WARSAW, Oct. 20 (Xinhua) -- Poland has seen an "explosion" of the COVID-19 pandemic over the past two days, and the government will have to take "drastic measures" if the trend continues, Health Minister Adam Niedzielski said at a press conference here on Wednesday.
The week-on-week increases in the number of new infections on Tuesday and Wednesday reached 85 percent and 100 percent, respectively, he said.
"If this continues, the situation will distort all our forecasts," Niedzielski was quoted by the Polish Press Agency as warning. "The realization of a scenario that goes beyond the forecast path is certainly an important alert and a red light for us."
More than one third of the new daily infections were reported in just two of Poland's 16 provinces - Lubelskie and Podlaskie in the east, where the vaccination rate is also the lowest, the minister said.
He also said that the coronavirus restrictions currently in force, which include the mandatory use of face masks on public transport, will be subject to tougher enforcement.
Poland recorded 5,559 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 75 deaths in past 24 hours, the Health Ministry said on Wednesday morning. Enditem