Coronavirus in Hungary: One death, 11 new infections

One elderly Covid-19 patient has died and the number of registered coronavirus infections in Hungary has increased by 11 to 4,564 over the past 24 hours, koronavirus.gov.hu said on Wednesday morning.

The number of fatalities increased to 599, while 3,431 people have made a recovery.

There are 534 active infections and 72 coronavirus patients are being treated in hospital for Covid-19, seven on ventilators.

Fully 6,858 people are in official home quarantine, while the number of tests carried out stands at 350,108.

New restrictions on entering the country came into force on July 12, with the aim of preventing the import of infections from abroad.

Foreign countries have been classed into three categories: red, yellow, green. The authorities are screening arrivals and taking action based on the severity of the infection rate in each country. This can include ordering home quarantine for 14 days and compulsory testing.

The government and the chief medical officer review the classification of the countries on a weekly basis.

To avoid a flare-up of the epidemic, the government has cancelled the celebrations that draw large crowds on the August 20 national holiday, including the fireworks and the air show.

The ban on gatherings of more than 500 people has been extended beyond August 15.

Most infections have been registered in Budapest (2,067), followed by Pest County (692) and the counties of Fejér (379), Komárom-Esztergom (312) and Zala (265). Békés County has the fewest infections (17).

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Global COVID-19 deaths surpass 700,000

Global COVID-19 deaths surpassed 700,000 on Wednesday, according to Johns Hopkins University.

With the global case count reaching 18,480,000, the death toll now stands at 700,647, the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at the university said.

The United States and Latin America, the new epicenters of the pandemic, are striving to stem the spread of the virus.

The United States has recorded 4,771,087 cases with 156,806 deaths, making it by far the worst-hit country in the world. Latin America has broken through 5 million cases with more than 206,000 deaths.

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Latest count of confirmed COVID-19 cases worldwide

The following are the latest updates on the COVID-19 global confirmed cases in hardest-hit countries by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University at 1000 GMT, Aug. 5.

Country Confirmed Cases

World 18,560,630

U.S. 4,771,519
Brazil 2,801,921
India 1,908,254
Russia 864,948
South Africa 521,318
Mexico 449,961
Peru 439,890
Chile 362,962
Colombia 334,979

Source: MTI/Xinhua