The latest update received on the COVID-19 situation in Poland revealed that the country has become the latest European nation to reach the milestone of 100,000 deaths from the deadly coronavirus.
A quarter of those deaths with an estimated number of 24,000 occurred in the most recent wave of infection which commenced in October, a period in which vaccines were widely made available in the European Union nation consisting of 38 million people.
In addition, Health Minister Adam Niedzielski highlighted that “493 more people with COVID-19 had died, pushing the overall pandemic death toll to 100,254 in the central European nation”.
In Poland, the first two deaths were reported on Monday, both in unvaccinated and elderly people.
Niedzielski said, “over 18,000 COVID-19 patients are hospitalized, making this the most difficult situation compared to other waves.”
Poland has struggled throughout the pandemic situation with the healthcare sector strapped due to limited resources and funding along with the emigration of different medical professionals to Western Europe in the past two decades.
According to the statistics shared by OECD, Poland in the European Union nation has the lowest number of working doctors as compared to its population – 2.4 to 1000 inhabitants compared with 4.5 in Germany. Poland also had only 5 nurses to 1000 inhabitants, which is quite below the EU average of 8 and below richer countries such as Germany which has 14.
As per ABC News, “Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki’s government has sought to encourage vaccinations but is also up against fears and hesitancy among some in the population — and sometimes among the governing Law and Justice party’s own supporters.”
Poland now joins the UK, France, and Russia as the European nations which have recorded over 100,000 deaths.
