coronavirus

Number of active infections slowly decreasing

Hospital

Altogether 97 patients died of a Covid-related illness over the past 24 hours, while 8,883 new coronavirus infections were registered, koronavirus.gov.hu said on Wednesday.

So far 6,384,088 people have received a first jab, while 6,144,019 have been double-jabbed. Fully 3,773,694 Hungarians have received a booster shot.

The number of active infections stands at 209,035. This number was more than 210 thousand yesterday. Meanwhile,

hospitals are treating 5,166 Covid-19 patients, 203 of whom are intubated on a ventilator.

Since the first outbreak, 1,730,366 have been registered with the virus, while 42,851 deaths have been recorded. Fully 1,478,480 people have made a recovery.

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Read alsoHungarian researchers’ discovery: COVID came from a lab

Hungary’s COVID-19 infections stands at 210,285 – latest numbers

coronavirus covid 19 hungary hospital ventilator

Altogether 123 patients died of a Covid-related illness over the past 24 hours, while 4,411 new coronavirus infections were registered, koronavirus.gov.hu said on Tuesday.

So far 6,383,559 people have received a first jab, while 6,142,438 have been double-jabbed. Fully 3,771,453 Hungarians have received a booster shot.

The number of active infections stands at 210,285, while

hospitals are treating 5,291 Covid-19 patients, 211 of whom are intubated on a ventilator.

Since the first outbreak, 1,721,483 have been registered with the virus, while

42,754 deaths have been recorded.

Fully 1,468,444 people have made a recovery.

The website said the Omicron variant accounts for 94 percent of all infections.

Read more news about Coronavirus in Hungary

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Read alsoHungarian researchers’ discovery: COVID came from a lab

Coronavirus in Hungary: 271 deaths, 21,081 new infections over weekend

coronavirus in hungary hospital

Altogether 271 patients died of a Covid-related illness during the weekend, while 21,081 new coronavirus infections were registered, koronavirus.gov.hu said on Monday.

So far 6,383,007 people have received a first jab, while 6,140,331 have been double-jabbed. Fully 3,769,557 Hungarians have received a booster shot.

The number of active infections stands at 223,810, while

hospitals are treating 5,186 Covid-19 patients, 199 of whom are intubated on a ventilator.

The website said the Omicron variant accounts for 94 percent of all infections.

Since the first outbreak, 1,717,072 have been registered with the virus, while

42,631 deaths have been recorded.

Fully 1,450,631 people have made a recovery.

Read also about Coronavirus in Hungary:

Hungarian researchers’ discovery: COVID came from a lab

laboratory coronavirus covid-19

Hungarian researchers from Eötvös Loránd University and the University of Veterinary Medicine made important discoveries. This new discovery brings humanity closer to finding out about the origins of the coronavirus.

Great discovery at Hungarian universities

Researchers at Eötvös Loránd University and the University of Veterinary Medicine have found interesting data. The data support the theory that

the coronavirus leaked from a laboratory.

So, the discovery suggests that the coronavirus came from a laboratory and did not spread from animals to humans naturally, writes the Daily Mail. Samples were taken in Antarctica between December 24, 2018, and January 13, 2019. These samples were forwarded to the Sangon Biotech laboratory in China.

“Thus, the ‘freedom of speech of the data’ forced us to modify the hypothesis, which I am very sorry about because it would have been a much more interesting scientific story and much less imbued with politics and a Chinese hamster,” said Professor István Csabai in a summary published on the university’s website.

This genetic material is not derived from living animals but from cell cultures often used in virological experiments.

Further research is needed

István Csabai, a professor at the Department of Complex Systems at Eötvös Loránd University, and Norbert Solymosi, associate professor at the University of Veterinary Medicine, found the sample. This sample was found in a public genetic sequence database that was subjected to bioinformatics analysis. They were looking for a sample that was collected before December 2019. In addition, it was important that the samples contain genomic traces of SARS-CoV-2.

