Polish hotels will reopen on May 4 along with the country’s shopping malls becoming the second European country to relax hospitality restrictions.
Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said on Wednesday, part of efforts to ease restrictions imposed to curb the spread of the new coronavirus (continues below picture)
Hotel Polonia, Warsaw, Poland (file picture) CC BY-SA 3.0, Link
The country of 39 million people implemented lockdown restrictions a month ago and 644 people have died from Covid-19, one of the lowest rates in Europe.
Austria had annouced this week that hotels and larger shops can reopen in mid-May as part of its continued lifting of restrictions.
Poland, the largest economy in the European Union’s eastern wing, started relaxing some of its curbs on public life earlier in April, alongside other countries keen to prop up industry damaged by the pandemic.
Morawiecki also reaffirmed the government’s plan to hold a presidential election as scheduled on May 10, despite calls from opposition parties and others for a much longer delay. They fear the relaxtion will lead to a second wave of infections
Further steps to unfreeze the economy, including a reopening of restaurants, will be announced at a later date, Morawiecki said. Poles are still required to wear masks in public and schools will remain closed until May 24.
The restrictions caused huge problems for the thousands of Polish workers who crossed the border into Germany to work each day as the border was closed.
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