Coronavirus in Hungary: no improvement, 84 more people die

Photo: www.facebook.com/Koronavírus tájékoztató oldal

Fully 84 Covid-19 patients, most of them elderly with underlying illnesses, have died in Hungary over the past 24 hours, while 3,928 have been officially diagnosed with Covid-19, bringing the total number of registered infections to 94,916, koronavirus.gov.hu said on Thursday.

The death toll has risen to 2,147 while 22,823 have made a recovery. There are 69,946 active infections and 5,183 hospitalised Covid patients, 378 on ventilators.

Fully 34,603 people are in official home quarantine, and the total number of tests carried out since the first outbreak has increased to 1,147,616.

The government on Tuesday evening announced new restrictive measures and a “special legal order”. Prime Minister Viktor Orban, in a video on Facebook, called on lawmakers to reintroduce the special legal order for 90 days and announced a curfew between midnight and 5am. Nightclubs have been ordered to close.

Also, parking will be made free of charge once again with a view to reducing crowds on public transport, he said.

The prime minister said sporting events, cinemas and theatres will have to restrict audiences to using every third seat, and face masks must be worn. The authorities will inspect all events and fine transgressors. Venues that fail to observe the rules will be shut down immediately, he added.

Border controls and restrictions on entry are still in place and previous restrictions on visits to hospitals and social care facilities still apply.

Most registered infections are in Budapest (24,253), Pest County (12,049) and the counties of Gyor-Moson-Sopron (6,005), Borsod-Abauj-Zemplen (5,906) and Szabolcs-Szatmar-Bereg (5,264). Tolna County has the fewest infections (1,018).