hospital

No change: coronavirus restrictions remain in effect until March 16

budapest-váci-street luxury shopping
The government decree extending coronavirus-related restrictions until March 16 was published in the official gazette Magyar Kozlony on Saturday. The administration announced the move this Thursday.

Under the decree, salary subsidies and measures aiding families engaging in digital education have also been prolonged, as were temporary border controls with EU member states. 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.

Nearly five thousand Hungarians were infected with the coronavirus in one day

coronavirus treatment in hungary

Fully 123 patients, generally elderly with an underlying condition, and 4,668 new coronavirus infection have been registered over the past 24 hours, koronavirus.gov.hu said on Saturday.

The number of infections has risen to 419,182, while the death toll has increased to 14,795.

The number of recoveries stands at 317,899. There are 86,488 active infections, while hospitals are caring for 5,027 Covid patients, 451 of whom are on ventilators.

Fully 37,658 people are in official home quarantine, while the number of tests carried out has increased to 3,632,712.

Altogether 563,601 people have been vaccinated so far, with 244,407 having received a second shot.

Most infections have been registered in Budapest (79,401) and Pest County (54,323), followed by Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén (24,284), Győr-Moson-Sopron (23,737) and Hajdú-Bihar counties (23,569). The county least affected by the infection is Tolna (9,506).

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

Coronavirus in Hungary: number of hospitalized over record five thousand

coronavirus vaccine

Fully 123 patients, generally elderly with an underlying condition, and 4,668 new coronavirus infection have been registered over the past 24 hours, koronavirus.gov.hu said on Friday.

The number of infections has risen to 419,182, while the death toll has increased to 14,795. The number of recoveries stands at 317,899.

There are 86,488 active infections, while hospitals are caring for 5,027 Covid patients, 451 of whom are on ventilators.

Fully 35,303 people are in official home quarantine, while the number of tests carried out has increased to 3,604,898.

Altogether 521,283 people have been vaccinated so far, with 240,622 having received a second shot.

Most infections have been registered in Budapest (78,485) and Pest County (53,497), followed by Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén (23,946), Győr-Moson-Sopron (23,377) and Hajdú-Bihar counties (23,370). The county least affected by the infection is Tolna (9,387).

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

Orbán warns Hungary set to face ‘hardest two weeks’ of pandemic

orbán interview

Hungary is set to face its hardest two weeks of the coronavirus pandemic yet, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said in a video on Facebook on Thursday, encouraging the public to register for a vaccine.

The prime minister said he had met a group of mathematicians on Thursday to discuss epidemiological trends the country could expect over the coming days and weeks.

“I have a whole lot of bad news,” Orbán said.

“It appears that we are on the brink of the hardest two weeks of the pandemic yet. The emergence of the new mutant variants of the virus has led, and will continue to lead, to a sharp rise in infections.”

Hospitals will have to withstand as yet unseen levels of pressure, he said, adding that the health-care system will be in need of all of its doctors, nurses and ventilators.

Orbán asked the public to continue to observe the regulations and guidelines issued by the operative board coordinating the response to the pandemic.

“We’re in a race against time,” he said.

“If many people register for a vaccine … it will help shorten this difficult period. If few people register, this period of enormous pressure will be longer.”

coronavirus restrictions in hungary
Read alsoBREAKING! Hungary extends coronavirus restrictions until March 15

Coronavirus in Hungary – Number of new infections rise in record pace

Fully 120 Covid patients, generally elderly and suffering from an underlying illness, died over the past 24 hours, while 4,385 new infections were officially registered, bringing the total number of infected to 414,514, koronavirus.gov.hu said on Thursday.

The death toll has risen to 14,672, while 315,781 people have made a recovery. The number of active infections stands at 84,061, while there are 4,836 hospitalised Covid patients, 411 on a ventilator.

Altogether 29,389 people are in official home quarantine, and the number of tests carried out has risen to 3,577,770.

Fully 508,073 people have been vaccinated so far, with 211,073 having received the second jab.

Also, parliament has prolonged the special powers granted to government during the pandemic by another three months.

Most infections have been registered in Budapest (77,583) and Pest County (52,779) so far, followed by the counties of Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén (23,541), Hajdú-Bihar (23,183) and Győr-Moson-Sopron (23,071). The county least affected by the infection is Tolna (9,278).