Managing the amount of data was a huge technical challenge.

IT researchers were needed to solve this issue. They examined several different samples. Of these samples, soil samples from Antarctica were the most promising. It is not theoretically impossible for seals to carry the virus and for the virus to be then transmitted to the fish market in Wuhan through several infected fish.

However, the genetic traces are more likely to come from contaminants from other samples.

According to professor Csabai, we need further studies to more accurately identify the origin of the virus. However, research suggests that the virus most likely did not derive from humans, monkeys or hamsters but from cell cultures commonly used in virological experiments, blikk.hu writes.

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Read alsoImportant changes! Hungary’s immunity certificate to be limited to the inoculated

Good news? Nr of deaths, new infections slowly decreasing

Travel passenger tram phone

Altogether 91 patients died of a Covid-related illness in the past 24 hours, while 11,559 new coronavirus infections were registered, koronavirus.gov.hu said on Friday.

So far 6,379,065 people have received a first jab, while 6,131,361 have been double-jabbed. Fully 3,754,698 Hungarians have received a booster shot.

The number of active infections stands at 229,710, while hospitals are treating 5,152 Covid-19 patients, 209 of whom are intubated on a ventilator.

Since the first outbreak, 1,695,991 have been registered with the virus, while 42,360 deaths have been recorded. Fully 1,423,921 people have made a recovery.

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Read alsoHungary in great need of guest workers in the tourism & hospitality sectors!

Hungary in great need of guest workers in the tourism & hospitality sectors!

szimpla kert budapest

The tourism and hospitality sectors are faced with serious problems, making it impossible to predict how many businesses are directly threatened by closures. In addition to the problems directly caused by the coronavirus, the indirect effects of the epidemic, such as brutal inflation, rising energy prices due to the energy crisis, and labour shortages, are also major issues. Due to the latter, we will probably meet more and more non-Hungarian guest workers.

Wave of bankruptcies

At the sectoral level, the biggest victim of the coronavirus epidemic is certainly the tourism industry, in which, at the beginning of 2020, the usual operation stopped. The sector has since experienced several smaller ups during the more peaceful periods of the pandemic, but it is far from being back to normal.

During the winter, several iconic Budapest restaurants closed down, and pessimistic statements were made that a real wave of bankruptcies could start soon. According to many, up to 30% of restaurants in Budapest may close in the next period, although more optimistic forecasts say this rate is way too high.

One problem is that the costs have become high

The question now is not necessarily how many guests there are, but how much it will cost to provide the services, and who will be able to pay that amount.

The increase in the cost of labour, raw materials, and energy has now pushed up production costs to such an extent that a price increase of up to 30-40% could be expected, but this would not be tolerated by consumers everywhere.

Labour shortages, guest workers

According to Telex.hu, it was expected that after lockdowns, the workforce would gradually get back to the sector. But life in the hospitality sector is specific and stressful in many ways, and in most places, you have to work until late at night and on weekends. Those who went to work as a courier or retailer during the forced closures during the epidemic found that they could earn a similar amount there, while also being able to have a normal family life. So, it is no longer certain that they would return and see themselves staying in hospitality long term. This situation opens the door to guest workers.

More Hungarian guest workers in Austria than in Hungary

The labour shortage has already reached such levels that a high proportion of foreign guest workers will be needed to improve the situation substantially. In 2022, everyone expects a much stronger season than in the previous two years, and this will require employees. We can hardly rely on Hungarians in this regard, as there are still more Hungarians working in the Austrian hospitality sector than in Hungary. The guest workers will mainly be Ukrainian, South-East Asian, and Indian workers. Employers would prefer to hire them for work “behind the scenes” as, in most cases, these are people who do not speak any Hungarian.

More than 5,000 Hungarians in hospital due to COVID

Coronavirus hospital

Altogether 101 patients died of a Covid-related illness in the past 24 hours, while 13,932 new coronavirus infections were registered, koronavirus.gov.hu said on Wednesday.

