Chief medical officer: Number of active infections falling for second day in Hungary

The number of patients with active coronavirus infections in Hungary has been declining for the second consecutive day, Cecília Müller, the chief medical officer, said on Wednesday.

Speaking at the regular press conference of the operative board coordinating the epidemic response, Müller noted that altogether 3,111 people have been diagnosed with Covid-19 since the emergence of the virus. The current number of registered patients is 1,979, she said. So far, 373 people have died and 759 have recovered, more details HERE.

Müller noted that outpatient clinics are only receiving patients on appointment.

GPs will consult patients over the phone, Müller said.

Personal inspections will take place only when it’s unavoidable, and after a “coronavirus status assessment”.

Should the suspicion of an infection arise, the patient will be isolated from other patients, she said.

Scheduled procedures in hospitals will only be performed if the patient has a negative test, she added.

Regarding testing in retirement homes, Müller said the authorities have registered coronavirus cases in 31 care homes so far. The Pesti Road home has registered 296 patients, of which 40 are deceased and 41 have recovered, she said. Another 40 infections have been registered in a retirement home in south Buda, she said.

Róbert Kiss, the member of the operative board, said that maintaining restrictions of movement and opening times in Budapest and Pest County is still justified. Nine of the ten deceased on Tuesday died in this region, he said.

Further steps regarding the epidemic are expected to be announced at the government’s regular press meeting on Thursday, he said.

Currently, the authorities are monitoring 10,628 home quarantines, and have taken steps against 1,522 cases of violations of quarantine rules since the measure was introduced on March 12, Kiss said.

The authorities are currently investigating 325 cases of epidemic-related crimes, including the spreading of fake news, endangering the public, fraud and violating epidemic regulations, Kiss said.

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Source: MTI