Restrictions to stay in place until March 1

The government will keep coronavirus-related restrictions in place until March 1, 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

20 pc of the employees to leave the Hungarian healthcare system?

labour shortage nurse

Every fifth healthcare worker thinks that they will not accept their new contract. Instead, they plan to leave the Hungarian healthcare system to work somewhere else or abroad. That is because of a new law accepted by the parliament in October concerning the service of healthcare professionals.

According to hirklikk.hu, Zoltán Komáromi, an opposition politician (Democratic Coalition) specialised in healthcare, mentioned this troubling data at an online press conference on Friday. He said this based on press sources and added that there are COVID-19 departments where 80 pc of the nurses would like to leave because of their new contract. Mr Komáromi said that if they left in the middle of the third wave, that would result in the quick collapse of the Hungarian healthcare system.

“The government should recognise at least today, on the Day of Hungarian Nurses (February 19 – the editor), that

they can no longer exploit healthcare professionals because that would result in unforeseen consequences,”

the general practitioner said yesterday. He added that the Hungarian healthcare employees work for humiliating wages, in a worsening work environment, and within an unpredictable legal framework. He called the situation unbearable.

As we reported before, all hospitals struggle with the lack of nurses and other healthcare professionals. That is mostly because they receive very low salaries.

A nurse working at the COVID-19 wing of St. John’s Hospital Budapest told 24.hu last May how shocked she was when she received her salary back then. For her work in April (which means over 200 working hours), she expected a much higher amount, given that healthcare workers were promised 180% of their usual salary, but this is far from what they received in May. Many hospital workers were transferred at St. John’s Hospital Budapest to the COVID-19 wing in April, who were all promised 180% of their usual salary, including bonuses and overtime.

On average, healthcare wages range between net EUR 312 – EUR 430.

Most shocked of all were the workers who were forced into quarantine for two weeks. They received the smallest amount on their accounts. In March, when an infected patient was brought into the department, many nurses and doctors had to stay in quarantine for two weeks. As this was not their own fault, they were promised to receive full pay for the two weeks spent in quarantine. They did receive full pay in their March salary received in April. However, it turns out that they were eligible for only 60% of their pay when on sick leave, so the hospital pulled the difference form their April salary, which they received in May.

The end of lockdown draws near? Hungary to inoculate more than 465,000 over two weeks

coronavirus vaccine
Hungary will have enough vaccine to inoculate more than 465,000 people against the coronavirus over a period of two weeks starting on Wednesday, István György, who heads the task force coordinating the vaccine rollout, told public media on Saturday.
 
György said 275,000 does of the Sinopharm and AstraZeneca vaccines would be delivered to GPs in the coming week. The vaccines will be used to inoculate people with chronic health conditions, although the AstraZeneca one will be limited to people under 60 years of age, he added.

GPs will also each get ten doses of the Pfizer vaccine for their patients in the oldest age group, György said.
 
So far 550,000 doses of the Chinese Sinopharm vaccine and 46,000 of the Russian Sputnik V vaccine have arrived in Hungary,
 
he said. Hungary will take delivery of another 500,000 does of the Chinese vaccine after March 15, he added. Shipments of vaccines from the west continue to arrive at an unpredictable pace, György said.
 

As we reported before, inoculation of Hungarians against coronavirus with the Chinese Sinopharm vaccine will start next week, koronavirus.gov.hu reported on Friday. According to the portal, Hungary has so far received vaccines enough to inoculate a total 737,000 people, including Pfizer for 335,000, Sinopharm for 275,000, AstraZeneca for 84,000, Sputnik V for 23,000, and Moderna for 20,000.

Coronavirus in Hungary – Number of infections exceeds 400,000!

coronavirus in Hungary 2020 hospital

Fully 107 Covid patients, generally elderly and suffering from an underlying illness, died over the past 24 hours, while 2,995 new infections were officially registered, bringing the total number of infected to 400,111, koronavirus.gov.hu said on Saturday.

The death toll has risen to 14,252, while 304,680 people have made a recovery.

The number of active infections stands at 81,179, while there are 4,147 hospitalised Covid patients, 351 on a ventilator.