So far 6,375,808 people have received a first jab, while 6,125,019 have been double-jabbed. Fully 3,741,717 Hungarians have received a booster shot.

The number of active infections stands at 229,240, while

hospitals are treating 5,108 Covid-19 patients, 193 of whom are intubated on a ventilator.

Since the first outbreak, 1,671,547 have been registered with the virus, while 42,170 deaths have been recorded. Fully 1,400,137 people have made a recovery.

Védettségi Igazolvány Immunity Certificate Plastic Card
Read alsoImportant changes! Hungary’s immunity certificate to be limited to the inoculated

Important changes! Hungary’s immunity certificate to be limited to the inoculated

Védettségi Igazolvány Immunity Certificate Plastic Card

From May 1, Hungarians will only be eligible for a Covid immunity certificate if they are fully inoculated against the coronavirus, the Government Information Centre (KTK) said on Tuesday.

In a statement, the KTK cited a recent government announcement that

the validity of immunity certificates will be extended for those who have received two vaccine doses until May 1, rather than Feb 15 as originally planned.

The government decree on the new rule will soon be published in the official gazette Magyar Közlöny, they added.

The KTK noted that

the certificates that had been issued to those who have recovered from the virus will no longer be valid from May 1.

Also, the validity of the immunity certificates will be limited to people who had their second Covid jab no more than six months earlier or had their booster jab, it said.

The validity of document will not expire for those who have received a booster shot.

Those who received the single-dose Janssen jab will also need to get a booster shot within six months after their first dose in order for their immunity certificate to remain valid.

Read also: 

Coronavirus Hungary
Read also This is when the fifth wave will peak in Hungary

42,000 Hungarian lives have been lost to COVID-19

grief mourning obituary black hungarian flag hungary

Altogether 94 patients died of a Covid-related illness in the past 24 hours, while 7,053 new coronavirus infections were registered, koronavirus.gov.hu said on Tuesday.

So far 6,375,020 people have received a first jab, while 6,123,154 have been double-jabbed. Fully 3,738,393 Hungarians have received a booster shot.

The number of active infections stands at 231,376, while

hospitals are treating 5,167 Covid-19 patients, 176 of whom are intubated on a ventilator.

Since the first outbreak, 1,657,615 have been registered with the virus, while

42,069 deaths have been recorded.

Fully 1,384,170 people have made a recovery.

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Read alsoThe Hungarian government bought Chinese ventilators known to be dangerous

Hungary reports 33,716 new infections over weekend

hospital coronavirus

Altogether 234 patients died of a Covid-related illness during the weekend, while 33,716 new coronavirus infections were registered, koronavirus.gov.hu said on Monday.

So far 6,374,293 people have received a first jab, while 6,120,914 have been double-jabbed. Fully 3,735,329 Hungarians have received a booster shot.

The number of active infections stands at 231,490, while

hospitals are treating 4,919 Covid-19 patients, 168 of whom are intubated on a ventilator.

The website said

the Omicron variant accounts for 94 percent of all infections.

Since the first outbreak, 1,650,562 have been registered with the virus, while

41,975 deaths have been recorded.

Fully 1,377,097 people have made a recovery.

As we wrote yesterday, in the spring of 2020, at the time the transaction was made, it was already known that one type of ventilator did not meet the requirements of safe use and that its faults could even endanger patients’ lives. Read more HERE: The Hungarian government bought Chinese ventilators known to be dangerous

Coronavirus Hungary
Read also This is when the fifth wave will peak in Hungary

This is when the fifth wave will peak in Hungary

Coronavirus Hungary

One of the most well-known Hungarian infectologist is hopeful that Hungary can soon ‘breathe sigh of relief’.

With concentrations of the coronavirus in Hungary’s wastewater systems still rising “it will be another 1-2 weeks before we can breathe a sigh of relief”, the leading infectologist of Budapest’s South Pest Central Hospital said on Friday, adding he was hopeful that the situation would soon improve.

