hospital

Coronavirus patients on ventilators reach record-high in Hungary – When will it stop?

Fully 162 patients, generally elderly with an underlying condition, died over the past 24 hours, and 8,863 new coronavirus infections were officially registered, while 1,319,266 people had received their first and 392,703 people received their second vaccine jab by Sunday, koronavirus.gov.hu said.

The number of infections has risen to 516,490, while the death toll has increased to 16,952. The number of recoveries stands at 351,891.

There are 147,647 active infections, while hospitals are caring for 8,764 Covid patients, 1005 of whom are on ventilators.

Fully 48,329 people are in official home quarantine, while the number of tests carried out has increased to almost 4,076,943.

Covid Térkép Map Coronavirus Koronavírus — Source: koronavirus.gov.hu/terkepek/fertozottek

Most infections have been registered in Budapest (98,435) and Pest County (69,845). The county least affected by the infection continues to be Tolna (11,355).

Hungary closes down until March 22 to curb Covid-19 spread

Hungary closed most shops and services for two weeks and kindergartens and primary schools for the next month in an effort to curb the third wave of coronavirus infections. MORE INFO HERE.

Shops, with the exception of grocery stores, pharmacies, petrol stations, drugstores, tobacco shops, shops selling tools for “spring gardening”, pet food and fodder shops, and markets, will have to be closed, and services will have to stop, with the exception of private healthcare, social care, financial, postal, and car repair services, suspended between March 8 and 22.

Kindergartens and primary schools will be closed from March 8 until April 7.

Gyms will continue to be closed for two weeks, but licenced athletes will be allowed to train and compete behind closed doors. Parks will be allowed to stay open and outdoor sports will also be allowed for activities in which people can maintain a safe distance of 1.5 metres. The government asks employers to ensure that their employees can work from home wherever possible, particularly in the case of those with children.

Mask-wearing remains mandatory outdoors, he said.

Hungary would impose tighter controls on its borders, adding, however, that freight and transit traffic will not be restricted. Wage subsidies and tax cuts introduced for the hospitality industry will be expanded for the period of the lockdown to all sectors forced to shut down by the new measures.

March 14, 2021

It is uncertain when the third wave will peak according to Hungarian infectologist

Koronavírus Coronavirus Vaccine Vakcina Hand Needle Tű

It is difficult to predict when the third wave of the coronavirus pandemic will peak and when case numbers will start to go down, János Szlávik, a senior infectologist of the South-Pest Central Hospital, told public media on Saturday.

The number of new infections this time is rising at a significantly faster rate than during either of the previous two waves, Szlávik said, noting that the number of hospitalised patients was also considerably higher during the current wave.

The infectologist said this indicated that the third wave of the pandemic would be more severe than the first two had been.

Most people getting infected are contracting the British variant of the virus, which can cause complications even for young people, Szlávik said. He said it was not uncommon for young people without an underlying condition to be hospitalised with the virus, and

urged the public to continue to observe the regulations issued in response to the pandemic.

At the same time, Szlávik hailed the rising vaccination rate among the elderly.

He said that with over 300 million people having received a Covid vaccine worldwide, there were bound to be reports of serious side-effects. He added, however, that

none of the vaccines being used in Hungary had caused side-effects that would require a suspension of the vaccination campaign.

Szlávik said Hungary needed a few more weeks to reach 2-3 million vaccinations, which he said could already have an effect on the trajectory of the pandemic. Achieving herd immunity, however, will require a vaccination rate of 60-70 percent, he added.

March 14, 2021

Why would somebody steal a hearse from a hospital?

A 21-year-old Hungarian stole a hearse from the yard of the hospital of Salgótarján late Tuesday evening. According to the authorities, the vehicle was empty at the time of the crime and belonged to a local mortician. Police already caught the perpetrator.

According to 24.hu, the police department of Salgótarján launched a theft investigation against a 21-year-old man. The perpetrator went up to a hearse parked in the yard of the hospital of Salgótarján at 9:45 pm on Tuesday. Interestingly, he started the engine with the key left inside. Afterwards, he left the hospital and travelled to Karancsalja, a village just six kilometres away from the Northern-Hungarian city.

However, he was not an experienced driver, so due to the unprofessional use,

the car malfunctioned and stopped.

Then, the man stole the car keys and a briefcase containing not only cash and the mortician’s bank cards but also his personal documents and electric cigarette.

Police soon caught the perpetrator and claimed everything back. The 21-year-old admitted to his deed and said that

he just wanted to drive a car.

