Harborough man trapped in Poland after country sealed its borders due to coronavirus

A young Market Harborough man is trapped in Poland as the country suddenly sealed its borders amid the growing coronavirus crisis.

Brad Williams, 27, flew into Krakow on Friday March 13 to work as he acted to escape the tough virus lockdown in Italy.

But the English teacher had hardly landed when Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki announced he was banning foreigners - as well as shutting all restaurants, bars and casinos.

The Polish premier also suspended all international flights and trains at midnight on Saturday March 14 in a bid to beat the illness as Europe begins to cordon itself off.

As a result the British Foreign Office has warned Britons “against all but essential travel to Poland”.

Speaking from Krakow, Brad told the Harborough Mail: “I couldn’t believe it!

“I must be the unluckiest bloke in Europe.

“I was hoping I’d be able to work in Poland after being locked down in Italy - but I’ve jumped straight from the frying pan into the fire.”

He headed to work in Naples in southern Italy last September after teaching in Krakow for two years following stints in Volgograd and St Petersburg in Russia.

“I lived in a flat in the Forcella area of Naples before moving into the much better Vomero district last month.

“I’ve been teaching English at the Inlingua language school as well as tutoring students privately,” said Brad, from Lubenham Hill, Harborough.

“It was going fine until the coronavirus hit Italy like an absolute whirlwind.

“We were OK at first because victims struck down by the bug all lived hundreds of miles away in the north.

“The people in Naples were quite blasé about the threat because it almost seemed as if this was happening in another country.

“But suddenly the hard lockdown was imposed all over Italy on Tuesday March 10.

“My friends went to our local gym on Tuesday morning but when I nipped along that afternoon it had closed.

“Bars, restaurants and clubs were shut.

“And you had to stand a metre apart if you were queueing for food or vital medical supplies at one of the few shops left open.”

Brad, who attended Harborough’s Welland Park Academy and Robert Smyth Academy, said the mood in Naples plunged overnight.

“Very few people went out and the streets became spookily quiet, almost deserted.

“One of the biggest, most vibrant cities in western Europe had become a ghost town,” said Brad, the youngest of three siblings.

“The few who ventured out were extremely suspicious, especially if you weren’t wearing a mask.

“Everyone became the enemy as the death toll went through the roof.

“I saw people with scarves wrapped around their entire heads – and one guy was wearing a snorkel.

“Panic gripped Naples.

“People quickly became too scared to leave their own homes, a blanket of fear and suspicion descended over Naples.”

The Hull University graduate decided to fly out before Italy was totally sealed off to stay with an old friend in Krakow and teach his former students there.

“All schools and colleges had been closed in Naples so I was just kicking my heels there anyway.

“I travelled to the airport on Friday afternoon and it was totally dead – it was very eerie.

“I filled out forms for the Italian government and Ryanair stating why I was leaving and giving an emergency number in case they needed to track me down,” said Brad, a keen local league footballer and gym enthusiast.

“There were only about 30 passengers on the plane for the two-hour flight.

“We all sat two or three rows apart, it was surreal and very subdued.

“Grim armed border guards wearing masks and gloves came straight on board at Krakow.

“They tested our temperatures in case we had coronavirus and luckily we were all OK.

“I was looking forward to making a new start here.

“But just hours after I flew in the Polish prime minister banned all foreigners entering the country.

“They’ve closed schools and there’s been an outbreak of panic buying – we can’t find any meat, cheese, potatoes or toilet rolls.

“It’s a massive over-reaction because there haven’t been that many coronavirus cases here compared to Italy or even back home.

“But I’m still hoping to be able to teach some of the people I used to teach.

“I’ll just have to play it by ear and get back to the UK as soon as I can.

“The trouble is that no-one knows how serious this virus is going to be and just how long Poland will be locked down.

“It’s in the lap of the gods and is very unpredictable so I could be back here in Krakow for some time yet!”