Poland is entering the second stage of lifting the restrictions related to COVID-19. After a long May weekend, shopping malls will be opened, construction stores will also operate on weekends, hotels will resume their activities.
The restrictions have been lifted from May 4
From May 4, hotels and accommodation will be opened - after May holidays, so as not to encourage gatherings and mass trips during the long weekend.
From 4th of May, shopping malls will be open under the restrictions regime - one person per 15 sq.m. The rules are still to be discussed with shopping malls.
Shopping malls and large area stores are open, but with a limited number of people and no food courts.
- Commercial facilities with a sales area of over 2,000 sq m - as shopping malls, large-format stores - will be opened.
- People limit. There must be 15 sq m of commercial space per 1 person. Importantly - the sales area does not include the area of corridors.
- In shopping malls fitness clubs, recreational space (e.g. playgrounds) and places where meals are eaten on site (the so-called food court) are closed.
- Construction stores are open on weekends.
Hotels and accommodation will start, but without swimming pools and gyms
- Until now, hotels, as a rule, couldn’t accept guests - except for persons on a delegation and in quarantine. From 4th of May hotels and accommodation services will be able to provide their services again, on condition of following specific safety rules.
- In hotels and accommodations, the access to hotel restaurants and recreational spaces - e.g. gyms, meeting rooms or swimming pools - is still not allowed.
Rehabilitation and places for recreation and sports outdoors
- Sick people and people suffering from pain will be able to use therapeutic rehabilitation from May 4th. Massage parlors remain closed.
- It will also be possible to use recreational areas such as school courts and outdoor sports fields.
Open nurseries and kindergartens from May 6 - in exceptional cases local governments may close them
Children of working parents will be able to return to nurseries or kindergartens. From Wednesday, May 6, the authorities running these facilities can open them, taking into account the guidelines of the Chief Sanitary Inspectorate, as well as the Ministry of National Education and the Ministry of Family, Labor and Social Policy.
- Due to the epidemiological situation, the leading authority may limit the size of the kindergarten group or limit the number of children under care in nurseries.
- A local government unit may close all nurseries and kindergartens in its area on the basis of existing general provisions.
Childcare allowance is paid to parents when:
- the kindergarten and nursery are closed by decision of the local government unit,
- when a nursery or kindergarten cannot provide care due to restrictions due to COVID-19.
Places of culture, museums and libraries
- The government lifts the ban on libraries, archives, museums and other cultural activities.
- Cultural institutions will be opened gradually and at different times. The authority running the given institution will decide about the specific date after consultation with the count sanitary and epidemiological station.
City Bikes
- City bikes are to be back in use within two weeks at the latest, taking special precautions.
Restaurants are still closed
Restaurants, cafes and bars are still closed. It depends on the safety indicators when subsequent stages and sectors of the economy will be opened and in subsequent stages of the economy. Gastronomy can be enjoyed by ordering take-out dishes.
Safety rules
Reducing restrictions does not exempt you from applying the basic safety principles:
- Maintaining a 2-meter distance from others in public spaces.
- Obligatory covering of the nose and mouth in public places.
- Home-office and studies on distance, if it is only
- Strict adherence to sanitary rules in places where people are gathered (disinfection and maintaining an adequate distance).
- Quarantine and isolation for infected or potentially infected persons.
- It depends on safety indicators when the next stages of defrosting the economy will be implemented - says Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki.
