What has the pandemic taught us?

Fewer passengers in public transport, fewer tourists, more couriers and internet users – two years of the pandemic in Warsaw have brought changes in everyday life, space and business. During the conference “Life in the city – what the pandemic has opened our eyes to”, the participants discussed how the pandemic has affected the city.

At a conference organized by the Warsaw City Hall at the Copernicus Science Center, local government officials, scientists, entrepreneurs and activists tried to sum up the two-year period of restrictions in the city space and wondered whether the changes we have observed in the last two years have affected residents, organizations and Warsaw.

In addition to local government officials from all over Poland, the discussion was attended by scientists, business representatives and non-governmental organizations. Opening speeches were given by dr hab. Aleksandra Przegalińska, who talked about how the role and perception of technology, especially artificial intelligence, has changed as a result of the pandemic, and dr hab. Piotr Michoń, who in his speech looked for the positive aspects of the pandemic.

How has Warsaw changed?

During the conference, the preliminary results of the Covid report prepared by the Corps of Analysts of the Warsaw City Office were presented. It shows that the pandemic has had a huge impact on the use of public transport by Warsaw residents.

In 2020, ticket sales revenues fell by PLN 37% (from PLN 874 million to PLN 552 million). The downward trend continued in 2021. Only in recent months has the Public Transport Authority reported an increase in revenues and the number of passengers transported.

Interestingly, in 2020, bicycle traffic in Warsaw increased by 18% compared to 2019.

Due to COVID-19, the number of tourists has fallen dramatically. In the case of all tourists coming to Warsaw, it was a drop to the level of less than 33% of the number of people who visited Warsaw in 2019, and in the case of foreign tourists, it was a drop below 25% from the previous year.

The sports and cultural habits of Warsaw residents were also examined. It turned out that due to the pandemic, the number of people not practicing physical activity has more than doubled, and outdoor activities, such as walking and cycling, have definitely gained in popularity. In turn, the temporary closure of cultural institutions and restrictions on the number of people using the audience caused a clear crisis and a decrease in the number of people using the cultural offer. It is estimated that Warsaw cultural institutions lost about PLN 110 million in revenue during the pandemic.

Gastronomy has also suffered greatly during the pandemic. In 2019, there were 2,651 catering outlets in Warsaw, and in 2020, 270 fewer – mostly restaurants. 132 bars and canteens have also disappeared from the map of Warsaw.

In 2020, 25% more new companies were registered in the postal and courier industry, and Warsaw has a record number of parcel collection points and parcel machines - almost 2,317. The pandemic has incredibly accelerated the trend of digitization and e-commerce and the profits of Warsaw companies, including IT.

The work model has also changed. The largest number of employees worked remotely compared to other cities and regions was in Warsaw – almost 20%, and the Polish average is 9%.

Areas most affected by the pandemic

Healthcare during the pandemic was the most burdened area. In connection with the implementation of the strategy to combat the coronavirus, municipal hospitals, based on the decision of the Mazovian Voivode or the Minister of Health, provided beds for patients suspected of being infected with COVID-19 and with a confirmed result for the presence of the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

At the peak of the pandemic, in December 2021, city hospitals arranged a total of 795 COVID beds, including 120 ventilator beds, where patients in the most serious condition were admitted. In total, from March 20, 2020 to March 31, 2022, i.e. from the date of the announcement of the state of epidemic in the territory of the Republic of Poland until the "extinguishment" of beds for patients with confirmed SARS-Cov-2 infection, almost 14,000 patients were hospitalized in city hospitals due to coronavirus. The largest number of people were treated during the pandemic due to COVID-19 in the Praga Hospital (over 3,500), then in the Southern Hospital, where a temporary COVID hospital was operating (nearly 3,400) and in the Bielański Hospital - almost 2,800.

In total, Warsaw has allocated almost PLN 35 million to combat the pandemic in the health sector. With this money, the city has purchased equipment necessary to treat COVID patients, including respirators, high-flow oxygen therapy devices, personal protective equipment and disinfectant, and hospitals have been modernized.

A key element of counteracting the pandemic was the government's launch of the National COVID-19 Vaccination Program. As part of the "Get Vaccinated in Warsaw" campaign, the city organized 81 vaccination points, where over 780,000 doses of vaccines had been administered by April 2022. The vaccination campaign in Warsaw enjoyed huge interest, and the capital became the leader among large cities in terms of the number of fully vaccinated residents.

The outbreak of the pandemic and the consequent closure of schools around the world have led to the need to develop a new method of teaching – remotely. For many schools, conducting remote learning has become a major challenge almost overnight. The problems affected teachers, parents and students alike.

By government decision due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Polish educational institutions were closed to children and young people for the longest time in Europe. To support Warsaw students, the city accelerated work on launching the educational platform Eduwarszawa.pl. Children and young people gained access to classic Office applications and the Windows 10 Pro operating system on private devices at home.

Warsaw also organized trainings supporting distance learning for students and teachers. As part of various projects, the city also provided educational institutions with over 3.7 thousand laptops with an estimated value of over PLN 13 million, another over 1 thousand were provided by districts, and almost 1 thousand were purchased by schools themselves. The Youth Council of the Capital City of Warsaw also provided over 400 laptops.

Source: Warsaw City Hall