Another World Leader Comes Down With COVID

Poland President Andrzej Duda is latest to be stricken with disease in nation seeing a spike
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 24, 2020 6:00 AM CDT
Another World Leader Comes Down With COVID
In this image taken from video, Andrzej Duda, president of Poland, speaks in a prerecorded video message during the 75th session of the United Nations General Assembly on Sept. 23, 2020, at UN headquarters in New York.   (UNTV via AP)

Poland has entered the "red zone" for COVID-19, with a new nationwide lockdown due to a spike in cases, and infections are starting right at the top. The AP reports President Andrzej Duda tested positive for the coronavirus on Friday, though the 48-year-old says he feels OK so far, per a spokesman. "The president is fine," tweeted Blazej Spychalski, who added Duda "is currently in isolation." Spychalski also noted he's going into quarantine himself due to Duda's results. While it's unclear where or how Duda contracted the disease, the BBC notes he'd been at an event in the Estonian capital of Tallinn on Monday and had met with Bulgarian President Rumen Radev, who later went into quarantine due to being exposed to the virus.

Reuters reports that among the people Duda had met up with in recent days is 19-year-old tennis star Iga Swiatek, who says she'll now quarantine despite not having any symptoms. Poland, which had low numbers when the pandemic first hit, saw 13,600 new cases on Friday, a new daily record, as well as more than 150 new deaths. Under new restrictions, no more than five people can gather at a time, primary schools and restaurants are being partially shut down, and kids must be with an adult when outside. People over 70 are also being encouraged to stay home. (More Andrzej Duda stories.)

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