Pres. Duda tested positve for Covid

[Jaga]

News
Polish President Andrzej Duda tests positive for coronavirus. There are almost 180 deaths in Poland today

The president of Poland, Andrzej Duda, has tested positive for the coronavirus but is "feeling well." Poland has reported its highest daily new infections as new measures come into force to slow the spread of the virus.

www.dw.com/en/polish-president-andrzej-duda-tests-positive-for-coronavirus/a-55382241

olish President Andrzej Duda has tested positive for COVID-19 as the country faces a surge in new infections. Spokesman Blazej Spychalski announced the news on Saturday and said Duda, an ally of the ruling nationalist Law and Justice party, was "feeling fine."

There was no immediate word on how the diagnosis of the 48-year-old conservative leader would affect government operations.

Read more: Coronavirus digest: Deaths in Germany pass 10,000

While it was initially unclear when Duda was infected, he attended an investment forum in the Estonian capital, Tallinn, on Monday, where he met with Bulgarian President Rumen Radev, who is now in quarantine after having been directly exposed to the virus.

"The president is a young man, I think that he will get past the infection without problems," Deputy Health Minister Waldemar Kraska told private radio station RMF. He added that he expects that all people who had contact with Duda in recent days will be quarantined.
Poland enters partial lockdown

Poland is facing a spike in new infections, with cases hitting a daily record of more than 13,600 on Friday. The country of 38 million people has reported more than 228,000 cases since the start of the pandemic, and a death toll of 4,172.

Poland went into a "red zone" lockdown on Saturday, resulting in a two-week partial closure of primary schools and restaurants. During the lockdown, restaurants will only be able to serve takeaway meals. Fitness clubs and pools will also be closed.



The government has also sent text messages to Poles, calling on them to stay home and help elderly people.

Under the new measures, gatherings have been limited to five people, with weddings banned and new restrictions placed on the numbers of people allowed to enter shops, take public transport and attend religious services. The country has seen large protests following a ruling that limits abortions.

Meanwhile, officials are building additional temporary medical facilities and transforming the national stadium into a field hospital in Warsaw.

The ruling nationalist party has faced criticism in recent days from the opposition that the country is not prepared for the second coronavirus wave.

Recent opinion polls have also shown a drop in support for both the governing Law and Justice party and Duda.

[Jaga]

There was a ruling furter restricting abortion, now it is not allowed even if the fetus have abnormalities. This caused protests in Poland. I am generally against abortion as a birth control pill, but this goes a bit too far.

www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/polish-president-duda-welcomes-landmark-abortion-ruling-34439

CNA Staff, Oct 23, 2020 / 06:00 am MT (CNA).- Polish president Andrzej Duda welcomed a landmark court ruling on abortion Friday.

He told the newspaper Dziennik Gazeta Prawna Oct. 23 that he supported the constitutional court’s verdict that a law permitting abortion for fetal abnormalities was unconstitutional.

“I have said it many times and I have never concealed it, that abortion for so-called eugenic reasons should not be allowed in Poland. I believed and believe that every child has a right to life,” he said in an interview with the legal and business daily.

Duda, who was reelected by a narrow margin in July, is associated with the ruling Law and Justice Party (PiS). A group of 119 MPs belonging to PiS, as well two smaller parties, asked the constitutional court to review the country’s abortion law last year.

They argued that a 1993 law permitting abortion in cases of fetal abnormality was incompatible with the Polish constitution.

In the highly anticipated ruling Oct. 22 -- the feast day of Polish pope St. John Paul II -- the Constitutional Tribunal in Warsaw declared that the law was unconstitutional.

The court found that abortion in the case of a high probability of severe and irreversible impairment of the fetus, or an incurable disease that threatens its life, was inconsistent with constitutional provisions protecting human life.

The ruling, which cannot be appealed, could lead to a significant reduction in the number of abortions in the country.

Until now, Polish law has permitted abortion only in cases of rape or incest, threat to the mother’s life, or fetal abnormality.

[karl]

Jaga

I am very sorry for Mr. Duda, although having never met him, non the less, he has an important position in the Polish Government and is needed for his work. I do hope he recovers soon with any ill effects..

Pertaining to the abortion issue, speaking only for my self, it is my own opinion that no one and no government owns a womens body, this is hers alone and she needs be the sole responsibility of decision.

Karl

[Jaga]

Karl, I agree. I have probably a bit stricter rules for the abortion, but forcing women to give a birth to heavily defected baby is cruel.