János Szlávik told public news channel M1 that although the virus’s Omicron variant was

causing fewer deaths and hospitalisations, it was significantly more contagious than previous variants.

However those who contract Omicron but are vaccinated are likely to experience symptoms similar to the common cold, he added.

Szlávik noted that an even more contagious “stealth” sub-variant of Omicron was identified in the Philippines last November and was likely to replace the variant’s original lineage.

He said immunity from vaccines offered a higher degree of protection than natural immunity, warning that those who are unvaccinated could become seriously ill again after recovering from Covid. Szlávik urged people to get inoculated, warning that even Omicron could cause severe symptoms for the unvaccinated.

False immunity certificate
Read alsoGP, nurses issued false vaccine certificates – even police bought some

Breaking: a new, aggressive Omicron variant reached Hungary

Koronavírus Katonák Army Military Coronavirus Vaccine Vakcina Oltás Resized

Cecília Müller, the Head of the National Centre for Public Health, just announced that the new, more contagious variant of Omicron has appeared in Hungary. The dominant variant is still the “regular” Omicron, which has triggered a new wave of the pandemic in Hungary.

As 24.hu reported, in an interview with TV2, on Friday morning, Cecília Müller revealed that the BA2 version of Omicron has reached Hungary. However, as Müller said, there is no reason to be alarmed by this variant. As far as we know at the moment,

it has the same clinical behaviour as the “regular” Omicron variant, and it does not cause more serious pathology, nor does it attack other organs.

She added that in European countries, the proportion of this BA2 variant ranges from 1 to 15%.

According to Napi.hu, as of Friday, 16,435 new coronavirus cases had been confirmed, and 105 patients had died. A day ago, 17,894 new infections and 88 deaths were reported. Simultaneously, the number of infected people requiring hospital care has increased, which has been accompanied by an increase in the number of patients needing ventilators.

According to 24.hu’s article, the BA2 version is spreading slightly faster than the already fast-spreading Omicron. The BA2 was first found in China a few weeks ago and is generally believed to have originated from India, as Portfolio.hu recently reported on this variant.

Müller also said in the statement today that, according to our current knowledge, this new variant does not seem to change the current epidemic situation,

summarises Portfolio.hu.

Regarding the Omicron variant, Müller said that it is getting further divided into sub-variants, and this new variant is the so-called “stealth Omicron”. In practice, this means that the variant can still be detected with conventional PCR tests, but there are specific tests that this new variant bypasses, according to Portfolio.hu. However, as mentioned above, this new variant is currently known not to cause more severe symptoms and has the same clinical behaviour as the regular Omicron.

Müller says the new wave of outbreaks caused by Omicron may be on the wane: a high number of cases are being detected, but fewer every day, although the concentration of the coronavirus hereditary material is still increasing in the wastewater.

Nevertheless, she expects that next week, “we may see the end of the tunnel”.

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Read also 5th wave soon to be past its peak in Hungary?

GP, nurses issued false vaccine certificates – even police bought some

False immunity certificate

A Hungarian GP and his assistant were arrested in Budapest on the suspicion of issuing false vaccination certificates. The suspects have collected EUR 170,000 (~ HUF 60 million) from the patients involved in the case, two of whom are police officers.

The well-founded suspicion is that the Hungarian healthcare worker, in collaboration with his assistant, issued dozens of vaccination certificates without actually administering the vaccine. The illegal action was paid for by patients who did not wish to receive the vaccine but needed an immunity certificate, which was issued by the suspects for EUR 42-85 (~HUF 15,000–30,000).

The suspects divided the amount received equally among them. The two perpetrators gained a significant amount of corruption money: a total of EUR 170,000 (~ HUF 60 million) was seized, reported Hungarian news portal Napi.hu.

What is even more surprising is that

two police officers are also involved in the corruption case. They, too, paid the suspects to receive the vaccination certificate.

