New entry rules to apply to Austria from Feb. 10

Austria is introducing new entry rules from Feb. 10, a deputy leader of Hungary’s operative board responsible for handling the coronavirus epidemic said on Monday.

Under the new rules, anyone wishing to enter Austria must register online in advance, Lieutenant Colonel Róbert Kiss told an online press conference. Those who have entered the country must go into home quarantine for ten days and have the option of getting a free PCR or antigen test for Covid-19 from the fifth day of quarantine, he said.

Those exempted from the new rules include cross-border commuters, seasonal farming and forestry workers, international passenger and cargo transit, and people travelling to Austria for emergency medical treatment, Kiss said.

As told a few days ago, Hungarian foreign minister has had phone talks with his Austrian counterpart Alexander Schallenberg to discuss the country’s tightened border controls aimed at preventing the import of new coronavirus variants. Details HERE.

Also we wrote a few days ago, travellers from Hungary can enter Serbia without showing a negative coronavirus test or undergoing mandatory quarantine as of Thursday, the Serbian government said.

Meanwhile, freight carriers are having to wait around two hours at Hungary’s Röszke and Tompa crossing stations on the Serbian border, he said. As regards Hungary, Kiss noted that police have started proceedings against 35,554 people for breaching the overnight curfew since its introduction in late November.

Hungary to begin vaccinating under-60s with chronic illnesses

Hungary this week will continue inoculating people in the oldest age group against Covid-19 and will begin the vaccination of people under the age of 60 with chronic illnesses, a government official said on Monday.

So far, 35,299 senior citizens have received their Covid shots at hospitals or at home from their general practitioners, István György, a state secretary of the prime minister’s office, told an online press conference of the operative board coordinating Hungary’s response to the pandemic.

This week, GPs will be using new deliveries of the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna vaccines to inoculate the elderly, while those opting to get vaccinated at hospitals will be receiving the Russian Sputnik V jab, he said.