hospital

Better COVID-data came, but Hungary is in bad need of the vaccines

vaccine-coronavirus-Hungary

Fully 64 Covid patients, generally elderly and suffering from an underlying illness, died over the past 24 hours, while 1,370 new infections were officially registered, bringing the total number of infected to 376,495, koronavirus.gov.hu said on Sunday.

The death toll has risen to 13,090, while 279,763 people have made a recovery.

The number of active infections has declined to 83,642, while there are 3,578 hospitalised Covid patients, 291 on a ventilator.

Hungary began rolling out the coronavirus vaccine in December.

So far, 286,379 people have received their first jab,

and 105,242 have been fully inoculated.

Hungary already ordered 19.7 million vaccines from Western producers (Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, AstraZeneca, Janssen, Curevac), from which Pfizer and Moderna shipped 0.5 million. The first shipment of the AstraZeneca vaccines arrived yesterday containing 40,800 doses enough for 20,400 people. Furthermore, the government signed contracts with Russian and Chinese pharmaceutical factories, as well. In the former case, Budapest ordered 2 million, while in the latter 5 million jabs, and 20 thousand of the Sputnik V arrived on Tuesday.

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.

First shipment of AstraZeneca vaccine arrives in Hungary

Vaccine AstraZeneca Hungary
The first shipment of the AstraZeneca vaccine, which has been been approved by the European Medicines Agency, arrived in Hungary on Saturday, public news channel M1 said.
 
The shipment containing enough vaccine to inoculate 20,000 people was received by Hungaropharma on Saturday morning, M1 said. The vaccine is planned to be used to inoculate persons with underlying contitions aged under 60 who have registered for vaccination.

The AstraZeneca vaccine was approved by Hungary’s National Institute of Pharmacy and Nutrition before the European Medicines Agency.
 
The advantage of the AstraZeneca vaccine is that it can be stored and transported at temperatures between 2 and 8 degrees Celsius,
 
which makes it easier to handle than the vaccines previously available.

Two jabs are needed to achieve immunity, the second to be administered 4-12 weeks after the first. Hungary has signed up for 6,540,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, which is enough to inoculate 3,270,000 people, M1 said.

Hungary to introduce a digital vaccine certificate from March?

Read more at: https://dailynewshungary.com/hungary-to-introduce-digital-vaccine-certificate-from-march/

 
As we reported before, the first shipment of the Russian coronavirus vaccine arrived in Hungary on Tuesday. Cecília Müller, the Hungarian chief medical officer, said then that the 40,000 doses were enough to inoculate 20,000 people. The Hungarian government became the first in the EU who buy Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine, also Hungary is became the first EU member to approve China’s Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine.
 
Hungary has five Covid-19 vaccines approved by Hungary’s drug authority: Pfizer, Moderna AstraZeneca, Sputnik-V and Sinopharm. Cecília Müller noted that Hungarian health authorities had so far granted licences to five vaccines, while the government had made reservations for a total 19.7 million doses. Hungary is expecting enough vaccines from Russia to inoculate 1 million people, and vaccines from China for another 2.5 million, Müller said.

Hungary to introduce a digital vaccine certificate from March?

Based on the plans, Hungary will finish the testing of the Estonian Guardtime vaccine information platform. The company said that the Hungarian government would like to introduce the different modules in the country after that.

According to 24.hu, the testing phase is going to start at the end of January. The online platform enables everybody to prove that they already received the vaccine, which will be vital if one wants to enter a hotel, a sports or cultural event. Hungary was among the first countries to say yes to taking part in the testing phase – we wrote about that HERE.

In Estonia and Iceland, the procedure is finished, and the latter already uses the platform.

Guardtime’s goal is not only to generate certificates but to help the vaccination campaigns become more efficient. Therefore, it follows the movement of the individual vaccines and gives feedback to the factories and the pharmacies. Meanwhile, it takes special care to protect all personal data.

The application can play an important part since Gergely Gulyás, Minister of the Hungarian Prime Minister’s Office, already announced that those who received the jab could get some concessions. For example, they

can leave their homes even after 8 pm.

Furthermore, if the tourism industry restarts, most countries will only allow people to enter if they show a negative test or vaccination certificate.

Gulyás said that in Hungary, a plastic card would serve that purpose. Globally, a good platform might be the VaccineGuard which will operate with QR codes, so everybody will be able to show it on their phone. The program can

follow all individual vaccines since they all have a serial number.

