Chief medical officer: UK virus variant detected in Hungary – UPDATE

A fast-spreading variant of the coronavirus, first identified in the United Kingdom late last year, was detected in three patients in Hungary on Tuesday, the chief medical officer said.

As we wrote few day before, the Hungarian virus researcher, Dr Miklós Rusvai said that the coronavirus mutation, which is widespread in the UK, is also likely to be present in Hungary. That is why the epidemiological measures should not be eased yet.

“If the epidemiological restrictions would be eased, this mutation could start to spread, and the number of infected people would increase again at a high-speed rate”.

Cecília Müller on Wednesday told a press conference of the operative body responsible for handling the epidemic that the new variant was registered in surrounding countries earlier and therefore had been expected to appear in Hungary too.

The new variant is 50-70 percent more infectious than the “original” virus,

Müller said. However, several vaccine producers have said that their products were effective against it, she added.

Müller also called on health-care staff to get inoculated “so that we can move on along the vaccination list”.

Vaccines are being administered continuously, with the process only being slowed down by the shipment of new doses, she said.

Hungary used up its entire stock of Covid-19 vaccines by Tuesday evening, inoculating a total of 86,929 people, Müller said. Vaccine recipients will begin receiving their second doses on Jan. 18, she added.

Meanwhile, Müller said that

only 3 percent of those who have died from the disease were free of any underlying illnesses.

In response to a question, the chief medical officer stressed that those who have been vaccinated are still required to wear face masks and observe social distancing.

Coronavirus vaccines to be mandatory in Hungary? 

According to the secretary of the Hungarian Chamber of Doctors, making the coronavirus vaccines mandatory in the country is absolutely possible, details HERE.

• Latest news about Coronavirus in Hungary

Hungarian government grants EUR 138.5m over past 5 months to support health sector

The government has granted 50 billion forints (EUR 138.5m) to support 46 investments in the Hungarian health sector, resulting in new developments worth 65 billion, Mihály Varga, the finance minister, has said.

The ministry has been tasked with boosting domestic health-care manufacture, Varga said in a video on Facebook on Wednesday.

The support is for products that strengthen Hungary’s self-sufficiency while creating opportunities for domestic producers to enter foreign markets, he said, adding the focus is on manufacturing rubber gloves, masks, medicines, disinfectants, ventilators and other medical equipment.

Varga said the investments would protect jobs and help restart the economy amid the coronavirus crisis.

Read alsoAntibodies essential to coronavirus vaccines produced in this Hungarian village!

Source: MTI