As of yet, nobody has said anything about the damage he caused to the hearse.

We wrote HERE about some other bizarre crimes in Hungary. For example, a swindler tried to extort money from elderly people with a trick a couple of days before. The Romanian man said that he was from Iran and that

his carpet was a Persian rug.

He was kind to his victims and even offered them a ride home in his car. At first, the charlatan tried to offer the carpet for his victims free of charge, but when they arrived at the elderly person’s home, he immediately changed his behaviour. He always managed to force more money out of his victims than what the rug was worth.

In another case, two men

robbed a jewellery store and managed to escape with a big hit, a total of €11,000.

The Police have not yet found the perpetrators, but a camera recorded them as they left. The stolen jewellery includes watches, rings, necklaces, bracelets, and medals.

The Fejér County Police Headquarters reported before that a 26-year-old man from Kisláng had been caught a mere hour after two victims’ bodies were found. The crime was discovered when, on early Sunday morning, a man did not find his friend. When he decided to visit the other man’s home, he was shocked to find blood trails around the house. He immediately called the authorities and, thanks to the thorough search and expertise of the investigators, the assumed perpetrator has been caught and is awaiting further action. The 26-year-old is accused of murder.

Featured image: illustration

March 13, 2021

Number of deaths, new infections and patients on ventilators was never this high in Hungary!

Fully 163 patients, generally elderly with an underlying condition, died over the past 24 hours, and 9,444 new coronavirus infections were officially registered, while 1,293,414 people had received their first jab by Friday, koronavirus.gov.hu said.

The number of infections has risen to 507,627, while the death toll has increased to 16,790. The number of recoveries stands at 349,530.

There are 141,307 active infections, while hospitals are caring for 8,897 Covid patients, 989 of whom are on ventilators.

Fully almost 50 thousand people are in official home quarantine, while the number of tests carried out has increased to almost 4 million.

Hungary coronavirus map — https://koronavirus.gov.hu/terkepek/fertozottek

Most infections have been registered in Budapest (96,594) and Pest County (68,460). The county least affected by the infection is Tolna (11,159).

Hungary closes down until March 22 to curb Covid-19 spread

Hungary close most shops and services for two weeks and kindergartens and primary schools for the next month in an effort to curb the third wave of coronavirus infections. MORE INFO HERE.

Kindergartens and primary schools will be closed from March 8 until April 7.

Mask-wearing remains mandatory outdoors, he said.

March 13, 2021

The Hungarian healthcare system is on the edge of collapse?

Hungarian hospitals are under immense pressure because they have to treat more than eight thousand COVID-19 patients. Some institutions already have to rank their patients because not everybody can receive professional intensive care.

According to 444.hu, Tamás Svéd, an intensive therapist and the secretary of the Hungarian Medical Chamber, said that the Hungarian healthcare system is reaching the end of its capacity these days. Even though there are many beds and ventilators, there is not enough personnel to utilise them and help patients. Mr Svéd said that in the third wave, he works in the COVID-19 intensive care department and would like to go home at the end of the day with a healthy spirit, but that is becoming harder every day.

The intensive therapist added that, based on his information and experience, most hospitals maintained the 3 patient per nurse framework. However, there are institutions where this number already reached 6-8. That does not mean that he or she does not receive any help, but professionally, they can only provide

the needed care for the patients between life and death.

The higher this number is, the higher the chance of making mistakes becomes.

Mr Svéd said that the third wave affects younger people as well; many patients are in their 30s and 40s in the hospitals. Meanwhile, the number of older people is lower in the intensive care because many of them already received the vaccine or already got the infection before.

However, the third cause is that younger people need beds.

He does not have official data about that sad process but believes that it will become more and more frequent. That is a soft ranking system, the “hard” type would be if the government acknowledges that the number of infections exceeds the capacity of the hospitals. The intensive therapist said that the number of intensive beds can be increased only to a point because, in this branch of medical care, there is no such thing as partial attention since a ventilator could even harm a patient. Therefore, they require 24/7 attention.

Mr Svéd said that the government and those managing the healthcare system have to decide how they increase the intensive care capacity. However,

there is no concord even between them.

Professor Merkely says that the limit is 1,000 beds while officials in the government info say that they can extend the capacities up to 3,000.

The government says that everybody who needs it will receive a ventilator, but they do not add whether the patients will have a professional crew to provide care for them. Furthermore, the country’s leadership does not publish relevant data about the number of available beds or the number of patients needing intensive care.

