Poland's capital to enter two-week lockdown as COVID-19 infections surge

The Polish government on Thursday decided to reintroduce lockdown measures in Warsaw, the country's capital, starting Monday, Trend reports citing Xinhua.

The decision came after the country registered record increases in the number of coronavirus infections.

Health Minister Adam Niedzielski said at a press conference that the government had introduced the toughest lockdown regime in Masovian Province, which includes Warsaw, and Lubusz Province bordering Germany. Two other provinces of the country's 16 had already been in lockdown.

The minister said that the lockdown will be in force from March 15 to March 28. Hotels, cultural institutions and sports facilities will be shut down and the operation of shopping centers will also be restricted.

The number of confirmed coronavirus infections in Poland increased by a record 21,045 to 1,849,424 in the past 24 hours, the Health Ministry said on Thursday. Another 375 people have died, bringing the death toll to 46,373.

To date, over 4.2 million people in Poland have received at least one vaccine dose, according to government data.

As the world is struggling to contain the pandemic, vaccination is underway in an increasing number of countries with the already-authorized coronavirus vaccines.

Meanwhile, 263 candidate vaccines are still being developed worldwide -- 81 of them in clinical trials -- in countries including Germany, China, Russia, Britain, and the United States, according to information released by the World Health Organization on March 9.