Coronavirus in Hungary

Black Angel of Pécs: Nurse sentenced to 12.5 years for fatal injection of coronavirus patient

lethal injection coronavirus patient death pécs nurse

The “Black Angel of Pécs,” a clinical nurse, has been sentenced to 12.5 years in prison without the possibility of parole for causing the death of an 82-year-old coronavirus patient in December 2022, the Pécs Regional Court of Appeal ruled.

The court reduced the original 14-year sentence handed down by the Pécs District Court but confirmed the decision to permanently ban the convict from working in healthcare. The nurse, who had been employed at the Internal Medicine Clinic in Pécs since November 2022, administered a lethal dose of potassium to the elderly patient, leading to his death from heart failure just hours later. The nurse took advantage of an unmonitored moment to inject the patient with the potassium, which had been prepared by the shift leader for a different procedure.

The court’s decision also took into account both aggravating and mitigating circumstances, with the convict’s permanent disqualification from healthcare work seen as a safeguard to prevent further crimes of a similar nature.

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Featured image: illustration, depositphotos.com

Hungarian research could yield breakthrough in Covid-19 treatment

laboratory coronavirus covid-19
The network said in a statement on Monday that research by the HUN-REN Research Centre for Natural Sciences raises hope that a drug used in oncology could be used to treat COVID-19.

The research coordinated by Professor Péter Bay of Debrecen University focused on Rucaparib, which blocks PARP enzymes and may prove effective in the initial phase of the infection and in fighting inflammatory complications of the disease in its later stages, the statement said.

“We have managed to open the way for a unique therapy that can be applied both in the viral and inflammatory phases of the infection, and which also offers an opportunity to prevent further complications in the viral phase,” the statement quoted senior researcher David Bajusz as saying.

The results of the Hungarian research were recently published in the British Journal of Pharmacology.

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Gyurcsány’s party reported Orbán cabinet to the police due to Chinese ventilators

The opposition Democratic Coalition has filed a complaint to the police, alleging that Chinese ventilators procured by the government and then auctioned off had resulted in damages to the state of more than 300 billion forints.

DK discovered that not a single ventilator has been used or sold since 2020, after having successfully sued for the relevant data to be publicised, Zoltan Varga, a party MP, told an online press briefing on Saturday.

Varga said that in his capacity as head of parliament’s welfare committee, he had visited the warehouse where ventilators had been kept for the past four years.

He insisted that “the elite” close to the ruling Fidesz party had got rich thanks to the state procurement of “overpriced Chinese ventilators, while tens of thousands of Hungarian people lost their lives” during the Covid pandemic.

Viktor Orbán’s government ripped off Hungarian taxpayers twice by paying over the odds for the machines and then paying for their storage before auctioning them off, he insisted.

Read also:

  • The Hungarian government bought Chinese ventilators known to be dangerous – Read more HERE
  • Mass medical ventilator prototype finished at Óbuda University – Details in THIS article

Is COVID back? Vaccination centres reopen in Hungary

Coronavirus test

As the number of coronavirus patients continues to climb, vaccination centres in Hungary are once again operational. 

In Budapest, three locations now offer appointments for the first, third, or fourth coronavirus vaccination.

Upon entering your social security number, you can register for a first or second vaccination, as well as a third or fourth vaccine. The system is still fine-tuning its efficiency and may experience occasional delays, as reported by Economx. Notably, individuals who have already received four vaccinations are not eligible for registration.

In Budapest, three vaccination points have been opened: one at the Heim Pál Paediatric Institute and two at the South Pest Centre Hospital. For the third or fourth vaccination, a range of vaccines including Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca, Janssen and Sinopharm are available.

It’s worth noting that for 12-18 year olds, the third booster vaccination is exclusively accessible when indicated in the address field during the booking process on the EESZT platform.

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Leaked: Pfizer-BioNtech sued Hungary

Viktor Orbán vaccine Chinese Sinopharm

Politico has obtained a document revealing that Pfizer-BioNTech initiated legal proceedings against the Hungarian government in January. Surprisingly, both the company and the Orbán cabinet have maintained complete silence on this matter. Delve into the details below to understand this conflict broke out.

According to Politico, the company brought the case to a Belgian court. “Discussions with the government in Budapest are ongoing”, a spokesperson of the firm highlighted. But what prompted this legal dispute?

The Hungarian government had ordered 3 million BioNTech/Pfizer vaccine doses, amounting to approximately EUR 60 million. However, they not only declined to accept the delivery but also refused payment. The cabinet communicated this decision to the company in November 2022, citing the financial strain caused by the influx of refugees from the war in Ukraine.

Interestingly, Pfizer sought a fast-tracked judgment, but a judge dismissed that request in March.