About the new healthcare contract all employees in the branch had to sign, he said that they miss everybody who refused to do so. Based on the data,

5,500 doctors and nurses left the Hungarian healthcare system

which struggled hard from the lack of workforce even before.

March 13, 2021

Incredible! Another record set for coronavirus infection in Hungary

Fully 130 patients, generally elderly with an underlying condition, died over the past 24 hours, and 9,011 new coronavirus infections were officially registered, while 1,229,827 people had received their first jab by Thursday, koronavirus.gov.hu said.

The number of infections has risen to 498,183, while the death toll has increased to 16,627. The number of recoveries stands at 346,904.

There are 134,652 active infections, while hospitals are caring for 8,718 Covid patients, 949 of whom are on ventilators.

Fully 48,677 people are in official home quarantine, while the number of tests carried out has increased to 3,992,790.

Most infections have been registered in Budapest (94,770) and Pest County (66,969), followed by Győr-Moson-Sopron (28,666) Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén (28,110), and Hajdú-Bihar counties (27,320). The county least affected by the infection is Tolna (10,996).

Hungary closes down until March 22 to curb Covid-19 spread

Hungary close most shops and services for two weeks and kindergartens and primary schools for the next month in an effort to curb the third wave of coronavirus infections. MORE INFO HERE.

Kindergartens and primary schools will be closed from March 8 until April 7.

Mask-wearing remains mandatory outdoors, he said.

March 12, 2021

There have never been this many new Covid-19 infections in Hungary in one day!

Fully 172 patients, generally elderly with an underlying condition, died over the past 24 hours, and 8,312 new coronavirus infections were officially registered, while 1,149,557 people had received their first jab by Thursday, koronavirus.gov.hu said.

The number of infections has risen to 489,172, while the death toll has increased to 16,497. The number of recoveries stands at 344,267.

There are 128,408 active infections, while hospitals are caring for 8,329 Covid patients, 911 of whom are on ventilators.

Fully 49,302 people are in official home quarantine, while the number of tests carried out has increased to 3,955,994.

Most infections have been registered in Budapest (92,872) and Pest County (65,206), followed by Gyor-Moson-Sopron (28,090) Borsod-Abauj-Zemplen (27,571), and Hajdu-Bihar counties (26,883). The county least affected by the infection is Tolna (10,829).

Hungary closes down until March 22 to curb Covid-19 spread

Hungary close most shops and services for two weeks and kindergartens and primary schools for the next month in an effort to curb the third wave of coronavirus infections. MORE INFO HERE.

Kindergartens and primary schools will be closed from March 8 until April 7.

Mask-wearing remains mandatory outdoors, he said.

March 11, 2021

Whose life is worth more? Hungarian hospitals must decide on who gets to be treated in the ICU

Hungary is suffering from the third wave of coronavirus that hits the country harder than ever before. Doctors and medical personnel have serious decisions to make every single day.

While the number of infections is still rapidly increasing by the day, not only more people need medical attention in hospitals but also younger and younger people are admitted with severe symptoms. Smaller hospitals are getting overloaded, leading to grave decisions to make: who gets to receive ICU treatment, thus who gets the chance to survive?

“We are losing people who were supposed to have 20-30-40 years left to live,”

said a doctor from a smaller hospital in the countryside to 444.hu. This is the unfortunate truth of the third wave that puts enormous pressure on health care that has not even gotten over the second wave yet. According to Wednesday’s data, there were 8348 people with covid in need of medical attention, a number that already exceeded December’s record, and that does not seem to be mitigated in the near future. Quite the opposite is estimated, actually. The hospital of Hatvan is already full, but they are not the only overloaded institution.

The situation is worsened by the fact that

many older people who need infusion therapy or medications given through the vein also need to get admitted to a hospital because either the retirement home is not prepared to take care of the person this way,

or their children cannot tend to them simply because they are already in the hospital with severe symptoms.

Moreover, as we reported, the number of people in need of artificial ventilation is even more alarming; as of Wednesday, 844 was the highest number. It is getting very close to 1000, which is the total capacity of the health care system in the long run, according to Béla Merkely, rector of Semmelweis University.

Many hospitals are extremely close to their full capacities; they have been working at this pace for weeks now, so the new wave came at the worst possible moment. As soon as someone dies, the next patient is already taking his place. They are so full that

those 70-80 year-olds who have a severe underlying condition are already not sent to the ICU; it can not even be considered.

