Coronavirus – Epidemic action unit to isolate clusters in Hungary

A special epidemic action unit investigating coronavirus clusters will be isolating any groups that may be infected in order to prevent the virus from spreading further, a spokesman for the operative board coordinating Hungary’s response to the novel coronavirus epidemic said on Friday.

The first phase of protection against the epidemic has been successfully completed but the threat of the epidemic has not been eliminated and that’s why a new special epidemic action unit has been set up, Robert Kiss told a press conference.

The unit will be tasked with coordinating the work of cooperating authorities including the army, the disaster management authority, the medical officer service and the ambulance services and to ensure that resources are used most efficiently, he added.

The unit will have the authority to order restrictive measures, he said.

Department head of the national disaster management directorate Péter Jackovics said a mobile lab operated by the disaster management authority will be made available to the new unit.

Read alsoCoronavirus – Orbán urges people with symptoms to self-isolate

Medical director of the national ambulance service György Pápai said they had been involved in screening travellers at border crossings ever since the start of the epidemic and had taken 60,000 samples from members of the public. The ambulance services are also involved in transporting patients suspected of carrying the virus.

Head of the state medical services centre AEEK Enikő Halachy said the organisation was tasked with supplying protective gear for health sector workers, the police, the army and to elderly homes.

Read alsoCoronavirus – Orbán urges people with symptoms to self-isolate

Pál Szabó, a spokesman for the national hospital chief command support unit, said that 92 hospital commanders were helping anti-epidemic efforts around Hungary. Additionally, 19 commanders started work in elderly homes with over 200 residents at the end of April, tasked with protecting medical stocks and monitoring compliance with anti-epidemic regulations.

Janos Miklovich, the head of the army’s chemical protection unit, said the unit was tasked with protection against chemical, biological and nuclear weapons and was therefore equipped with tools that could be effectively used in anti-epidemic operations. Its disinfection teams can be deployed at any location and at any time, he added.

Source: MTI