WARSAW (Reuters) – Polish doctors and nurses sleep only between shifts as they battle a third wave of coronavirus, the health minister said on Friday amid reports of medical staff using oxygen and intravenous drops to boost energy.
The 38 million country, the largest in the eastern wing of the European Union, reported 768 coronavirus-related deaths on Friday, after the death toll reached a new record of 954 on Thursday.
“This is really a war and the situation requires non-standardized behavior,” he told RMF private radio 24.
“These are the harshest, most difficult images that reflect the burden of this work,” Niedzielski said when asked to comment on the use of drops and oxygen by some doctors to regain their strength at work.
“When I visited a temporary hospital in Katowice, I saw doctors and nurses sleeping to rest between shifts. The intensity of the work is significant, which results from the shortage of staff “, said Niedzielski.
Poland reported a record number of new cases last week at about 35,000 a day, and on Wednesday the government extended the restrictions until April 18, keeping kindergartens, schools, shopping malls, hotels, cinemas and theaters closed.
The previous 24-hour death toll was 674, reported in November. On Friday, Poland reported 28,487 new coronavirus infections, bringing the total to over 2.5 million.
“If we look at the evolution of the number of new infections, it seems that the peak of infections is behind us,” Niedzielski told a news conference, warning against satisfaction.
“The pandemic is still a real threat and the fact that we are seeing some slight falls is not absolutely a signal that would allow us to believe that we have the worst behind … Now we will have to deal with a peak, as so to speak, in hospitals, ”he said.
Reporting by Agnieszka Barteczko and Anna Wlodarczak-Semczuk; Editing by Nick Macfie