This is not an isolated incident, as Pfizer has initiated a similar process against Poland. In that instance, the quantity of vaccines is substantially larger – precisely 60 million doses worth EUR 1.2 billion. Warsaw had declared in April 2022 that they were unable to accept and pay for the vaccine package due to the impact of the war in Ukraine and the surge of Ukrainian refugees.

Romania, European Commission also on the ‘death list’ of Pfizer-BioNTech

Legal cases concerning vaccines and COVID-19 are proliferating. For instance, in Romania, prosecutors aim to sue a former prime minister and two health ministers because they allegedly bought too many vaccines and, as a result, caused EUR 1 billion in damage to the state budget.

Adding to the complexity, a Belgian lobbyist has filed a lawsuit against Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. He asserts that she played a role in brokering the EU’s largest vaccine deal involving 1.1 billion doses. Scandals involving von der Leyen and the German company abound, with the President acknowledging in a New York Times interview that she exchanged text messages with Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla regarding the procurement of a substantial volume of vaccines.

Read also:

  • Pfizer produces spectacular numbers, the Chinese vaccine is fishy – Read more HERE
  • Hungarian Karikó awarded Nobel Prize in medicine – Check out the details HERE

Radical Hungarian party: Government should reject global pandemic pact

vaccine-covid-19-coronavirus

The opposition Mi Hazánk movement has called on the government to register an objection to the World Health Organisation’s planned pandemic pact, arguing that it undermined national sovereignty and curbed human freedom.

László Toroczkai, the party’s leader, told a press conference on Wednesday that the government had a single day to express an objection to “unbelievably dangerous” amendment to the WHO health regulations before the deadline.

The WHO would gain rights that “imperil self-determination of the Hungarian people in the area of health” as well as the country’s sovereignty.

Digital vaccination certificates, he noted, would be part of the agreement. This may prevent the free movement, travel, and employment of Hungarian citizens who have not been vaccinated against covid or other diseases, he added.

Toroczkai said the government’s talk about protecting sovereignty was disingenuous.

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Summer tourism season breaks pre-pandemic record in Hungary

tourism-hungary-budapest-spring hungarian government

Hungary’s summer tourism season broke records set in 2019, the year before the pandemic, the head of the Hungarian Tourism Agency said on Wednesday.

Zoltán Guller said more than 6.2 million visitors were accommodated in June-August, up 6% from the summer of 2019, with more than 17 million guest nights spent (up 3%). Revenue grew by 27% to HUF 312 billion (EUR 0.8 billion), he added.

The market was essentially equally divided between foreign visitors and domestic travellers.

The number of tourists from Czechia, Poland and Romania “rose significantly”.

Around 2.6 million foreign tourists spent 7.2 million guest nights in Hungary in June-August, while around 3.6 million domestic travellers spent 9.9 million nights.

Fully 1.5 million guests stayed in the capital, with revenue of HUF 110 billion (EUR 283.2 million). In August, occupancy rates were around 78%.

Hungarian Hotel and Restaurant Association head Tamás Flesch said the hotel industry had finished a “profitable season”.

Guller said bookings registered with the National Tourism Data Service Centre (NTAK) indicate guest nights hitting 3.4 million in September, 3 million in October and 2.4 million in November.

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Hungary preparing for another health crisis?

Coronavirus test

Hungary has taken all necessary and possible measures since the coronavirus pandemic to be prepared for another potential health crisis and be able to protect people’s lives, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said in Geneva on Tuesday.

The ministry cited Szijjártó telling the World Health Organisation (WHO) general assembly that the past three years had involved several challenges and one of the most serious ones was the coronavirus pandemic.

The most important task of the international community would be to prepare for potential future challenges, he said, adding that over-politicising international health care should be avoided, MTI reported.

He added that politics and ideology had nothing to do with saving people’s lives and if geopolitics are mixed up with health issues, it will cost many lives.

The lesson learnt from Hungary’s successful epidemic management was that taking geopolitical issues into consideration would have resulted in many more victims.

Had Hungary waited for the European Commission’s president to order vaccines “by text message”, much fewer lives could have been saved, he added. The government took action instead, and purchased Eastern vaccines whose effectiveness was tested by Hungarian experts, he said.

As a result, Hungary was able to launch the fastest vaccination campaign in the European Union and was able to lift restrictions as the first member state, he said. Hungary was even able to offer 8.6 million doses of vaccine to countries in need, he added.

The pandemic has made it clear that it is vitally important to set up strategic reserves even if they are considered unnecessary or too expensive under normal circumstances, he said.

Szijjártó said Hungary had taken all necessary measures to be prepared for the next potential health crisis, citing the purchase of cargo aircraft, building a national vaccine plant and ventilator production plant, and being ready to produce protective masks and gloves.

