Orbán cabinet not aware of any cases of new virus in Hungary
Change language:
The government is still not aware of any cases of the new virus being present in Hungary, Gergely Gulyás, the head of the prime minister’s office, told a press conference on Wednesday.
Gulyás noted coronavirus is spreading in Europe, adding that there was little chance Hungary could avoid COVID-19.
He said the government knew of two Hungarians who had contracted the virus: a woman living in Vienna and a man on a boat in Japan. He added that Hungary was prepared to offer immediate help to any affected Hungarian individual no matter where they were in the world. Those who asked have been transported from Wuhan back to Hungary. The Hungarian authorities also monitor any developments connected to the Hungarian man on the Japanese boat and if necessary, returning Hungarians will be provided with a quarantine.
The press will be immediately informed if any person in Hungary is identified to carry the virus, he said.
“There’s no room for spreading fake news, which is anyway a criminal act,” he added.
In response to a question, Gulyás said an operative board would decide whether a quarantine had to be set up anywhere. Considering that currently there are no reported cases in Hungary, there is no need for such a decision to be made but once a high number of cases are reported from anywhere, there will be a quarantine established, he added.
Gulyás said that for the time being, the effect of the epidemic of the Hungarian economy cannot be assessed.
Gulyás said
there were five Hungarians among the thousand people quarantined in a hotel in Tenerife.
According to the latest information, they are well and the foreign ministry keeps in touch with them, he added.
Gulyás said all air passengers arriving from China, South Kores and northern Italy were being checked for high body temperature.
Spokeswoman of the operative board Kinga Láng-Bognár said
even if the virus appears in Hungary it is no cause for panic and it does not automatically represent an epidemic.
The board continues to advise against visits to infected areas, including northern Italy, and asks state-run primary and secondary schools not to organise trips to such areas, spokeswoman Láng-Bognár said.