The Polish government praises it despite the fact that healthcare is on the verge of collapsing

Published: April 18, 2021 kL 16.35
Updated: April 18, 2021 kL 17.02

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The number of people killed, injured and hospitalized in April was higher than ever in Poland, and care is now at risk of collapsing.

At the same time, press freedom in the country is being further curtailed – and there is a concern that residents will not receive the correct information.

They are doing their best to show that the system is doing a good job, says student Magdalena Radzeszewska.

During the two weeks leading up to Easter, 40,000 new cases of corona were recorded every week in Poland. On Thursday, the country recorded its highest daily death toll during the entire epidemic with 954 deaths, according to news sites Euronews And the Notes from Poland.

In the first week of April, Poland also had the third highest infection rate in the world, and the country recorded the largest number of Covid-19 patients so far (34,864) and patients requiring ventilators (3322).

Last week’s highs could be partly explained by the delay in reporting due to the Easter holidays – but the situation remains critical.

Photo: AP / Czarek Sokolowski / TT

Polish healthcare is under severe pressure and there are warnings that a meltdown is imminent. But the government applauds its work.

Severe shortage of staff

Although a quarter of intensive care units are vacant and 20 percent of the ventilators available in the country, patients are not always in the right hospital to receive the care they need. In addition, Poland suffers from a severe shortage of medical personnel which makes handling the situation extremely difficult, he writes Financial times.

In response to the difficult coronavirus situation, the country’s Minister of Health Adam Nidzelski said Friday that the vaccination rate must now be accelerated.

At the same time that residents and health care are under severe pressure, there is concern that the state will increase its control over the media when residents most need the correct information.

Greetings to the government

Timothy Garner Ashe, Professor of European Studies at the University of Oxford, describes in a corresponding article in Watchman How does the Polish state media like to alleviate the dangerous situation of Corona in the country with exaggerated praise for the government’s actions.

Garner Ashe writes that at the same time that the Law and Justice Party has provided state media with significant capital, the mood is raining on the independent and foreign-owned media.

‘A lot of publicity’

Magdalena Radziszewska, 19, student, lives in Biaystok in eastern Poland. She shares the view that state media are happy to portray the regime as heroes in the pandemic.

– There is so much publicity that it is ridiculous. The first thing I think about is that all the reports are from an angle to some degree. Everything is exaggerated, they do everything to make the system look good and the opposition bad.

Magdalena Radziszewska says it can be frustrating for so much to shut down in Poland, especially since training facilities and stores are closed at the same time as churches may be open.

Churches have been opened despite limited access. The Catholic Church is very close to government so it is conceivable that it also has an influence on what is reported.

Published: April 18, 2021 kL 16.35

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