Roundup: Polish president tests positive, restrictions extended in England

Madrid Desk, Oct 24 (efe-epa).- Poland’s president is self-isolating after testing positive for Covid-19, which is surging in the central European nation while over a million people in England awoke to tougher coronavirus restrictions Saturday.

Germany’s infection numbers jumped again while Russia crept past 1.5 million cases since the pandemic began.

It was a checkmate for the Czech health minister, who was asked to resign after being photographed breaching his own coronavirus rules by drinking wine in a Prague restaurant amid record daily cases in the central European nation.

POLAND

President Andrzej Duda tested positive for Covid-19 and has been forced to quarantine in line with official guidance, his spokesman said Saturday.

In a tweet, the spokesman said Duda was “fine” and his team was in contact with the “relevant medical services.”

Senior presidential official Krzysztof Szczerski said in an interview on Polish TV that Duda has tested positive on Friday evening and was not displaying symptoms.

Polish tennis star Iga Swiatek also announced on her social media that she had tested positive for Covid-19. This year’s Roland Garros winner had met with Duda on Friday to be awarded a medal of merit from the government.

The news comes as Poland grapples with a huge surge in Covid-19. Having escaped the worst effects of the first wave — which hit Western Europe particularly hard — Polish health officials on Saturday said over 13,600 cases had been detected in the last 24 hours.

In response, the government has capped social gatherings at five people and in-person classes are only permitted up to third grade.