The GP filled the syringe with the vaccine, then emptied the contents into the sink, saying “Let it run out,” reported Blikk.

This is not the first time that the authorities crack down on fake immunity certificates. A similar case was reported a month ago. That time, 42 criminal proceedings were opened by police investigative authorities for illegal actions related to immunity documents, 18 of which were related to the involvement of healthcare professionals, reported Infostart.

The regional investigating prosecutor’s office ordered the two healthcare workers to be detained, and they questioned them as suspects of corruption offences – committed by the GP as the perpetrator and by the assistant as an accessory –, and then ordered their arrest.

The suspects could be sentenced to prison from 2 to 8 years.

Four people have so far been questioned as suspects in the case, but neither the healthcare workers nor the two police officers have confessed to the crime.

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Read alsoCrazy things people do for a fake vaccine certificate

Hungary donates ventilators to NATO partner countries

Hungary donates ventilators to NATO partner countries

Hungary will donate 80 ventilators to partner countries of NATO, at the request of the organisation’s secretary-general, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said on Tuesday.

As we wrote before, Chinese ventilators could not be used in Hungary. Hungarian hospitals struggled with fuming, incompatible ventilators, read details HERE.

The biggest donation, 30 ventilators, will be supplied to Bosnia and Herzegovina to help that country’s hospitals in treating coronavirus patients in a serious condition, Szijjártó said on Facebook.

The security of the Western Balkans is highly important for Hungary which is why countries in the region can rely on Hungary’s continued help, he said.

Szijjártó noted that

NATO had set up a fund one and a half years ago to provide assistance to its partner countries in their efforts to fight the pandemic.

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Read alsoHungary to develop healthcare from the 183 million EUR loan of the Asian investment bank

Coronavirus in Hungary – The number of active infections rise to 229,857

Coronavirus Hungary hospital

Altogether 66 patients died of a Covid-related illness in the past 24 hours, while 9,422 new coronavirus infections were registered, koronavirus.gov.hu said on Tuesday.

So far 6,364,167 people have received a first jab, while 6,103,465 have been double-jabbed. Fully 3,688,593 Hungarians have received a booster shot, while 81,000 children aged 5-11 and 47 percent of 12-17 year olds have also been vaccinated, the website said.

The number of active infections has risen to 229,857, while

hospitals are treating 4,218 Covid-19 patients, 169 of whom are intubated on a ventilator.

Since the first outbreak, 1,562,827 have been registered with the virus, while

41,471 deaths have been recorded.

Fully 1,291,499 people have made a recovery.

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Read alsoHungarian scientists reveal the effectiveness of the Chinese vaccine

Hungary reports 45,407 new infections over weekend – latest numbers

coronavirus in hungary hospital

Altogether 176 patients died of a Covid-related illness during the weekend, while 45,407 new coronavirus infections were registered, koronavirus.gov.hu said on Monday.

So far 6,363,112 people have received a first jab, while 6,101,699 have been double-jabbed. Fully 3,683,719 Hungarians have received a booster shot.

The number of active infections has risen to 231,601, while

hospitals are treating 3,903 Covid-19 patients, 150 of whom are intubated on a ventilator.

Since the first outbreak, 1,553,405 have been registered with the virus, while

41,405 deaths have been recorded.

Fully 1,280,399 people have made a recovery.

Read more news about Coronavirus in Hungary

Read also Tragic! More people died in 2021 than in any year after WWII in Hungary

Will more restaurants be closed in Hungary due to Covid?

Bar Restaurant Étterem Food Étel Bár

25-30 per cent of restaurants could close by the end of 2022.

As Daily News Hungary previously wrote, the pandemic put the hospitality sector in a horrible situation. 40-50 thousand people left the hospitality sector in Hungary. In 2019, there were 193,000 people working in hospitality, but in 2020, this number dropped below 177,000. Events at the end of the year usually bring a lot of profit, but during the pandemic, this amount of money was significantly smaller than in the previous years. And the situation still does not seem to get any better.