This is an incredibly said decision; however, it is unavoidable in an emergency. A protocol does exist for this case. When hospitals get overloaded, personnel need to decide between life and life and provide more help to those who have better chances to survive. Still, no one resorts to it.
“Everyone accepts this shady situation, when we should accept it to ourselves that that’s it, this is our capacity. Let’s not lie to ourselves.”, said a doctor asked by 444.hu.

Another doctor working in the capital reported that senior patients in dramatic conditions are not admitted to the ICU anymore simply because there are no beds left as younger patients occupy them. Last Spring, the average age of people in the ICU was between 80 and 90, which already decreased during the second wave but is at a record low of 30-50 years right now.

Furthermore, people now admitted to hospitals are suffering from stronger and more symptoms,

pneumonia, for instance, is now touching up to 40-50% of their lounges, as opposed to a lighter inflammation caused by the first or second wave. This is due to the new variants of the virus, most probably the British one.

Cecília Müller said that the infrastructure of the Hungarian health care system is given, there are enough beds and ventilators, and they try to regroup personnel according to the needs of extreme conditions in different hospitals. However, the problem is not the lack of these things but that of personnel operating the ventilator machines and professional nurses caring for people. In an ideal situation, one nurse would tend to one sick patient, when right now in Hungary, this number can even reach ten patients in some hospitals. It even happened that an ICU professional was on duty with an ophthalmologist.

If we consider numbers of the first and the second wave, we can almost certainly say, even with the lack of actual numbers on hospitalised patients, that not only more people are admitted to hospitals than before, but a bigger percentage of them end up in the ICU or on a ventilator. Furthermore, these numbers and proportions are constantly increasing day by day.

grief mourning obituary black hungarian flag hungary

Read alsoHungary records highest daily death toll in this year – March 10, 2021

March 11, 2021

Hungary in need of international help to treat Covid patients as hospitals get overloaded?

As Hungary enters the third wave of coronavirus, the country finds itself in a challenging situation. It is hard to tell for how long hospitals will be able to hold on before becoming completely overloaded without a single bed to spare.

According to János Szlávik, chief physician of the Department of Infectious Diseases of the South-Pest Centrum Hospital, the situation is dire. In an interview, he talked about their cases in the hospital, how

they are running out of beds reserved for coronavirus patients while more and more people need to be transferred to the ICU.

He also added that according to his information obtained from colleagues all over the country, the number of cases keep increasing while, in general, people suffer heavier from the infection, resulting in more people needing ventilation.

So far, a whole family having been infected and being sick together at the same time was quite rare. However, with the new variants of the virus that spread much quicker, it practically became normal, quotes telex.hu.

The British variant, for instance, as said Szlávik, spreads much faster and causes symptoms to be 10-15% more severe , which also explains the general increase of cases and the growing number of younger patients being admitted to the hospital.

As data on the whole of the Hungarian situation is relatively scarce,

we can not tell exactly where is the threshold of the Hungarian health care system, whether it is close to the verge of collapsing or there is still time left to make rapid and effective changes.

It makes it even harder to see a clear picture, as from time to time, doctors and nurses emerge and share their experience on social media about the scary and trying experience they have to endure. Sometimes they are backed by the hospital they work for, but in some cases, their employer establishment does not stand behind them, stating the same, or even deny such accusations.

Nevertheless, it is for sure that Hungarian numbers are quickly catching up to those of the Czech Republic and Slovakia. It is awful news as these two countries cannot tend appropriately to the most severe covid patients anymore. 444.hu reports that they simply gave up and tried to save their citizens’ lives by calling for international help. Germany, Poland and Switzerland came to their rescue; they already received over 200 patients from the two countries mentioned above, while Slovenia also offered their services.

When it comes to Hungary,

on the course of the past two weeks, the number of patients admitted to the hospital increased incredibly, by 73%.

To put this number into context, the “record” number of people treated in hospitals during the second wave was just a little over 8000, while the current number lags with around 100 cases.

The case of patients in need of artificial ventilation is even worse. Numbers have doubled in less than two weeks,

needless to say that the highest number of the previous wave was already reached and surpassed days ago, while the increase seems unstoppable. (here you can read about it more)

What is more alarming is the delay of countless operations and treatments that do not directly save lives but, in many cases, cause huge suffering for people not to have their much-needed surgery as soon as possible. These delays and changes were first introduced already in November. Such action is the intensive care of covid patients working at full capacity in many hospitals.

Having the establishment and the number of beds to receive patients is just one aspect. The other side of the coin might be even harder to believe and accept, namely that

simply there is not enough personnel, doctors and nurses able to tend for these patients.

You can send an ophthalmologist to help out, but he will need more than a couple of training hours to know exactly what to do and how.

