Poland will close 12 coal mines from Tuesday for three weeks to curb the spread of the coronavirus among miners, Deputy Prime Minister Jacek Sasin said...

Miners account for almost 20% of coronavirus cases reported in Poland. But the Solidarity trade union denounced the move, saying it would lead to permanent closures as the nationalist government was already planning to restructure the industry.

Two mines operated by state-run JSW and 10 mines owned by PGG group will close for three weeks, Sasin said. All are in Silesia, a mining region which accounted for over half of the new 599 coronavirus cases reported in Poland on Monday.

“Such action is needed to eventually quell these epidemic outbreaks,” Sasin told a news conference, adding that miners would receive full pay for the three weeks and coal deliveries would not be affected.

Solidarity said the decision by the nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) government “will in truth lead to the closing of these workplaces,” and questioned why certain mines were being closed when they had fewer cases of coronavirus than others.

The state assets ministry later issued a statement reiterating that the mines would “return to normal operation” after three weeks and denied there would be any job losses...

Poland generates most of its electricity from coal, despite pressure from the European Union to switch to cleaner energy. The coronavirus has exacerbated problems facing the Polish coal industry, and a restructuring plan is expected to be announced by the government in coming weeks...