After a meeting of a government crisis management team, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki told a news conference that schools and universities would be closed for two weeks from Monday.

"We have 25, probably 26 registered cases” of the coronavirus in Poland, Morawiecki said, adding: “We want to slow the possibility of the coronavirus spreading.”

The decision to close schools came a day after Morawiecki announced that all large public gatherings would be banned across the country.

Polish President Andrzej Duda on Tuesday evening appealed in a televised address for people not to panic but act responsibly amid the coronavirus outbreak.

Under special rules that came into force in Poland at the start of this month, people suffering from or suspected to have an infectious disease can be ordered to undergo treatment in hospitals.

Under the new measures, employers can instruct employees to work from home in an effort to prevent the spread of the virus.

The first case of coronavirus infection was reported in Poland last Wednesday.

The new SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, which causes a disease known as Covid-19, was first reported in Wuhan, China. It has now spread to at least 115 countries.

(pk/gs)

Source: PAP/IAR

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