In a situation like this, where there is already a lack of personnel, where until recently not even all of them where inoculated, thus they were much more responsive to the virus or to suffer greatly from the symptoms; the number of professionals not accepting to sign the new contract forced on them by the government, and thus leaving the health care system, is like a sword driven through the heart.

Read alsoThrid wave in Hungary: death toll has increased over 16,000

Read alsoHungary in need of international help to treat Covid patients as hospitals get overloaded?

March 9, 2021

Good news – Slight improvement in number of daily deaths and new infections in Hungary

Koronavírus Coronavirus Vaccine Vakcina Oltás

In total, 108 patients, generally elderly people with an underlying condition, died over the past 24 hours, and 6,201 new coronavirus infections have been registered, koronavirus.gov.hu said on Sunday.

The number of infections has risen to 466,017, while the death toll has increased to 15,873. The number of recoveries stands at 335,512.

There are 114,632 active infections, while hospitals are caring for 7,445 Covid-19 patients, 778 of whom are on ventilators.

Little over 44 thousand people are in official home quarantine, while the number of tests carried out is above 3.85 million.

Altogether 981,401 people have been vaccinated so far, with 307,573 having received a second shot.

Covid Térkép Map March Március 7 — Source: koronavirus.gov.hu/terkepek/fertozottek

Most infections have been registered in Budapest (87,832) and Pest County (60,882), followed by Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén (26,690), Győr-Moson-Sopron (26,605), and Hajdú-Bihar counties (25,764). The county least affected by the infection is still Tolna (10,421).

Hungary closes down until March 22 to curb Covid-19 spread

Hungary will close most shops and services for two weeks and kindergartens and primary schools for the next month in an effort to curb the third wave of coronavirus infections, the prime minister’s chief of staff announced. MORE INFO HERE.

Kindergartens and primary schools will be closed from March 8 until April 7.

Gyms will continue to be closed for two weeks, but licenced athletes will be allowed to train and compete behind closed doors, Gulyás said. Parks will be allowed to stay open and outdoor sports will also be allowed for activities in which people can maintain a safe distance of 1.5 metres, he said.

The government asks employers to ensure that their employees can work from home wherever possible, particularly in the case of those with children, Gulyás said. Mask-wearing remains mandatory outdoors, he said. Gulyás also said that Hungary would impose tighter controls on its borders, adding, however, that freight and transit traffic will not be restricted.

Wage subsidies and tax cuts introduced for the hospitality industry will be expanded for the period of the lockdown to all sectors forced to shut down by the new measures, Gulyás said.

March 7, 2021

Important modifications in the new lockdown measures: schools, vaccination, internet use

The government publishes modifications day after day concerning the strict lockdown in effect from next Monday. They said on Thursday that no children could be in any schools or kindergartens from March 8 until April 7. Moreover, the government highlighted yesterday that nobody would get their AstraZeneca vaccine during the weekend. Meanwhile, Gergely Gulyás, Minister of the Prime Minister’s Office, clarified why Hungary did not buy as many Moderna vaccines as they could have purchased.

According to telex.hu, though the government announced on Friday in a text message that nobody would receive their Moderna vaccine during the weekend because of a malfunction of the government’s system, it seems that those who showed up today at the vaccination points did receive their jab. Later today, the operative body issued a statement clarifying that

those who go to the vaccination points will get the vaccine because the jabs are there.

Furthermore, thanks to the local governments, there will be state-supported childcare services in the kindergartens and the schools from March 8. As a result, those parents who cannot miss work will be able to bring their children to these institutions even from Monday. Moreover, all

elementary school kids will be able to use the internet for free from Monday.

The discount is valid for 30 days, which is the announced length of the planned digital education in Hungary, telex.hu reported.

Gergely Gulyás, minister of the Prime Minister’s Office, today denied all opposition accusations concerning Moderna vaccine purchases. The leftist opposition’s claim that the government has not ordered sufficient quantities of the Moderna coronavirus vaccine is part of their

“hate campaign” against the government, Gulyás said on Facebook on Saturday.

Citing passages from the European Commission’s agreement with the producer, Gulyás insisted that shipments of Moderna could not be expected before the third quarter of 2021 when “sufficient amounts of vaccines purchased from other sources will be in place to inoculate the whole adult population”.

Moreover, Gulyás said that “actual deliveries [of Moderna] are even more sluggish than outlined in the agreement”, adding that

several other European Union members had similarly given up their option of Moderna.

