Coronavirus in Hungary – State of emergency set to end Wednesday midnight
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Gergely Gulyás, the Prime Minister’s chief of staff, has called for the legislation on ending the state of emergency introduced in March in response to the novel coronavirus epidemic passed by parliament to be proclaimed as a law soon as possible so that the state of emergency could be lifted as early as midnight on Wednesday.
The government welcomes parliament’s decision to approve the termination of the state of emergency, Gulyás told a press conference in Parliament.
The head of the PM’s Office thanked everyone who had contributed to the coronavirus response efforts, but lamented that “the left failed to participate in this” and that the situation had not brought about unity in Hungary’s political life.
“The rules of the Hungarian constitution are clear,” Gulyás said.
“The government in this situation had special powers to pass laws, but this is now over.”
“We’ve got through the first wave [of the epidemic]. We don’t know if there’ll be a second one, but the operative board will remain active and the provisions passed into law will remain in place,” he said. Gulyás said Hungarians would get a chance to give their opinions on the government’s response to the epidemic in the coming nationwide “national consultation” survey.
“The state of emergency is over, but until a vaccine is developed, certain measures will have to remain in place,” Gulyás said.
Meanwhile, asked about the festivities planned for the August 20 national holiday, Gulyás said the government had yet to make a final decision in the matter. He added, at the same time, that if the festivities went ahead, they would provide a good chance to restart domestic tourism.