Another 56 people die, coronavirus infections up by 2,194 in Hungary

Photo: MTI/Kovács Tamás

Fully 56 Covid-19 patients have died over the past 24 hours in Hungary — most of them elderly and suffering from an underlying illness — while 2,194 have been officially diagnosed with coronavirus, bringing the total number of registered infections to 68,127, koronavirus.gov.hu said on Thursday.

The death toll has risen to 1,634, while 17,469 have made a recovery. There are 49,024 active infections and 3,197 Covid patients being cared for in hospital, 255 on ventilators.

Fully 25,585 people are in official home quarantine, and the number of tests has increased to 1,032,942.

Border controls and restrictions on entry are still in place, and citizens have been asked to avoid participating in large events.

Wearing face masks is obligatory in shops, on public transport and in cinemas, theatres, shopping malls, health-care and social-care facilities. Restaurants and entertainment venues must close after 11pm.

Also, a ban is in place on visits to hospitals and nursing homes.

Schools are on autumn break during which the facilities are undergoing disinfection, the portal said. It added that 82 kindergartens have gone on emergency breaks.

Hungary’s National Ambulance Service (OMSZ) has said that to meet the rising demand for Covid tests it will deploy an additional 200 mobile testing units with the help of the Interior Ministry over the coming days. The units will be made up of senior medical students trained by OMSZ and their vehicles will be supplied by the ministry.

Most registered infections are in Budapest (18,874), Pest County (8,601) and the counties of Borsod-Abauj-Zemplen (4,334), Gyor-Moson-Sopron (4,114), Szabolcs-Szatmar-Bereg (3,624) and Hajdu-Bihar (3,297). Tolna County has the fewest infections (666).