Last COVID restriction to be ends in Hungary from 1 May

Hospital

The mandatory wearing of masks in Hungary will no longer apply from May 1 in view of the country’s benign epidemiological situation, the National Public Health Centre (NNK) announced on Friday.

From Monday, neither employees of health and social-care institutions nor visitors will have to wear masks in these settings. Hospital heads will still have the authority to mandate the use of masks in hospitals or certain departments within the hospital.

Forint could face a big recovery, breaks records

forint euro bills

A few weeks ago the forint broke through key points. For a short while, it looked as if the breakout might not have been successful. The current strengthening is driven by a technical factor, and the realistic target for the exchange rate to return to the range it was in during the pandemic.

The forint recently broke through key points into strength and then fell back when S&P downgraded Hungarian sovereign debt. But the weakness lasted only two days. After that, the soaring continued as if nothing had happened.

The euro fell to 382 forints, which is a good result in the short term. The last time the euro was here was 9 months ago, and since then it has been weakening continuously. According to Napi.hu, the current strengthening is driven by a technical factor.

The point that the forint crossed was roughly around 390-393, which was a major resistance for a long time. A few weeks ago, however, the forint managed to break through it, although it had been stuck there several times in the past. After the country downgrade, however, there was a renewed strong weakness: for a few days it looked as if the breakout would not be achieved.

Several specific factors contributed to the breakthrough, and their overall impact was stronger than the sales wave triggered by the downgrade, allowing the recovery to start again. In fact, it has continued with great momentum: allowing the strongest point since May last year to be reached.

Key factors in the recovery of forint

A key factor was that the chances of receiving EU funds were greatly increased. The government appears to be doing its utmost to make this happen, although previous communications have suggested that the market was not secure. And if large payments in euros were to come in, the conversion would strengthen the supply of euros in the market, while the amount of foreign currency reserves could even increase.

However, the most important factor was the December trade balance. The large deficit of previous months, which had generated significant euro demand, has been eliminated. This is presumably mainly due to the fall in gas prices. This may permanently remove the trigger that caused the forint to collapse last year.

The passing of the devaluation threat is encouraging many investors to prefer the very high yields available in forint compared to the returns available in euro. This also increases demand for the forint. Barnabás Virág, Vice President of the Hungarian National Bank (MNB) expects inflation to peak, followed by a steady, if not rapid, decline this year.

“A cut in the central bank’s base interest rate is not expected for quite a long time,”

he told to Napi.hu.

The exchange rate three years ago may be a realistic target

It is worth looking at how much weakening has taken place over the longer term, and how much of this has been due to factors that no longer exist. The weakening trend started in 2018, however, it was rather slow at first. When the COVID-19 pandemic broke out in March 2020 in Hungary, there was a significant weakening followed by two years in the 345-370 range.

After the pandemic, we may have thought that everything would be back to normal. However, in the second half of 2021, the gas price rise started and followed by the Russian-Ukrainian war. Although the war continues, the impact of the factors has been greatly reduced. Therefore, it may be a realistic target for the exchange rate to return to the range it was in during the two years of the epidemic, between 345-370.

MEP: Hungarian government was not prepared for the Covid-19 pandemic

Socialist MEP István Ujhelyi European Union

Opposition MEP István Ujhelyi has criticised the handling of coronavirus-related data by Hungarian authorities during the pandemic, citing a report by data protection authority NAIH.

The government refused to release Covid data

Addressing an online press conference, Ujhelyi, a member of the European Parliament’s public health committee, noted that he had turned to NAIH almost a year ago after repeated refusals by government institutions to release data concerning coronavirus.

Citing a report released by NAIH, Ujhelyi said Hungarian authorities tasked with managing the pandemic had been unprepared for the amount of data they had to handle.

Only 9 people for the system, many errors

Ujhelyi said the National Centre for Public Health (NNK) had admitted that it had been difficult having the same staff members conducting contact tracing and validating data. He said NNK had just nine specialists capable of handling the infectious disease reporting system. Also, doctors and other health-care workers had to enter data into the system manually, which led to errors, he added.

Chief medical officer was “unfit”

Coronavirus was overreported as a cause of death by more than 30 percent, the MEP said. It was even cited, for example, in the case of a patient who had contracted the virus but committed suicide, he added.

“The government was prepared for everything during the pandemic except the pandemic itself,” Ujhelyi said. He insisted that Cecília Müller had been “unfit” to carry out her duties as chief medical officer, and called on her to apologise for the way the data had been handled.

Ambulance car budapest healthcare ambulance service in Budapest
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COVID: here are the latest data from Hungary

Hungary hospital doctor healthcare monkeypox

Fully 620 new Covid-19 infections were confirmed last week, while 19 fatalities were registered in connection with the virus, the Coronavirus Press Centre said on Wednesday.

