Number of new virus patients in Hungary grows to 13 – UPDATE

The 13th person in Hungary to be diagnosed with Covid-19 is a Hungarian woman who has been in contact with the Debrecen-based British man diagnosed earlier this month, koronavirus.gov.hu, the government website providing information on the outbreak, said on Wednesday.

The woman has been quarantined in Budapest’s St László hospital for the past few days, the website said.

The authorities have started investigating whom she may have been in contact with, it said.

Among the 13 confirmed cases so far, eight are Iranian, one is British and four are Hungarian.

On Wednesday morning, 53 people were in quarantine due to suspicion of carrying the new virus, while the health authority has done tests on 531 samples, according to koronavirus.gov.hu.

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Human resources minister briefs hospital directors on coronavirus outbreak

Human Resources Minister Miklós Kásler on Tuesday briefed hospital directors on the status of the coronavirus outbreak in Hungary, and asked them to enforce strict procedures in their institutions to contain the spread of the virus.

The ministry is preparing two Budapest hospitals to handle Covid-19 cases should the number of infections exceed the capacity of the St László Hospital, where the quarantine has been operating since early February, Kásler said.

Kásler also briefed the hospital heads on the procedure of handling suspicious cases.

The ministry’s statement said

29 infectology wards outside Budapest are on standby to receive Covid-19 cases.

• Operative board calls for cancellation of all March 15 national holiday events – UPDATE

KLIK, the body operating public schools, has sent a letter to school heads asking them to cancel all celebrations, field trips and student exchange events in the foreseeable future. The schools should make sure the premises are regularly and thoroughly disinfected and allow students and teachers access to hand sanitisers, the letter said.

Source: MTI