Coronavirus – Several hospitals to become isolation facilities in Hungary

Several hospitals across the country are being designated as quarantine centres and “epidemic hospitals” in addition to the South Pest Central Hospital’s Saint László unit, Ildikó Horváth, state secretary in charge of health care, told parliament’s public welfare committee on Tuesday.

Horváth noted that a mobile quarantine hospital is being constructed in Kiskunhalas, in south-eastern Hungary, and the local hospital will be assigned for the same purpose. The hospitals of Ajka (W), Szekszárd (S), and Miskolc (NE) will be similarly adapted in view of the novel coronavirus epidemic, the state secretary said.

The aim is to slow down the spread of the new coronavirus epidemic, she said.

The government has introduced its measures in time so there is a chance for slowing down the spread of the virus if people act responsibly, she added.

GPs aged above 65 will not participate in direct patient services and the work will have to be organised in a way to allow only younger doctors to meet patients, she said. A decision has been made to postpone all non-emergency surgeries and the recruitment of more health workers has started, she added.