The number of active infections stands at 3,913, they said. Currently, 383 coronavirus patients are being treated in hospital, 7 intubated on a ventilator. Altogether 6,421,498 people have been vaccinated against the coronavirus, with 6,208,088 having received a second jab, 3,904,558 a third, and 422,103 a fourth. The number of registered infections since the start of the pandemic has reached 2,192,447 in Hungary, while there have been 48,677 deaths. Fully 2,139,857 people have made a recovery.

More than half thousand Hungarians in hospital due to COVID

Hospital

Fully 866 new infections were confirmed last week, while there were 51 fatalities in connection with Covid-19, the Coronavirus Press Centre said on Wednesday.

The number of active infections stands at 8,597, they said. Currently, 523 coronavirus patients are being treated in hospital, 61 intubated on a ventilator. Altogether 6,421,176 people have been vaccinated against the coronavirus, with 6,207,670 having received a second jab, 3,904,179 a third, and 418,600 a fourth. The number of registered infections since the start of the pandemic has reached 2,191,200 in Hungary, while there have been 48,629 deaths. Fully 2,133,974 people have made a recovery.

Here are the latest COVID numbers from Hungary

Coronavirus Hungary

Fully 1,597 new infections were confirmed last week, while there were 32 fatalities in connection with Covid-19, the Coronavirus Press Centre said on Wednesday.

The number of active infections stands at 11,349, they said. Currently, 727 coronavirus patients are being treated in hospital, 36 intubated on a ventilator. Altogether 6,420,987 people have been vaccinated against the coronavirus, with 6,207,423 having received a second jab, 3,903,953 a third, and 416,083 a fourth. The number of registered infections since the start of the pandemic has reached 2,190,334 in Hungary, while there have been 48,578 deaths. Fully 2,130,407 people have made a recovery.

New COVID variants detected in Hungary!

Coronavirus test

New Covid variants present in Hungary are no reason for concern because they are causing only mild symptoms despite being more contagious than previous variants, János Szlávik, chief infectologist at the South Pest Centrum Hospital, told public broadcaster M1 late on Tuesday.

Szlávik said the latest sub-variant spreading in Europe dubbed Kraken may also be present in Hungary but had not become dominant. In the case of the variants present in Hungary, three vaccinations can effectively prevent serious illness and the need for hospitalisation, he added.

The flu virus is expected to spread more actively in Hungary in the months ahead, so children under 5, adults over 60, pregnant women and people suffering from chronic illnesses are advised to get vaccinated, he said.

An air purification device to prevent the spread of the coronavirus has been developed in Hungary

coronavirus mask

A Hungarian firm has unveiled a device that it says can prevent the spread of the coronavirus in the air through disinfection and humidifying.

The compact device developed by CYX Kft with EU support between September 2021 and December 2022 filters out and destroys viruses and other pathogens such as bacteria, and fungi spores before they can be spread between people.

Scaling up for mass production of the device, which can also reduce PM2.5 small airborne dust particles, is under way and it is expected to enter the market in the second quarter of 2023, the company said on Monday.

The European Union has provided 697 million forints (EUR 1.7m) of support as part of the Economic Development and Innovation Operational Program for the 995 million forints project. The development, which took place between September 2021 and December 2022, resulted in the construction of the capacity to manufacture the CYX-Air device in Dunavecse.

Coronavirus in Hungary: 2,921 new infections, 51 deaths last week

Coronavirus test

Fully 2,921 new infections were confirmed last week, while there were 51 fatalities in connection with Covid-19, the Coronavirus Press Centre told MTI on Thursday.

The number of active infections stands at 13,070, they said. Currently, 368 coronavirus patients are being treated in hospital, 9 intubated on a ventilator.

Altogether 6,420,824 people have been vaccinated against the coronavirus, with 6,207,270 having received a second jab, 3,903,721 a third, and 413,792 a fourth.

The number of registered infections since the start of the pandemic has reached 2,188,737 in Hungary, while there have been 48,546 deaths. Fully 2,127,121 people have made a recovery.

Almost 5 thousand new infections in Hungary, government’s Covid site ends operation

Hungary hospital doctor healthcare monkeypox

Fully 4,397 new infections were confirmed last week, while there were 56 fatalities in connection with Covid-19, according to the website koronavirus.gov.hu, which published data from last week on Wednesday.

The number of active infections stands at 13,571, the website said. Currently, 386 coronavirus patients are being treated in hospital, 19 intubated on a ventilator. Altogether 6,420,813 people have been vaccinated against the coronavirus, with 6,207,249 having received a second jab, 3,903,679 a third, and 413,303 a fourth.

The number of registered infections since the start of the pandemic has reached 2,185,816 in Hungary, while there have been 48,495 deaths. Fully 2,123,750 people have made a recovery.