Altogether 26,068 people are in official home quarantine, and the number of tests carried out has risen to 3,480,444.

Fully 427,309 people have been vaccinated so far, with 172,739 having received the second jab.

Most infections have been registered in Budapest (74,365) and Pest County (50,232) so far, followed by the counties of Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén (22,714), Hajdú-Bihar (22,451) and Győr-Moson-Sopron (22,294). The county least affected by the infection is Tolna (8,973).

Restrictions to stay in place until March 1

The government will keep coronavirus-related restrictions in place until March 1, 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.

Coronavirus – Orbán warns of ‘dangerous moment’ as Hungary cases rise again

coronavirus in Hungary 2020 hospital

Hungary faces a “dangerous moment” as it sees a steep rise in coronavirus cases and overall deteriorating epidemiological trends, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said on Friday.

Hungary registered 3,093 new Covid-19 cases and 110 deaths on Thursday, Orbán told public broadcaster Kossuth Radio. The average age of those who died on Thursday was 76.5, he said, adding that there were 4,024 people hospitalised with Covid-19, 352 on a ventilator.

“Our fate will be decided by whether the vaccination curve or the infection curve will rise faster,” the prime minister said.

If vaccinations can outpace the rise in cases “then we will save lives” but if they fail to keep up with the third wave of infections “we will lose lives,” Orbán said.

Chief medical officer: Hungary ‘on cusp of third wave’

Hungary’s rising coronavirus case numbers show that the country “on the cusp of a third wave of the epidemic”, the chief medical officer said on Thursday.

Epidemiological trends in Hungary have been deteriorating over the last several days, with 2,853 new Covid infections registered on Wednesday, Cecília Müller told a press conference of the operative board responsible for handling the epidemic.

“We’re seeing worsening epidemiological data,” she said, underlining the importance of implementing the government’s vaccination plan.

Müller noted that Hungary has authorised the use of five Covid vaccines. Vaccinations are ongoing with the Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, AstraZeneca and Sputnik V jabs, while experts are still examining the Chinese Sinopharm vaccine, she said.

Meanwhile, Müller said the government will again deploy mobile screening buses offering antigen rapid tests to those whose GP had ordered them to take a Covid test. Those who test positive will also tested using a PCR test on the spot, she added.

russian vaccine hungary
Read alsoPM Office: Hungary has most vaccines in EU per capita

Coronavirus in Hungary: Another sad increase in the number of new infections

coronavirus in hungary

Fully 104 Covid patients, generally elderly and suffering from an underlying illness, died over the past 24 hours, while 2,853 new infections were officially registered, bringing the total number of infected to 394,023, koronavirus.gov.hu said on Thursday.

The death toll has risen to 14,035, while 301,363 people have made a recovery.

The number of active infections stands at 78,625, while there are 4,021 hospitalised Covid patients, 332 on a ventilator.

Altogether 22,893 people are in official home quarantine, and the number of tests carried out has risen to 3,434,878.

Fully 365,021 people have been vaccinated so far, with 141,023 having received the second jab.

Most infections have been registered in Budapest (73,276) and Pest County (49,387) so far, followed by the counties of Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén (22,273), Hajdú-Bihar (22,106) and Győr-Moson-Sopron (21,930). The county least affected by the infection is Tolna (8,778).

Restrictions to stay in place until March 1

The government will keep coronavirus-related restrictions in place until March 1, 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.

Hungarian vaccination program in trouble? – DK mayors would only allow vaccines approved by the EU

certificate of vaccine

The mayors of five districts of Budapest have turned to the minister of human resources with the demand that only vaccines approved by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) be used in their districts.

At an online briefing on Sunday, Erzsébet Gy. Németh of the opposition Democratic Coalition stressed the importance of vaccinations, adding that it would only be responsible, however, to use jabs approved by the European Medicines Agency. Németh, who is a deputy mayor of Budapest, accused the government of lobbying heavily for the Sinopharm vaccine, adding that the matter of people’s health “must not be turned into a political or business issue”.

The letter by the opposition mayors to the minister also calls for the option of

allowing individuals to choose between authorised vaccines.

