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The last days have seen an avalanche of new COVID-19 cases in Poland. How is the epidemiological situation assessed by the virologist Dr. Tomasz Dzieścitkowski from the Medical University of Warsaw? Do the restrictions work? How can we stop the continued transmission of the cronavirus?
- What can you expect in the near future? – The pandemic is not slowing down. It is difficult to say when the decline in infections will occur, says the virologist
- The expert indicates the reasons for the increase in infections in Poland
- According to the virologist, the government’s restrictions on the fight against the coronavirus epidemic are a contentious issue
- For more up-to-date information on the coronavirus, please visit the TvoiLokony home page
– The epidemiological situation in Poland is bad. The pandemic is not slowing down. It is difficult to say when the decrease in infections will occur – commented Dr. Dzieścitkowski.
– SARS-CoV-2 is changing all the time. At the moment, the most common mutation functioning among populations in both Europe and the United States is the D614G mutation, which increases the likelihood of its transmission. However, it has a lower mortality rate. However, no one can predict what the next mutation of the virus will be, he added.
Dzieiątkowski noted that several factors were probably responsible for the increased transmission of the virus.
– First of all: during the holidays, Poles stopped wearing masks and kept their distance. Secondly, in September the children went to school, which, however, was not worked out in practice. All responsibility was shifted to school principals who had no knowledge of the spread of the virus. I believe that children should wear face masks in schools. Unfortunately, there was no such obligation in the institutions. Thirdly: after the holidays, people returned to their normal lifestyle, they stopped following the basic epidemiological rules. All these activities could have contributed to the increase in the number of infections, said Dzieścitkowski.
According to the virologist, the government’s restrictions on the fight against the coronavirus epidemic are a contentious issue.
– One should ask why they were introduced too late, why a large part of them were abolished in May and June, if there were no epidemiological grounds for it – explained Dziecitkowski.
He added that he is against introducing another lockdown – Locking the public for 4-6 weeks in apartments is not a good solution. I don’t know what people would live for then. Yes, during the lockdown, the number of infections will drop dramatically. However, it will not help us, because sooner or later we will return to normal life activity. Our resilience will be the same as at the beginning of the pandemic. We will also be susceptible to infection, so after this time the number of infections may start to increase again – explained Dzieiątkowski.
According to Dzieśctkowski, while waiting for intervention in the form of a coronavirus vaccine, only non-pharmacological actions can help us fight the COVID-19 epidemic.
– You have to keep your distance, wear masks, wash your hands. People who are infected should follow the rules of quarantine and isolation, said the virologist. – We should focus on mass testing of society. This will allow us to “identify” people who are a potential source of infection for others from the population. Unfortunately, mass testing is not very popular among the Polish government. And all because it requires high financial outlays – he added.
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– It should be remembered that during a pandemic only the sum of the actions of individual people can limit its reduction – explained Dziecionkowski.
Author: Martyna Chmielewska / Medexpress
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