Movie theatres were forced to close, and the opening hours of restaurants and shops have been strictly regulated. Thermal baths, on the other hand, were not obligated to close due to the chlorine used in the water, which kills all viruses, including coronavirus. Nevertheless, all of Budapest’s famous baths are now closed, and many more in the countryside join them as time passes.
Hvg reports that even though baths are not obligated to shut down, they do. The main reason why spas consecutively need to shut down is very simple: the number of guests decreased drastically over the last couple of weeks.
It is not surprising considering that the vast majority of bath-goers are usually the elderly or foreign tourists. Unfortunately, the options of both demographics are quite limited at the moment. Hundreds of people have been cancelling their reservations, and the establishments simply cannot afford to maintain the huge pools for 20-50 people.
It is simply too expensive to maintain huge bath complexes for only a few guests.
News came last week that all of Budapest’s thermal baths close temporarily.
However, many baths in the countryside remain open. Not all though, for example, the baths in Miskolc, Kecskemét, and Makó all closed.
Approximately one-third of all baths have ceased their operations so far.
Source: www.hvg.hu
