Number of infections slowly declining while deaths are stagnant

Fully 241 patients, generally elderly with co-morbidities, died over the past 24 hours, while 5,216 new infections were registered, koronavirus.gov.hu said on Friday.

So far 3,145,592 people have received a first jab, while 1,349,314 have been fully vaccinated.

The number of active infections stands at 271,516, while hospitals are caring for 9,459 Covid patients, 1,117 of whom need respiratory assistance.

There are 50,446 people in official quarantine, while 5,065,759 tests have been officially carried out.

Since the first outbreak, 742,198 infections have been registered, while fatalities have risen to 24,762. Fully 445,920 people have made a recovery.

So far, most infections have been registered in Budapest and Pest County, followed by the counties of Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén, Győr-Moson-Sopron and Hajdű-Bihar.

• What is the immunity certificate for? We still don’t know!
• All Hungarian adults could receive the vaccine in May!

Outdoor catering to restart when 3.5 m vaccinated

Bars and restaurants could again start serving customers outdoors when the number of Hungarians inoculated against Covid-19 reaches 3.5 million, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said on Facebook on Wednesday.

Orbán also announced that while kindergartens would reopen and the lower grades of primary schools would return to their classrooms on April 19, 5-8 graders would stay at home and go on with their online classes until May 10.

The government has decided “to proceed gradually and carefully,” Orbán said, and asked parents for “patience and understanding”.

Further rules include:

• The curfew will last from 10 pm until 5 am;
• Shops will be able to stay open longer, until 9:30 pm;
• The shops (clothes shops, shops in malls, furniture shops) that have been closed can open, but there is now a square-metre basis. 1 costumer/10 square metres/shop;
• Temporary security measures involving several services will no longer be in effect, meaning that hairdressers and beauty salons and further services can also open – however, under different rules;
• Nevertheless, businesses of the hospitality sector still cannot open; only the employees can be present at the workplace. Customers can only enter the restaurant to pick up their order. Hotels will remain closed.

The current rules are applying to mask-wearing, gatherings, the hospitality sector, recreation centres, schools and the Schengen borders will remain in effect and newer decisions are expected on April 19th.

Read alsoSurvey: Majority of Hungarians satisfied with government crisis management

Source: MTI