Ruling Fidesz said in response that the mayors were in effect aiming to block people in their districts from getting access to certain vaccines. In a statement, Fidesz noted that a third wave of the epidemic was spreading across Europe and countries were working against the clock to obtain vaccines in competition with each other.

“The political strategy of the left wing is to prolong the epidemic,

ensure there are more sick people and that more people die and that the economy is brought down,” so that the opposition has a basis on which to savage the government in their 2022 election campaign, the statement said.

Coronavirus – still thousands become infected every day

coronavirus vaccine hungary

Fully 70 Covid patients, generally elderly and suffering from an underlying illness, died over the past 24 hours, while 1,707 new infections were officially registered, bringing the total number of infected to 387,462, koronavirus.gov.hu said on Sunday.

The death toll has risen to 13,706, while 296,173 people have made a recovery. The number of active infections has declined to 77,583, while there are 3,755 hospitalised Covid patients, 312 on a ventilator.

Hungary began rolling out the coronavirus vaccine in December. So far, 335,188 people have received their first jab, and 128,195 have been fully inoculated.

The region having the highest number of infections is Budapest while on the other end of the list there is Tolna county.

Restrictions to stay in place until March 1

The government will keep coronavirus-related restrictions in place until March 1, 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.

Romania to send everybody arriving from Hungary in quarantine again

border koronavirus.gov.hu hungary

From Monday on, everybody arriving in Romania from Hungary has to go into mandatory quarantine again because of the worsening coronavirus numbers. The new measure is valid not only for Hungary but also for 66 other countries which the Romanian authorities put into the epidemiological dangerous category. The only exceptions are those who were infected in the last three months or are fully inoculated.

According to index.hu, Romania enlists the countries where the number of new infections per capita was higher than in Romania in the previous two weeks in the yellow zone. In the case of Hungary, which Bucharest put on the yellow list on Friday, citizens

have to spend two weeks in mandatory quarantine from Monday.

A negative PCR test means an exemption only if the foreign citizen leaves Romania in 72 hours.

As we reported before, Serbia allows travel from Hungary without health checks. That means that

travellers from Hungary can enter Serbia without showing a negative coronavirus test or undergoing mandatory quarantine as of Thursday,

the Serbian government said. Serbia has inoculated 513,000 of its seven million inhabitants with the US Pfizer-BioNTech, the Russian Sputnik V, and the Chinese Sinopharm vaccines, it said in a statement.

The number of coronavirus infections in Serbia on Thursday was at 400,837, and the death toll was 4,071. Earlier, Serbia has lifted travel restrictions with Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Kosovo, and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Ukraine red-listed Hungary on January 23,

meaning that travellers entering from there are required to self-quarantine for two weeks, or show negative test results no older than two days upon entry. They can also leave the quarantine if their PCR tests come back negative, the news agency said. All entrants must have health insurance covering treatment for Covid-19.

In the case of Slovakia, a negative PCR test is required

to avoid a two-week-long quarantine. The test has to be carried out maximum 72 hours before crossing the border in an EU member country, and it has to be issued in English, German, Czech, or Slovak language.

As we reported before, Austria introduced new entry rules from February 10. Under the new rules, anyone wishing to enter Austria must register online in advance, Lieutenant Colonel Róbert Kiss told an online press conference on Monday. Those who have entered the country must go into home quarantine for ten days and have the option of getting a free PCR or antigen test for Covid-19 from the fifth day of quarantine, he said.

Those

exempted from the new rules include cross-border commuters, seasonal farming and forestry workers, international passenger and cargo transit, and people travelling to Austria for emergency medical treatment.

As revealed a few days ago, the Hungarian foreign minister had phone talks with his Austrian counterpart Alexander Schallenberg to discuss the country’s tightened border controls aimed at preventing the import of the new coronavirus variants.

Coronavirus in Hungary – Number of infections on the rise

hungary vaccine coronavirus

Fully 93 Covid patients, generally elderly and suffering from an underlying illness, died over the past 24 hours, while 2,020 new infections were officially registered, bringing the total number of infected to 385,755, koronavirus.gov.hu said on Saturday.

The death toll has risen to 13,636, while 293,542 people have made a recovery.

The number of active infections has declined to 78,577, while there are 3,771 hospitalised Covid patients, 299 on a ventilator.

