Hungary extends restrictions until April 8

The government has extended the effect of restrictions introduced with regard to the coronavirus pandemic until April 8, a senior official of the operative board responsible for handling the pandemic told an online press conference on Monday.

Lieutenant Colonel Róbert Kiss said that current rules of mask wearing, as well as curfew regulations, and restrictions concerning restaurants and bars, cultural facilities, shops and schools, would remain unchanged.

The current border control regime along all Schengen borders, and entry restrictions will also be maintained until April 8, Kiss said.

Hungary says broad reopening may come in late May, June

Hungary may hold off from broad reopening measures until half of its population is vaccinated, the minister responsible for healthcare said late on Sunday, flagging the possibility of a longer lockdown as the country grapples with record COVID-19 infections.

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who faces an election in 2022, is balancing the world’s highest daily per capita coronavirus death rates, according to Johns Hopkins University, with a need to reopen the economy to avoid a second year of deep recession.

In recent weeks Hungary, with a population of 9.8 million, has lost more than 200 citizens a day and recorded nearly 20,000 deaths overall since the start of the pandemic, according to government data. Details: No words, more than 20,000 people died in Hungary – COVID report

Orbán and his cabinet members have said Hungary would start reopening schools and businesses once inoculations reach a quarter of the population.

Speaking to private broadcaster Hír TV in a late Sunday talk show, Human Resources Minister Miklós Kásler, who is responsible for healthcare and education, said the bar for a broad reopening may be set higher than that.