In reaction to press reports quoting the EU representation in Budapest that the EU does not have direct information concerning vaccine deliveries to Hungary since the country receives shipments from the producers rather than via the EU, Gulyás said that he had his information from an agreement signed by European Commissioner Stelly Kyriakides.

“The Commission, therefore, is aware that the vaccine delivery in question cannot arrive in Hungary before the third quarter,” he said.

“Why has the Commission lied?”

he added.

March 6, 2021

Hungary made an unorthodox decision to avoid hospital overload

Hungary will use favipiravir, a Japanese drug made to treat diseases caused by the flu, in outpatient care, according to an announcement on Friday by the operative body. Up until now, only patients treated in hospitals received it, but only when the antiviral serum could no longer have a perceptible effect. The medicine can help avoid the development of serious symptoms in the early stages of the coronavirus disease.

According to portfolio.hu, they wrote last December during the second wave of the coronavirus epidemic that favipiravir should be used in the care of those COVID-19 patients whose condition is not critical, so they are not yet treated in a hospital but show symptoms of the illness. That is because favipiravir is an

antiviral medicine that hinders the multiplication of the virus in the body.

Interestingly, drugs containing favipiravir could not be used up until now in Hungary in outpatient care. Therefore, GPs could not prescribe it to curb the effects of the infection. That is why there was no medicine against the virus that could be bought in the pharmacies. As a result, patients had to be taken to the hospitals if their condition got worse. In the hospital,

they could get both favipiravir and remdesivir.

Doctors gave the former to patients in a non-critical condition, while they prescribed the latter for people in a critical condition.

Cecília Müller, the chief medical officer of Hungary, said on Friday that the pressure on the Hungarian healthcare system is increasing. They would like to avoid the overload of hospitals by allowing the use of favipiravir also in outpatient care. Thanks to that, fewer patients will be taken to hospitals.

The drug already proved successful against the virus abroad.

Müller added that the medicine can help patients not to produce such critical symptoms which can only be treated in the hospital. That is important because today, the number of people treated in Hungarian hospitals reached 7,243, 751 of whom are on ventilators.

Based on what PM Viktor Orbán said on Friday morning, at the peak of the third wave, there can be 15-20 thousand patients in hospitals.

Favipiravir is the drug of the Japanese Fujifilm Toyama Chemical Co. Ltd. that has been used since 2014 as Avigan® and Favilavir® mostly in Japan to treat diseases caused by the flu. The medicine has already been

administered to hundreds of thousands of patients worldwide

who experienced only a few and mild side effects. However, in the case of pregnancy, the drug cannot be used.

March 6, 2021

Breaking – never has ever been the number of newly infected this high in Hungary

Fully 146 patients, generally elderly with an underlying condition, have died over the past 24 hours, and 7,269 new coronavirus infections have been registered, koronavirus.gov.hu said on Saturday.

The number of infections has risen to 459,816, while the death toll has increased to 15,765. The number of recoveries stands at 333,045.

There are 111,006 active infections, while hospitals are caring for 7,243 Covid patients, 751 of whom are on ventilators.

More than 45 thousand people are in official home quarantine, while the number of tests carried out is above 3.8 million.

Altogether 949,497 people have been vaccinated so far, with 304,880 having received a second shot.

Hungary covid map — https://koronavirus.gov.hu/terkepek/fertozottek

Most infections have been registered in Budapest (86,635) and Pest County (59,981), followed by Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén (26,307), Győr-Moson-Sopron (26,165) and Hajdú-Bihar counties (25,498). The county least affected by the infection is still Tolna (10,252).

This is how the tightened restrictions will change our lives
Hungarian stores under attack, panic shopping breaks out again

Hungary closes down until March 22 to curb Covid spread

Hungary will close almost all shops and services for two weeks along with kindergartens and primary schools for the next month in an effort to tackle the third wave of coronavirus infections, the prime minister’s chief of staff announced yesterday. MORE INFO HERE.

Shops, with the exception of food stores, pharmacies and petrol stations, will have to be closed and services, with the exception of private health care, suspended between March 8 and 22, Gergely Gulyás told a weekly press briefing.

Kindergartens and primary schools will be closed from March 8 until April 7, he said.

Gyms will also be closed for two weeks, but licenced athletes will be allowed to train and compete behind closed doors, Gulyás said. Parks will be allowed to stay open and outdoor sports will also be allowed for activities in which people can maintain a safe distance of 1.5 metres, he said.

