Coronavirus – Operational board: Expelled Iranians to leave Hungary on Thursday – UPDATE

Eleven Iranian citizens who have received deportation orders because they broke rules related to novel coronavirus will leave Hungary on Thursday, an official said on Wednesday.

Róbert Kiss, a spokesman of the operative board that coordinates Hungary’s response to the novel coronavirus epidemic, said

eight of them will leave voluntarily while three will be accompanied by law enforcement officials. A further three will leave the country at a later time.

He noted that the Iranians in question had breached epidemiological quarantine regulations in hospital.

Meanwhile, Kiss also noted that on Tuesday police took action against a Hungarian citizen at Liszt Ferenc International Airport. The person had been placed under official quarantine at home but tried to leave the country, and the individual has been ordered back into home quarantine.

Across the country, the authorities have so far ordered 13,360 people into home quarantine, and checked on those people 13,360 times, Kiss said. On Tuesday,

the police issued warnings in connection with 231 violators of curfew rules in Budapest, and fined 75 and launched proceedings against 79 others, he added.

Altogether 219 criminal complaints have been filed, including 57 on suspicion of spreading rumours, 26 of endangering the public, 60 of fraud and 12 for violating epidemiology rules, he said.

Answering a question, Kiss said that violators of curfew rules were mostly young people, but he welcomed the fact that few rule-breakers had been found during Easter at Budapest leisure hotspots.

Asked if public anxiety continued to be manifested in “panic shopping”, Kiss said that the trend had abated, adding that the police had taken all measures to ensure smooth retail supplies.

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UPDATE

Cecília Müller said that an investigation was still under way at a home on Pesti Road, in Budapest’s eastern suburbs, in which 10 seniors recently died after having tested positive for Covid-19. Overall, 200 elderly residents have tested positive.

The inspectors will check if the homes have implemented coronavirus-related measures, if they have a doctor, staff and members have been informed, if they have sufficient personnel and supplies, and if the relevant protocols are in place, she said. She noted that

the infection has been reported from several such institutions both in Budapest and the provinces.

Müller warned that the country must prepare for a massive increase in case numbers, adding that this is why hospital capacities are being expanded. She said Covid-19 patients that require hospitalisation should have “beds, personnel, and ventilators” to avoid “patients lying on hospital corridors as in some EU countries”.

Müller insisted that “not all patients are sent home from hospital”, adding that patients are released based on a decision by their doctors as well as on the basis of health protocols.

“Nobody can be sent home with the prospect of damage to their health”.

At present, only those patients are being admitted to hospital “whose symptoms are so serious that they cannot stay at home”, Müller said. Otherwise, life-saving operations and urgent procedures will not be cancelled, she added.

Source: MTI