Photo: ukrinform
Due to a new outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, including the spread of the «Omicron» strain, the Polish government has announced tighter quarantine restrictions in the country. They will take effect next week. This was reported by the Ministry of Health of Poland, a neighbor of Ukraine.
In particular, from 15 December, Ukrainians and other non-Shengen travellers arriving in Poland must receive a negative test for coronavirus before arrival, regardless of vaccination status. It can be done no later than 24 hours before the trip.
Lviv is 70km (44 miles) from the Polish border and travel, family, and cultural connections between here and Poland are common.
Read also: Lviv is in yellow covid zone. Here are the rules
Also throughout Poland from next week, the work of public transport will be allowed with only 75% of seats filled, and restaurants and hotels filled by 30%. Institutions may exceed these limits only with the exception of vaccinated guests–a similar situation to Lviv right now. The same rules will apply to theaters, cinemas, sports facilities, and churches.
Clubs, discotheques, and dance halls are closed.
On New Year’s Eve, from 31 December to 1 January, it will be prohibited to gather more than 100 people in any indoor premises. Family members living with a person who has been diagnosed with coronavirus must pass the test, regardless of whether they have been vaccinated or not.
Read also: The number of Lviv tourists increased 50% compared to the previous corona year. Infographics
Primary and secondary schools will switch to distance learning from 20 December to 9 January.
From 1 March, the Polish government will also introduce mandatory coronavirus vaccinations for doctors, teachers, and law enforcement officers.
We will add that Ukraine has introduced mandatory self-isolation for those who have returned from countries where the Omicron variant is rapidly spreading. These are the Republic of South Africa, the Republic of Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, the Kingdom of Lesotho, the Kingdom of Esvatini, the Republic of Mozambique and the Republic of Malawi. Now people who have been in these countries for more than 7 days in the last two weeks will have to go into self-isolation.
Over the centuries the city has been a part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the Kingdom of Poland, and the republic of Poland, during which times the city was called Lwów, also meaning «lion.»
Translated by Vitalii Holich
You can read a Ukrainian language version of this story here.
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