Altogether 20,794 people are in official home quarantine, and the number of tests carried out has risen to 3,357,672.

Hungary began rolling out the coronavirus vaccine in December. So far, 330,745 people have received their first jab, and 124,423 have been fully inoculated.

Most infections have been registered in Budapest (71,728) and Pest County (48,247) so far, followed by the counties of Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén (21,687), Hajdú-Bihar (21,682) and Győr-Moson-Sopron (21,431). The county least affected by the infection is Tolna (8,566).

Restrictions to stay in place until March 1

The government will keep coronavirus-related restrictions in place until March 1, 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.

A world-class super hospital is to be built in Budapest

dél budai centrumkórház

The construction of the South Buda Central Hospital will start next spring. The super-hospital will be built on a floor space of 223,000 square metres and will provide care for 1.2 million people. With the exception of plastic surgery for people suffering from burns, all healthcare services will be available in the institution.

Róbert J. Bedros, the consultant of PM Viktor Orbán, said that “in this hospital, literally everything will be about the patient: not only about their recovery but also about creating the optimal environment that best serves them.” Moreover, the institution will not serve only the population of the capital. It also receives patients from 5 counties located in Western and Central Hungary and provides non-stop emergency care, writes origo.hu.

The decision was made to have the future hospital be located in South Buda based on the empty space found there ideal for such a complex hospital. In addition, the hospital is being built in a good location in terms of public transport. There are already 20 bus services, but the infrastructure is being further developed.

In terms of the size of the hospital, it is outstanding not only for Budapest and Hungary but also in the world.

With a floor area of 223 thousand square metres and 1,200 beds, it is capable of serving 1.2 million patients at the same time. Creating such a huge building complex takes a lot of time. For example, the Austrian Krankenhaus Nord was being designed for 5 years and was being built for 7 years. Construction of the South Buda Central Hospital (Dél-budai Centrumkórház, BDC) is scheduled to begin in the spring of 2022 and be completed by 2026.

dél budai centrumkórház
Photo: teampannon.hu

The expected cost of the future hospital is estimated to be HUF 300 billion, which is not outstanding in an international comparison. This amount already includes the purchase of the newest medical tools in addition to construction costs. Instead of building a new hospital, there was an idea to renovate the existing St. Imre Hospital, but there are differences in size and capacity between the two investments. Thus, St. Imre Hospital will be a co-hospital next to the DBC.

Other plans include utilising the thermal water in the area and rebuilding a pre-existing spa and connecting a new spa hotel to it.

The infrastructure development must take into account accessible and frequent public transportation systems so that it is relatively easy to access for the public. In addition, the transport of ambulances should be considered. The infrastructure also includes community, public, pedestrian, and bicycle services. The plans also include adding helipads so that emergency patients can be transported by helicopters too.

The service will also be first-class. There will be many single rooms, which will provide an opportunity for family visits, as several studies have shown more effective recovery in such an environment.

hospital, health, development
Photo: teampannon.hu

This can increase costs in the short run but could even save money for the hospital in the long run. Fewer days spent in hospital and less medication have their advantages for both the hospital staff and the economy. The investment seeks to make the hospital run on green energy and not use any paper. The hospital will give place for other services, such as shops and a post office. These are both beneficial for the mood and therefore fast recovery of the patients as well as for their relatives. These infrastructural investments further emphasise DBC’s goals of focusing on the family and the patients.

Is this the third wave? Monthly record in number of new Covid-19 infections in Hungary

coronavirus vaccine

Fully 97 Covid patients, generally elderly and suffering from an underlying illness, died over the past 24 hours, while 1,862 new infections were officially registered, bringing the total number of infected to 381,875, koronavirus.gov.hu said on Thursday.

The death toll has risen to 13,444, while 287,134 people have made a recovery.

The number of active infections has declined to 81,297, while there are 3,799 hospitalised Covid patients, 299 on a ventilator.

Altogether 21,456 people are in official home quarantine, and the number of tests carried out has risen to 3,318,850.

Hungary began rolling out the coronavirus vaccine in December. So far, 294,624 people have received their first jab, and 117,368 have been fully inoculated.

