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Poland’s National Stadium to become Covid hospital

PGE Narodowy in Warsaw, which is mostly used for football matches, will initially have room for 500 Covid patients

By IQ on 20 Oct 2020

Poland's National Stadium, PGE Narodowy in Warsaw

Poland's National Stadium, PGE Narodowy in Warsaw


image © Wikimedia Commons/Arne Müseler

Poland’s National Stadium, PGE Narodowy in Warsaw, is being converted into a temporary hospital to accommodate more Covid-19 patients.

The 58,500-capacity stadium will initially have room for 500 beds and will be equipped with oxygen therapy, said head of the chancellery for the prime minister, Michał Dworczyk, during a press conference yesterday (19 October).

The hospital will provide care for the residents of Warsaw and also Mazovia. According to Dworczyk, the hospital, which will be a branch of the Central Clinical Hospital of the Ministry of Interior and Administration, will be the first in a series of such facilities in Poland.

“We can see that the pandemic is dangerous and progressive. We want to transfer the experience gained by the Central Clinical Hospital of the Ministry of Interior and Administration to the already designed temporary hospital. In the hospital, patients will have access to all the most important tests,” said Dworczyk.

“We want to transfer the experience gained by the Central Clinical Hospital to the already designed temporary hospital”

PGE Narodowy is the largest association football arena in the country and is the home of Poland’s national football team.

The stadium will close to visitors from 19 October when preparations for the temporary hospital will begin.

Poland has experienced relatively low rates of infection throughout the pandemic but is now dealing with an exponential surge of cases. Last weekend, the country reached its highest daily rate for new cases, recording 9,622 on Saturday (17 October).

The government has responded to the surge last week, announcing a series of measures in Warsaw and other major cities now considered “red zones” where it’s mandatory to wear masks in the street.

Restaurants have been forced to close at 9 pm local time, wedding ceremonies are banned, and the number of people allowed in shops, public transport and religious services is limited. All high schools and faculties located in these zones are closed and are conducting remote teaching.

PGE Narodowy is one of the many venues across the world which have been repurposed as a field hospital or Covid-19 test centre during the pandemic.

 


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