Polish president tests positive for COVID-19 for 2nd time

WARSAW

The president of Poland has tested positive for the coronavirus for a second time, according to an official statement on Wednesday.

Andrzej Duda, 49, shows no virus-related symptoms and his condition is currently fine, said the statement released by the Presidency.

Duda had contracted COVID-19 once before in October 2020. He has since received two vaccine doses, as well as a booster shot last month.

Meanwhile, Health Minister Adam Niedzielski said at a press conference that no new restrictions will be introduced in the country at the moment, mentioning that data on the Omicron variant in Poland will become clear at the end of January.

He noted that a recent increase in the number of daily cases was temporary as it was the result of the holiday season, announcing plans to increase the number of beds in hospitals for coronavirus patients to 60,000.

The Polish Health Ministry also announced that 632 people had died from the coronavirus in the last 24 hours.

To date, more than 21 million people have been fully vaccinated in Poland, and more than 6.6 million have received a booster shot.

Since December 2019, the pandemic has claimed over 5.46 million lives in at least 192 countries and regions, with more than 295.44 million cases reported worldwide, according to the US’ Johns Hopkins University.

*Writing by Merve Berker in Ankara