Overload: Poland struggles to cope as COVID deaths hit 2021 record

FILE PHOTO: Medical staff member prepares medicines inside for extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) at a coronavirus disease ward of the Interior and Administration Ministry (MSWiA) hospital in Warsaw, Poland, March 8, 2021. REUTERS/Kacper Pempel/File Photo

WARSAW (Reuters) - Poland sought to ease pressure on hospitals in one of its hardest hit regions on Wednesday as COVID-related deaths hit a 2021 record.

As case numbers soar with the spread of a highly contagious variant of the coronavirus first identified in Britain, Poland's health service has been driven to the brink, with some regions close to running out of ventilators.