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| - Poland said Wednesday it will reopen hairdressers, restaurants, cafes and allow some children to return to school, outlining fresh steps to ease the economic toll of the coronavirus lockdown despite an uptick in infections. Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said that wearing masks outdoors and social distancing would still be mandatory when the new measures take effect on May 18. The country of 38 million people, where testing for the novel coronavirus has been limited, saw a spike in infections this week after a wave of lockdown measures were suspended 10 days ago. Poles have been required to stay home since mid-March to stem the spread of the virus infections, which officials say has killed 847 people and infected more than 17,000. There were a record 595 new confirmed cased on Tuesday, according to health ministry statistics, the highest daily total since April 19 when 545 cases were recorded. Poland reopened hotels, shopping centres and childcare facilities last week but a May 10 presidential election was postponed after preparations for a postal ballot became mired in chaos. Once among the EU's most rapidly expanding economies, growth in Poland is set to shrink by 3.4 percent this year, according to a revised government projection, down from 3.7 percent forecast prior to the pandemic. With the government and opposition parties in a stalemate over how to proceed with the postponed presidential election, it was unclear on Wednesday when the ballot would go ahead. Morawiecki's governing Law and Justice (PiS) party wants it held on June 28 or in early July before the five-year term of PiS-allied incumbent President Andrzej Duda ends on August 6. mas/txw
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