Medical workers fear Polish hospitals can’t handle new surge

By MONIKA SCISLOWSKA
Associated Press

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland’s doctors and medical workers fear the country’s health care system may not be able to cope with the latest surge of COVID-19 infections. More than 30,000 new cases in 24 hours were reported Wednesday and health authorities are expecting the figure to almost double in the next week. Medical staff are exhausted and overworked and stress that dedicated equipment alone cannot care for the patients. The health minister has spoken in favor of making COVID-19 certificates mandatory for employees rather than introducing another lockdown. He says Poland has 31,000 hospital beds for COVID-19 patients, and the current infection rate poses a “great risk to the efficiency of the health care system.”