- Ruda Śląska is one of the cities included in the red zone, where some of the restrictions related to the coronavirus pandemic have been restored. From last Saturday, there are, among others, an order to cover the nose and mouth in public spaces
- – It was announced without any consultation with us. The government doesn’t talk to us at all. We learn about such things from television, from the morning press conferences of the Ministry of Health – comments Grażyna Dziedzic, president of Ruda Śląska for Onet
- As he adds, the city is located in the center of the agglomeration and is adjacent to six large cities that have not been included in zones where a stricter sanitary regime has been introduced
- Also for the inhabitants of the towns marked in red, the decision of the health ministry and sanitary services was a huge surprise. – This whole zone is fictional. Ruda Śląska is not a lonely island – they comment
Red zone, Ruda Śląska. Middle of the week, before noon. A young woman is walking down the sidewalk, talked up and quickly puts on a mask.
– I was talking on the phone and I stared, I did not notice that it was already Ruda – Basia explains and adjusts the mask so that it covers both her nose and mouth. Here in Ruda Śląska, which has had the status of a red zone for a week, it is an obligation not only in shops, offices and closed rooms, but also in public spaces.
– I’m going to work in Katowice. I leave my house in Zabrze, and in Ruda Śląska – in the red zone – I have a bus stop, it’s not far away, so I go on foot. Then I go through Chorzów, Świętochłowice and get off in Katowice – he lists. – This whole zone is fictional. Ruda Śląska is not a lonely island – he adds.
Since last Saturday, there are nine red zones, such as the one in Ruda Śląska, across Poland. Only in Silesia, where due to coronavirus outbreaks in mines, the number of new infections has been the highest for several months, there are as many as five. Apart from Ruda, they also included Rybnik and Jastrzębie Zdrój (on August 13 “moved” from the yellow zone) and the Rybnik and Wodzisławski poviats. The Pszczyna poviat, previously classified as “red”, was included in the yellow zone on August 13.
President of Ruda Śląska: “The government does not talk to us at all”
– It was announced without any consultation with us. The government doesn’t talk to us at all. We learn about such things from television, from the morning press conferences of the Ministry of Health. It is very unfair towards local government officials and residents. We have been marked in red on the map. It is shocking, especially since Ruda Śląska is located in the center of the conurbation – says Grażyna Dziedzic, president of Ruda Śląska in an interview with Onet.
The inclusion in the red zone, numbering approx. 140 thousand inhabitants of Ruda Śląska were determined by the number of diagnosed infections. A large number, but not a shocking one, considering that there are as many as three mines in the city (the government wanted to close these three mines recently, then withdrew from the plans).
However, it does not matter for the Ministry of Health. The key is simple: where per 10 thousand. there are more than 12 cases of residents, there is a “red zone”, and where the number of new patients is between 6 and 12 – “yellow”. In Ruda, due to a large disease outbreak in the Bielszowice mine, this indicator – as Jarosław Pinkas said in an interview with Onet, the main sanitary inspector, is about 30 infected per 10 thousand. residents.
But not only the disregard for the situation at the mine is a problem here. Another issue is the location of Ruda Śląska and the structure of the Silesian agglomeration. Here, unlike in other metropolises, large cities are adjacent to each other. One is lying next to the other. Ruda Śląska, for example, borders on Zabrze, Bytom, Świętochłowice, Chorzów, Katowice and Mikołów. None of the neighbors is a “red zone”, and the borders are often just an arbitrary line on the map. Cities are closely adjacent to each other, they are connected by common public transport, roads and interests. People live in one, and work, shop, hang out, visit family and friends in the neighboring one. Sometimes it’s just a short walk across the street.
Cities in Silesia are closely adjacent to each other
This is the case in Zabrze on Strudzika Street, where Małgorzata lives. The woman is shopping in a store in Ruda Śląska, because it is closer. When he passes the plaque with the name of the city on Wolności Street, he puts on a mask.
