Foreign students shocked by the quarantine system in Hungary

Even though the groupmates of the Iranian student at SOTE voluntarily went to St. Ladislaus Hospital to be tested for coronavirus, the hospital refused to conduct the test. The students were concerned because they all had direct contact with the Iranian student who was later found out to be infected with the coronavirus, reports Index.

An anonymous foreign pharmacy student told Index that paramedics knocked on the front door of his home on Saturday at dawn. They had him sign a paper written in Hungarian and told him to pack up as he was needed to be taken to the hospital. According to the student, no one explained to him what was going on exactly, nor did he receive information from the paramedics because they did not speak English very well, and no one had informed them in advance about the situation. According to the pharmacy student, they did not even conduct the test until much later in the morning.

The student said that he and his groupmates were placed in 3 and 6-bed rooms in spite of their request to keep them separated even from each other if it is possible.

The hospital claimed that there were not enough rooms, so they needed to put 2-5 people in one ward.

Their groupmate who was waiting for his results in a 6-bed ward has tested positive for the virus. He was quarantined on Saturday night around 11 o’clock, and the new case was confirmed by the government on Sunday morning.

You can browse our tag for more news about the coronavirus, but here are two for you: the government decided to cancel March 15 celebrations due to concerns for the virus, and according to a survey, only 56% of Hungarians are concerned about the coronavirus.

According to the pharmacy student, the doctor only told them that an infected man had been found in the same wing, but he did not say who it was and whether he had already been quarantined or not. The student interviewed by Index came in contact with the Iranian student with coronavirus on March 2, but all of them must remain in quarantine until March 21. Many complain about the lack of proper information and the fact that professors are only required to stay in home-quarantine. Those who have been placed in a ward with students who have tested positive are afraid that they might have become infected in the hospital. Students would prefer to stay in home-quarantine because they feel it is safer than being in a room with others who are also potential vectors.

According to the data of coronavirus.gov.hu from Sunday morning, currently, there are 67 people in quarantine in Hungary instead of the previous 48. The data does not reveal who the additional patients are.

Source: Index.hu