The coronavirus pandemic in Poland began with the first detected infection back in early March. Since then, almost 40,000 have been infected with the deadly virus, with more than 1,600 deaths. For its size, Poland’s coronavirus death toll is rather small, especially compared with countries like Italy, France, Spain, or the UK, where the pandemic claimed tens of thousands of lives. The main reason why Poland avoided the gruesome scenarios of western Europe is quick and swift governmental action. With less than 30 confirmed Covid-19 infections, the Polish government closed all Universities and schools. Other restrictions soon followed, and they were quite extreme (barring people from entering parks and forests, banning all gatherings, requiring masks to be worn at all times when in public, no unnecessary travel, etc.) It is thanks to such a quick and decisive response to the coronavirus pandemic that the Polish people can now go back to some semblance of normal life, which is not necessarily the case for places like, for example, the United States. Though it is difficult to know exactly how the future of the Covid-19 pandemic in Poland will unfold, it is reasonable to assume that the country is already past the worst.
