Poland moves closer towards a national lockdown, Iceland opens borders for vaccinated visitors

Poland reported 25,052 daily coronavirus cases on Wednesday, according to health ministry data, the highest number so far this year as the country looked to be moving closer to a nationwide lockdown.

Poland has been implementing a policy of regional lockdowns in a bid to contain a surge in infections driven by a highly contagious variant of the coronavirus first discovered in Britain, but the government has said that if case numbers keep rising a nationwide lockdown is possible.

Wednesday’s total marked a significant increase on the previous 2021 record of 21,049, reported on Saturday. There were 453 deaths related to COVID-19 on Wednesday.

In total, the country of 38 million has reported 1,956,974 cases and 48,032 deaths.

Iceland will this week open its borders to all visitors who have been vaccinated against COVID-19 without mandatory testing or quarantine, as it hopes more tourists will help revive its coronavirus-hit economy.

“The Icelandic government has announced that all those who have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 will be allowed to travel to Iceland without being subject to border measures, such as testing and quarantine,” the government said in a statement late on Tuesday.

The North Atlantic country, which will become one of the first countries to open its borders since the beginning of the pandemic, had until now allowed vaccinated visitors from EU countries to enter without restrictions.

“From 18 March this exemption will apply to citizens outside the Schengen area, including the UK and USA,” it said.