Dynamics of the coronavirus disease 2019 outbreak in Poland: an epidemiological analysis of the first 2 months of the epidemic

Abstract

Introduction: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‑19) is an infectious disease caused by the novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2.

Objectives: Our aim was to present an epidemiological analysis of the first 2 months (March and April 2020) of the COVID‑19 epidemic in Poland.

Patients and methods: This analysis was based on data from epidemiological reports collected between March 4 and April 30, 2020, by the Chief Sanitary Inspectorate. These epidemiological reports include data on sociodemographic characteristics of new laboratory‑confirmed COVID 19 cases, the number of COVID‑19-related deaths, the number of recovered COVID-19 patients as well as the number of laboratory tests performed.

Results: From March 4 to April 30, 2020, a total of 12 877 laboratory‑confirmed COVID 19 cases were registered in Poland (55.7% women; mean [SD] age, 50.6 [20.5] years). The RT‑ PCR test was performed in 338 000 patients. The notification rate for COVID‑19 was 33.2 per 100 000 inhabitants. One third of laboratory‑confirmed COVID 19 cases were among quarantined persons, 26.1% were related to the healthcare system (hospital or clinic), and 13.3% occurred in nursing homes. As of April 30, 2020, 644 COVID‑19-related deaths were registered in Poland (46.5% women). The death rate for the whole country was 1.7 per 100 000 inhabitants.

Conclusions: Our data showed higher notification rate for COVID‑19 among women than men, but men were more likely to die from COVID‑19. The notification rate for COVID-19 in Poland among women aged 45 to 54 years was 2‑fold higher than among men.