Orbán: All conditions in place for treating patients in Hungary

All the conditions are in place in the country to treat Covid-19 patients, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has said, adding that the country has a sufficient number of hospital beds, staff and enough medical equipment.

In a video on Facebook page uploaded on Saturday morning following a meeting of the operative board in charge of coronavirus-related measures, Orbán noted that the second wave of the epidemic was under way “with strong momentum”.

He said hospital capacity is reviewed regularly at operational board meetings in terms of whether there are a sufficient number of beds, doctors and staff, as well as the amount of equipment such as ventilators.

The prime minister said additional hospitals set up to handle the a surge of patients were available, but for now there was no need to open them.

Orbán said it was likely that the number of patients would grow. “We’ll have to open them at some point, but we still have a safe amount of reserves,” he said.

Hungary’s chief medical officer has urged citizens to abide by the rules in place to control the spread of the coronavirus, warning that, otherwise, further restrictions would need to be introduced.

Cecília Müller told public media on Saturday that the current stage of the epidemic was characterised by community transmissions of the virus.

She called on the elderly to avoid crowded places and to go to the shops early in the day.

More generally, Müller recommended being outdoors and doing sports as much as possible. She added, however, that as the weather worsens people would find themselves inside, so mask-wearing should be taken seriously.

Müller noted that the second wave of the epidemic was under way in Hungary and gathering pace, with the number of hospitalisations increasing.

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Source: MTI