Cultural: Poland's COVID-19 situation update
This kind of mask which fulfilled the letter of the law here in Poland for months is no longer allowed!
Since we live here - this is something that is “duh” to us, but not necessarily to you.
A year ago this Saturday was when I had planned to have my Give-away. Then they came down with severe restrictions and while we had a give-away- it was quite “slow”. I am now just sewing - but won’t attempt another give-away until things open back up completely.
So what’s the situation with us and Poland right now regarding the COVID-19 situation?
I wanted to write something about it because I’m seeing more of you in the states on You Tube without masks and it seems so ‘different’ to me. We have to wear them here…almost everywhere.
Here in Poland recently things have gotten worse again after being better in about the middle of February. In fact, today the number of new cases is approaching 30K which is very high for us.
Our section of the country recently came down with another lockdown - almost a complete one. Then yesterday they announced for the weekend, another three weeks of lockdown for the rest of Poland - so all of Poland will be under the same conditions.
What this means, practically speaking are these things:
keep your distance - 1.5 meters or more from another person
wear a mask almost everywhere - the clear ones are no longer allowed
in buses, trams and trains,
in shops, malls, banks, markets and post offices
in cinemas and theatres,
at physician’s offices, in outpatient clinics and hospitals, in massage and tattoo parlours
in churches, at schools and universities,
In government offices (when going there to take care of certain matters) and other civic centers
restaurants are only take out or delivery only - as they have been now for months!
no hotels, saunas, gyms, theatres, museums and art galleries will be open.
only stores in the malls such as supermarkets, pharmacies, news agents, and dry cleaners can be open.
public transport is limited as to seating
limitation of the numbers of people allowed at a religious meeting - based on building size
no weddings, communions, funerals receptions are allowed
other things like fairs, exhibitions on line only
From 28 November parties and meetings organized at homes can be attended by a maximum of 5 people. This limit does not include the person inviting to the party and people who live together with that person.
They used to have a senior’s shopping time between 10am and 12 noon, but they got rid of that one - and we are glad!!! You had to be over 60 to go to the grocery store then.
So for months now, everyone around us is wearing a mask. Now, those masks might be on the chin or hanging off their ear, but it’s somewhere in the vicinity of the mouth.
But just recently, my husband and I drove about 15 minutes to a Pizza Hut and ordered pizza and then ate it in our vehicle. We stopped at a gas station and picked up a couple of bottles of cold Pepsi Max so we wouldn’t need to pay the Pizza Hut price - which is crazy high!
My husband said that there was a couple with their child in the Pizza Hut when he went in to order and all three had no masks. That was actually surprising to me as we haven’t really seen it lately. We did see it at the beginning - a year ago now, because they had a more lenient policy about wearing masks - saying if you had a health reason, you could be exempt. Now they amended that requirement to saying that if you are claiming a health reason, you have to have a doctor’s statement with you. Before that, you could just say, “Sorry…health reasons” and they couldn’t do anything about it.
I guess what we are experiencing is a “Third Wave”. Part of Europe is in the “Fourth Wave”. We’d been doing pretty well until a week or two ago.
So now they are coming down hard again on everyone. I don’t know how some of he stores are going to survive and some of the hotels are struggling in a big way. I know the ski areas are.
I’m not really writing this article to debate anything about the virus - the validity of anything or the way they count numbers/take tests. All of those things are well known and I am as skeptical as anyone about the accuracy of said numbers. However, our new cases today were 3x what they were only a week ago and that is definitely going in the wrong direction.
So how does this affect me? Probably no more for me than you if you live in a more restricted area.
Well, I am (and my husband is) truly growing weary as is virtually everyone!
We got snow today as I was working on the computer.
Thankfully I truly love to sew and create and find fulfillment in all of the chances I have to do that.
In fact, the government is asking us to not go and visit people or even leave our homes unless we need to.
But like most people, even I, who can be either an extrovert, or an introvert, am growing tired of thinking about it all. It is hard to talk with a mask on and that is getting old when trying to be friendly to people.
We do need to get to a shoe store and find my husband a pair of shoes. He’s pretty picky about his shoes and definitely needs to try them on! Last time we found ones he can wear, they were at the mall at a large German store! But we need to wait til the malls are open again!
And….as my husband and I need to go to the states in May for my son’s wedding, it is making plans for that a bit “hairy”.
Complicated.
Last August we flew without any tests being necessary.
Not so anymore. But I don’t want to go into any of that right now. Hopefully we’ll be able to jump through whatever hoops are necessary and make it. One of the shockers is that the test we are going to have to take to fly will cost us at least $120 each!
When I’m in FL/SC, I’ve already got ideas about sending myself a couple of boxes that I packed up last year but didn’t ship.
In the meantime…sew I will.
I’ve got several quilts to get done in the next 7 weeks including one purple and one pink for my granddaughters!
So there you are - while this topic is BORING for so many - if you live in a place where restrictions are lifted…it may be hard to remember that in other places of the world, they are still quite “tight”. And we are one of those.
So…I’m back off…to sew. Here’s a tiny sneak peak! :)
Have a great day wherever you are reading this! Stay safe!
Be sure to check out what my sis has for you in the store here!
Here’s one of the beauties we have!