Most infections have been registered in Budapest (70,847) and Pest County (47,680) so far, followed by the counties of Hajdu-Bihar (21,520), Borsod-Abauj-Zemplen (21,399) and Gyor-Moson-Sopron (21,210). The county least affected by the infection is Tolna (8,449).

Restrictions to stay in place until March 1

The government will keep coronavirus-related restrictions in place until March 1, 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.

The numbers of hypothermia in Hungary are shocking

homeless hypothermia cold

By February 5th, the number of hypothermia victims in Hungary has risen to 122 since the cold days of last September.

In the last twenty days, 27 people have died, most of them having lived in unheated flats – announced the Sunday statement of the Hungarian Social Forum (MSZF).

According to the aggregated data of the Hungarian Social Forum, by the end of January, 89 people had frozen to death in Hungary since October of last year.

The Human Rights Forum previously reported that 54 people died in hypothermia by the end of December, so the latest figure means 35 people have died in the first month of the year.

As stated in the April report of the MSZF, 175 people froze to death in the winter of 2019-2020. By comparison, it also reported the latest data from the Central Statistical Office that in 2019, 193 people lost their lives due to a freezing cold throughout the year.

According to the Social Forum, nearly 9,000 people have been frozen to death since the regime change. The Forum has identified the main cause of loss of life as homelessness due to mass evictions, lack of social rental housing, neglect of health and social care, especially care for the elderly and impoverished.

In mid-January, due to the great cold, Miklós Kásler, head of the Ministry of Human Resources, ordered the issuance of a so-called red code to protect homeless people’s lives. Still, Miklós Vecsei, vice-president of the Hungarian Maltese Charity Service, also specifically warned that in recent years, the majority of victims had died in their own unheated houses.

As we wrote before, state secretary for social affairs Attila Fülöp stated during a press conference, that the “red code” alert requires any residential care institution to accommodate homeless people if the network of homeless shelters fills up, more details HERE.

According to the MSZF, which regularly follows the data on death by cold, most of the hypothermia cases have taken place in unheated premises or during the transit of victims to the hospital because of their inability to save them. Further deaths have occurred under the open sky, although many of those living outdoors were rescued, but having had their frozen limbs amputated.

In the opinion of the MSZF, homelessness could be eliminated within a year, and the social network for the care of the elderly could be strengthened. Thus the two main causes of frost death (lack of housing and homelessness) could be eliminated if there was a political motivation to do so. “Since it doesn’t exist, frost deaths are reaping en masse this year as well.”- can be read on the latest report of the MSZF.

“Since it doesn’t exist, frost deaths are reaping en masse this year as well.”- can be read on the latest report of the MSZF.

The number of deaths has increased in the countryside, but this number has decreased in Budapest, which can be explained by the fact that the social care of homeless people has been noticeably strengthened in the capital, and measures have been taken to protect the lives of the older adults living alone.

Although there are fewer cases of hypothermia than a year ago, the phenomenon is still massive due to evictions, neglect of social housing, and inadequate care for the elderly- stated the Human Rights Forum, asking everyone to pay close attention to the lonely and sick elderly for the rest of the winter.

Read more here about the state of homeless people in Hungary:

homeless budapest image
Read alsoBudapest mayor urges public service firms to look out for homeless as temperatures drop

Russian vaccine gets green light for use in Hungary

sputnik_v_hungary_vaccine_coronavirus

Tests of Russia’s Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine, conducted by public health authority NNK, have yielded good results which means that “it can be used in Hungary from now on”, the chief medical officer told public media on Sunday.

Cecília Müller said that Hungary was expecting to receive enough of the Russian vaccine to inoculate one million people, as well as supplies of the Chinese Sinopharm vaccine for another 2.5 million people. Müller noted that the Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, and AstraZeneca vaccines had earlier been granted licences for use in the country.

Concerning the various vaccines, Müller said that

“any of the vaccines is better than living in peril uninoculated”, and insisted that all vaccine technologies yielded products effective against the coronavirus.

Müller encouraged residents to get vaccinated, saying that Hungary’s “balanced” coronavirus statistics gave no reason to “sit back”. Case numbers have been stagnating, but traces of the virus in sewage water indicate “a slight increase in some places”, she said, adding that “as many people as possible should get the vaccine soon”.