– Wearing masks is troublesome. We have already got used to it in stores, but outside, when there is such a strong heat, it is especially bothersome. It is terrible to breathe in this – he comments.
Also, Agata, a young mother with a baby in a pram, visits her parents living in Chebzie on a walk from Zabrze to Ruda Śląska.
– Creating a special zone from Ruda Śląska insults the people who live here – the woman is nervous. – Prime Minister Morawiecki and his entourage do not know the realities of our lives. It is like making the red zone only in the center of Warsaw, and leaving the other districts unlimited. This is illogical. We can follow the rules and take care of our health here. And now people wear these masks only because they are afraid of fines – he adds.
And the fines for the lack of a mask in Ruda Śląska are not only a scare, but a real threat. Since last Saturday, the local police have detained more than 150 people who have not covered their mouth and nose. Usually it ends with instructions, but there are also fines.
– On the first day of the restrictions, last Saturday, we intervened 117 times. 116 ended with instructions. One person did not want to accept the ticket and did not want to wear a mask, so the case went to court. In the following days we had about ten interventions. Residents follow the new guidelines, says Asp. Roman Aleksandrowicz from the police in Ruda.
– In total, we issued two or three tickets for PLN 500. These are gross violations when policemen instruct, ask, and are met with a categorical refusal. Then we have no other choice – he adds.
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Ruda Slaska. Nowy Bytom district, Huta Pokój in the background
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“Before the elections, the prime minister told seniors that the virus was in retreat”
There are more restrictions in the red zones. They do not paralyze life, but they effectively make it difficult. These are restrictions on the number of people staying in cinemas, churches, at weddings (the number of people cannot exceed 50, 100 people can play in the yellow zone) or in public transport. The latter are the most absurd in the Silesian agglomeration.
There are a total of 39 bus and tram lines in Ruda, but as many as 35 of them are intercity connections, i.e. those that go, for example, through Zabrze, Chorzów to Katowice. After the intervention of local government officials, restrictions on the possibility of occupying only 30 percent. all seats and standing places in buses were reduced to only four lines running only on Ruda Śląska.
– Prime Minister Morawiecki, before he decided that we would be a red zone, should come here and stay for a week to see what it was like. And to wear a mask all the time – says Adam, a resident of Nowy Bytom.
– Just a moment ago, before the elections, he said to seniors that the virus is in retreat. And now my parents don’t even go for walks because they find wearing a mask too burdensome at the age of 60. They do not have certificates to prove that they can walk without. And getting such a certificate is almost a miracle, because all consultations are canceled, everything takes place online, it is a problem to get to a doctor. They have to drive a car everywhere – he adds.
“We introduce such regimes, and with copper everything is open?”
Mayor Grażyna Dziedzic knows the doubts of the inhabitants, who admits that the inclusion of the city in the “red zone” was perceived by them as stigmatization and a harmful act. In Ruda, from the beginning of the pandemic – as he assures – sanitary standards have been tightened, e.g. in DPS or the city hospital. For example, the summer swimming pool was not opened, and the outdoor events were abandoned, as it was expected that due to three active mines in the city, there may be more infections. However, all this prevention was in vain.
– We introduce such regimes, and with copper everything is open? – the Dziedzic wonders. – Ruda is a very specific city. We border six cities where no zones have been introduced. For example, I live in the Godula district – it’s a five-minute walk to the neighboring Świętochłowice, and a 10-minute walk to Bytom. However, I would have to walk 1.5 hours to the Bielszowice district, where the mine is operating and there is a large coronavirus outbreak – he adds.
The specific location of Ruda Ślaska, which politicians do not understand from the perspective of Warsaw, is used by the residents to the best of their ability and thus bypassing at least some of the restrictions. They go to the swimming pool to Świętochłowice or Katowice, and for a walk without a mask, they go to parks in Bytom or Chorzów.
People also have their own suspicions about the decision to include Ruda in the red zone. Anyway, the city is full of rumors that it is a conspiracy. – This whole zone is to close the mines – we hear.
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