The government asks employers to ensure that their employees can work from home wherever possible, particularly in the case of those with children, Gulyás said. Mask-wearing remains mandatory outdoors, he said. Gulyás also said that Hungary will impose tighter controls on its borders, adding, however that freight and transit traffic will not be restricted.

Wage subsidies and tax cuts introduced for the hospitality industry will be expanded for the period of the lockdown to all sectors forced to shut down by the new measures, Gulyás said.

March 6, 2021

PM Orbán revealed new details about the tightened restrictions

Hungary’s two-week lockdown from Monday will start “the last phase of the war against coronavirus”, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán told public Kossuth Radio on Friday morning.

The prime minister said that creches will stay open for the time being, unlike kindergartens, schools, and most shops.

Florists will also be allowed to open on March 8, international women’s day, he added.

Orbán said he was certain that the lockdown would be “the home run” in the fight against the virus, adding that the government had “no other choice” than to introduce further restrictions after experts had warned of “disastrous” consequences unless they make the move.

“We must now lock down so as to open up around Easter,” the prime minister said, adding that the government was waiting for voters’ feedback in a national survey concerning a gradual easing of restrictions.

According to the prime minister, services crucial for people’s daily routine such as grocery stores and shops selling tools for spring garden works will stay open, but “everything else” including restaurants, casinos, hotels, and shops selling electronics or entertainment will stay closed.

Orbán expects spike in COVID hospitalisations as infections spread

Hungary’s prime minister said on Friday that up to 15,000-20,000 people could enter hospital as coronavirus infections surge, up from just over 6,800 now, which will put a big strain on the healthcare system in the coming weeks.

Viktor Orbán told state radio that “there will be enough (hospital) beds and ventilators.”

He said the lockdown was needed to prevent a “tragedy”.

“We will see pressure rising on hospitals,” he told state radio.

He said with a vaccination campaign accelerating, by early April around 2.4 people could have had at least one shot of a COVID vaccine, rising to about 4.7 million by early May.

Since mid-November, Hungary has had a night-time curfew, hotels and restaurants have been closed, and remote learning has been in place in all secondary schools.

Last week it became the first European Union country to start inoculating people with China’s Sinopharm vaccine after rolling out Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine although neither has been granted approval for emergency use by the bloc.

The Russian and Chinese shots are being administered along with the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine and shots developed by U.S. company Moderna and AstraZeneca, all of which have received the EU green light.

As of Friday, over 862,000 people in Hungary, which has close to 10 million people, had received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.

Read alsoAnother Covid-19 numbers: more than six thousand new infected, 143 dead in Hungary

March 5, 2021

Another Covid-19 numbers: more than six thousand new infected, 143 dead in Hungary

Fully 143 patients, generally elderly with an underlying condition, have died over the past 24 hours, and 6,369 new coronavirus infections have been registered, koronavirus.gov.hu said on Friday.

The number of infections has risen to 452,547, while the death toll has increased to 15,619. The number of recoveries stands at 331,557.

There are 105,371 active infections, while hospitals are caring for 6,867 Covid patients, 677 of whom are on ventilators.

Fully 45,164 people are in official home quarantine, while the number of tests carried out has increased to 3,781,181.

Altogether 862,953 people have been vaccinated so far, with 279,727 having received a second shot.

Most infections have been registered in Budapest (85,273) and Pest County (58,861), followed by Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén (25,856), Győr-Moson-Sopron (25,677) and Hajdú-Bihar counties (25,117). The county least affected by the infection is Tolna (10,083).

This is how the tightened restrictions will change our lives

Hungary closes down until March 22 to curb Covid spread

Kindergartens and primary schools will be closed from March 8 until April 7, he said.

The government asks employers to ensure that their employees can work from home wherever possible, particularly in the case of those with children, Gulyás said. Mask-wearing remains mandatory outdoors, he said. Gulyás also said that Hungary will impose tighter controls on its borders, adding, however that freight and transit traffic will not be restricted.

Wage subsidies and tax cuts introduced for the hospitality industry will be expanded for the period of the lockdown to all sectors forced to shut down by the new measures, Gulyás said.

March 5, 2021

Worsening infection numbers – Hungary to give AstraZeneca jabs to people over 60

Hungary plans to extend the use of AstraZeneca’s coronavirus vaccine to people older than 60 after data showed its efficacy in the group, Surgeon General Cecília Müller said on Wednesday as the country ramped up its inoculation campaign.

A week ago, Hungary became the first European Union member to start inoculating people with China’s Sinopharm vaccine after rolling out Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine as well, even though neither has been granted approval for emergency use by the bloc.

