Slovak COVID-19 patients arrive in Poland

WARSAW — Patients from Slovakia, the country with the highest death rate from the coronavirus, began arriving in neighboring Poland Saturday, with others due in Germany, said officials from those countries.

“There are three patients in Poland at the moment,” Poland’s deputy health minister Waldemar Kraska told the Polsat News television channel.

“We know that others are yet to come.”

Poland was also waiting to hear from the Czech authorities about the arrival of a first patient from that country, Kraska added.

The transfers were all of people in a serious condition from Covid-19 who needed to be on respirators, he said.

Two patients were expected in the German city of Dortmund Saturday afternoon, said officials in the North Rhine-Westphalia region, with possibly another eight expected in the coming days.

The authorities in Slovakia said Poland and Germany had each so far made 10 beds available for their patients.

Slovakia, with a population of just 5.4 million, has the world’s highest death rate from the virus, having recorded 24.09 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants over the past 14 days.

The second worst is neighbor the Czech Republic, with a death rate of 22.52 people per 100,000 inhabitants over the same period, according to an AFP tally based on official sources.