Covid-19: Hungary daily deaths at record high – March 17, 2021

Chief medical officer: Infections expected to grow further

Hungary’s health-care system is under “enormous strain”, with 500 people hospitalised yesterday alone and 1,126 over the past three days,

Cecília Müller, the chief medical officer, said on Tuesday.

The amount of coronavirus found in waste water indicates that a further rise in caseload can be expected, Müller told a press conference of the operative body responsible for handling the pandemic.

Meanwhile, a shipment of 120,510 doses of Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine arrived in Hungary on Tuesday, planned to be used to inoculate elderly citizens and to provide second shots.

Wednesday will see 100,000 Sinopharm vaccines arriving, Müller added.

Meanwhile, the National Public Health Centre has concluded the examination of 280,000 Sputnik V and 450,000 Sinopharm vaccines, which are now ready for rollout, she said.

Hungary closes down until March 22 to curb Covid-19 spread

Hungary closed most shops and services for two weeks and kindergartens and primary schools for the next month in an effort to curb the third wave of coronavirus infections. MORE INFO HERE.

Shops, with the exception of grocery stores, pharmacies, petrol stations, drugstores, tobacco shops, shops selling tools for “spring gardening”, pet food and fodder shops, and markets, will have to be closed, and services will have to stop, with the exception of private healthcare, social care, financial, postal, and car repair services, suspended between March 8 and 22. Kindergartens and primary schools will be closed from March 8 until April 7.

Gyms will continue to be closed for two weeks, but licenced athletes will be allowed to train and compete behind closed doors.

Parks will be allowed to stay open and outdoor sports will also be allowed for activities in which people can maintain a safe distance of 1.5 metres.

The government asks employers to ensure that their employees can work from home wherever possible, particularly in the case of those with children. Mask-wearing remains mandatory outdoors, he said.

Hungary would impose tighter controls on its borders, adding, however, that freight and transit traffic will not be restricted.

Wage subsidies and tax cuts introduced for the hospitality industry will be expanded for the period of the lockdown to all sectors forced to shut down by the new measures.