In order to ensure as many people as possible get at least a first dose of a vaccine fast,

the Hungarian government has already extended the gap between the first and second doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. It also has widened the gap between the AstraZeneca doses to 12 weeks.

“A new change is that it (AstraZeneca jab) can be given to everyone above the age of 18 without any age limit.

There has been sufficient data that proves its efficacy also for older people,” Muller said in a briefing.

It was not clear when Hungary would implement the change. Its AstraZeneca vaccination program scheduled for this coming weekend is still only for people aged 18 to 60 who have chronic diseases.

Hungary plans to administer more than half a million jabs over the next week with the five available vaccines,

as it tries to boost vaccinations to contain a third wave of the pandemic partly fueled by the British variant of the virus.

As of Wednesday, just over 758,000 people in Hungary had received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. Germany’s health minister said earlier on Wednesday that he had asked that country’s vaccine regulator to adjust its recommendation so that the

AstraZeneca vaccine could be rolled out quickly to those over 65 in Germany.

British scientists urged European countries to take note on Wednesday of interim data showing what they described as the “remarkable” effectiveness of a single dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech or AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines in frail and elderly people.

March 3, 2021

Brutal infection numbers came – schools close one after the other

Fully 136 patients, generally elderly with an underlying condition, and 4,211 new coronavirus infection have been registered over the past 24 hours, koronavirus.gov.hu said on Wednesday.

The number of infections has risen to 439,900, while the death toll has increased to 15,324.

The number of recoveries stands at 326,215. There are 98,361 active infections, while hospitals are caring for 6,367 Covid patients, 622 of whom are on ventilators.

Altogether 758,037 people have been vaccinated so far, with 253,368 having received a second shot.

Most infections have been registered in Budapest (82,968) whil the county least affected is Tolna (9,806). We show you the details on the map below:

Coronavirus map Hungary — https://koronavirus.gov.hu/terkepek/fertozottek

GPs continue to execute the vaccination program. They can inoculate 50-55 registered senior citizens with the Chinese Sinopharm vaccine each day. Meanwhile, they can vaccinate ten chronically ill people under 60 every day. Currently, Hungary has 250 thousand Chinese Sinopharm and 31 thousand Moderna jabs.

Hungarian health care system may collapse next week, however not due to covid

Restrictions to stay in place until March 15

The government will keep coronavirus-related restrictions in place until March 15, and secondary schools will continue digital education, read more HERE.

A decree made commercial P+Rs, parking garages and parking lots in residential areas free of charge from 7:00 in the evening until 7:00 in the morning. Soldiers are helping the police in carrying out their duties in public areas. Soldiers have also been assigned to help out staff in 93 hospitals around Hungary.

The curfew is in force between 8pm and 5am, and work carried out beyond the home must be justified.

With the exception of pharmacies and petrol stations, shops can be open until 7pm. Hairdressers, masseurs and personal trainers must observe general curfew rules. Family and private events including birthday celebrations can be held with a maximum of ten people attending, children do not count in the headcount.

A major new rule is that face masks must be worn in public spaces in localities with more than 10,000 residents, though it is up to local mayors to decide which spaces the rule applies to. Restaurants are limited to offering takeaways, while hotels are not allowed to cater to tourists, only guests arriving for business, economic or educational purposes. Sports events must be held behind closed doors.

Also, leisure facilities such as fitness gyms, indoor swimming pools, museums, libraries, cinemas, zoos and skating rinks must suspend their services. Events, including cultural events, cannot be held under the special rules.

All news about Coronavirus in Hungary

March 3, 2021

Almost 15 thousand Hungarians died because of the coronavirus

Fully 72 patients, generally elderly with an underlying condition, and 4,469 new coronavirus infection have been registered over the past 24 hours, koronavirus.gov.hu said on Sunday.

The number of infections has risen to 428,599, while the death toll has increased to 14,974.

The number of recoveries stands at 321,128. There are 92,497 active infections, while hospitals are caring for 5,482 Covid patients, 524 of whom are on ventilators.

Altogether 677,682 people have been vaccinated so far, with 249,499 having received a second shot.

Most infections have been registered in Budapest (80,316) whil the county least affected is Tolna (9,600). We show you the details on the map below:

Hungarian health care system may collapse next week, however not due to covid

Restrictions to stay in place until March 15

The government will keep coronavirus-related restrictions in place until March 15, and secondary schools will continue digital education, read more HERE.

The curfew is in force between 8pm and 5am, and work carried out beyond the home must be justified.

All news about Coronavirus in Hungary

February 28, 2021