tomorrow will be cooler and grayer with some rain in the afternoon.

RG/Thomas Holdstock