25-30 per cent of restaurants could close by the end of 2022.

In 2019, there were 26,000 businesses in the hospitality industry. From these, 12,000 people were independent entrepreneurs, and 14,000 people had business partners. There are between 2,500 and 3,000 new entrepreneurships yearly, and almost the exact same number of businesses close down, writes mfor.hu.

Elek Nagy, the President of BKIK, said that by the end of the year, 25 to 30 per cent of restaurants would go bankrupt. Another possibility would be to switch to a completely different profile, in the case they have the capital, the strength, and the necessary employees.

He also said that the summer was good for businesses near Lake Balaton and other baths and beaches. Budapest, however, suffered a loss in the tourism sector. Nagy explained that home office opportunities made it difficult for restaurants as well. No wonder, because many workers do not need to eat in restaurants or order food from them in their lunch break.

Nagy went on to explain that home delivery did not help certain restaurants that put effort into the design or the service of the food. He said that expensive restaurants and cheaper buffets may be able to stay afloat, but places with other price ranges could be at risk of closing down.

Another factor that makes surviving the pandemic hard for restaurants is that many people have left their former jobs. Even five-star hotels are said to be looking for employees on Facebook.

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Read alsoRestaurants to check out in Budapest if you love international food – PHOTOS

This is why Hungarian Olympic champion Csollány died from COVID

Szilveszter Csollány

Szilveszter Csollány was against the vaccine for a very long time. Eventually, because of his work in Austria, he was required to obtain ‘protection’, so, finally, in November 2021, he changed his mind.

Researcher Dr Tamás Letoha stated that his GP had informed him that Csollány had received the Janssen vaccine two weeks before he was hospitalised, but he was probably already ill at that point, said hirtv.hu.

Possible lung transplant

Since the coronavirus destroyed his body, Csollány was waiting for a lung transplant. Unfortunately, it was not possible to perform the procedure on the former Olympic champion. After nearly two months of fighting, on Monday, the coronavirus defeated his body. The athlete was transported to the hospital in early December. First, he was put on a ventilator, and then, since it was still not possible to get enough oxygen into his body, he received treatment for lung surgery.

This was our first article about him being hospitalised:

According to the information of Blikk.hu, Csollány’s lungs were so damaged because of Covid that it quickly became clear that a transplant would be necessary.

He was on the waiting list

“As a result of the coronavirus infection, the patient developed end-stage lung destruction and was placed on Eurotransplant’s emergency waiting list,” said Dr Ferenc Rényi-Vámos. “At the international level, a small number of lung transplants have been required so far due to the coronavirus disease, and this was the first such case in Hungary.”

Unfortunately, Csollány’s condition did not allow the transplant to be performed, and his body eventually gave up the fight.

He got up several times after being knocked down

Csollány was a celebrated hero, but his private life was not just about huge successes. The Olympic, World, and European Champion gymnast had to face several obstacles.

“I, too, thought it would be a lot easier after I won the Olympics, and then I soon realised that I still had to fight for everything,” he confessed in an interview years ago.

Despite the Olympic annuity, he had to struggle to make ends meet after taking out a Swiss franc-based, insurance-linked loan for their family home. He took on a variety of jobs and worked as a bartender for a year and a half. He loved to train children, but he had little opportunity to do so in Hungary. He was fired from the gymnastics club in Sopron. He toured as a trainer in Switzerland, Iceland, and most recently in Austria.

“It’s not easy for someone to be with me. But I’m not a dangerous person, I just don’t like pointless and stupid things,” said the gymnast, who many considered stubborn.

He also experienced crises in his private life. His first wife gave birth to a daughter, who is now 23 years old (Simona) and lives in Dublin. He lived happily in his second marriage, raising two daughters with his partner, Judit: 16-year-old Kitti and 13-year-old Kincső.

Rest in peace, Champion!

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