Coronavirus in Hungary – 98 fatalities, 1,576 more infections

coronavirus in hungary

Fully 98 Covid patients, generally elderly and suffering from an underlying illness, died over the past 24 hours, while 1,576 new infections were officially registered, bringing the total number of infected to 373,564, koronavirus.gov.hu said on Friday.

The death toll has risen to 12,930, while 275,764 people have made a recovery.

The number of active infections has declined to 84,870, while there are 3,638 hospitalised Covid patients, 302 on a ventilator.

Altogether 20,254 people are in official home quarantine, and the number of tests carried out has risen to 3,229,242.

Hungary began rolling out the coronavirus vaccine in December. So far, 264,530 people have received their first jab, and 92,773 have been fully inoculated.

Most infections have been registered in Budapest (69,256) and Pest County (46,432) so far, followed by the counties of Hajdu-Bihar (21,131), Borsod-Abauj-Zemplen (20,842) and Gyor-Moson-Sopron (20,765). The county least affected by the infection is Tolna (8,211).

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.

Govt wants quick inoculation, but Brussels and the left attacks that

Government money Viktor Orbán

Hungary has a lead on the other European Union member states in the procurement of Covid-19 vaccines, a foreign ministry official said on Sunday. Every day counts in the procurement of vaccines and “those who are able to buy time can save lives”, Tamás Menczer, the state secretary for communications and international representation, said in a video on Facebook.

The vaccine will save lives and jobs and restore normalcy, he said. Menczer said that because of how slow the rollout of the vaccine had been on the part of the EU, Hungary had entered into talks with Russia and the country’s drug regulator has approved the Russian Sputnik V vaccine.

“Because of this, the left and Brussels are constantly attacking the Hungarian government,”

he added.

The state secretary also said that German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s announcement that Germany had begun talks on purchasing vaccines from Russia indicated that “this vaccine is important and there is a need for it.”

“The same thing happened as regards China,” Menczer said, noting that Hungary has approved the purchase of the Sinopharm vaccine, “triggering attacks again from Brussels and the left”. This, he added, had been followed by Bavarian premier Markus Soeder talking about the importance of the Chinese vaccine.

“What we have been seeing in recent months is that Hungary has overtaken the other EU member states when it comes to the procurement of vaccines,” Menczer said.

“We overtook Brussels.”

But Serbia, he added, had been “even quicker”, noting that the country has already inoculated more than 300,000 people with the Chinese vaccine, without any reports of side effects.

Breaking – protest held in downtown Budapest against restrictions affecting businesses – UPDATED

Hungary protest Budapest
A couple of hundred people gathered at Budapest’s Heroes’ Square to demonstrate against coronavirus-related restrictions affecting businesses on Sunday afternoon. Most demonstrators at the event organised on Facebook were wearing masks. Police presence was heavy at the site with the authorities checking several people’s IDs.

Budapest Police said on its website on Friday that a private individual had called a gathering at Heroes’ Square for Sunday noon which the person later called off. Later the organisers of the Facebook event dubbed
 
“Demonstration for Life and Freedom January 31. Mass Shop Reopening February 1”
 
said they “had reworded” the event’s description so that it would not qualify as “a gathering”.
 
They said that “those exercising their right to the freedom of expression at the event will most likely disagree with the government’s ban on allowing entrepreneurs to set their own opening hours”. The organisers also said the event was also meant to call attention to the government’s “irresponsible policies” and
 
“failure to bail out entrepreneurs going bankrupt as a result of the pandemic”.  

The police put out a notice as early as Friday reminding the public of an ongoing ban on holding or appearing at public events or gatherings under a government decree defining protection measures during the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic.

UPDATE

Budapest police said late in the afternoon on Sunday that administrative proceedings had been launched against the event’s organisers and hosts. It said on its website that two participants were fined on the spot for violating mask-wearing rules and misdemeanour charges were filed against another four.

Variety of approved vaccines will be advantageous for Hungary

hungary vaccine certificate

Having as many as five Covid-19 vaccines approved by Hungary’s drug authority is an advantage in the fight against the disease, Béla Merkely, the rector of Budapest’s medical Semmelweis University, said on Sunday.

Public trust in the vaccine is continuously rising, Merkely told public broadcaster Kossuth Radio, adding that 99.9 percent of doctors and 87 percent of other health workers at Semmelweis University have already been inoculated.

Getting vaccinated against Covid-19 gives one a

nearly 100 percent chance of avoiding a severe case of the disease,

he said, adding that a vaccine recipient who did contract coronavirus would likely experience “nothing more than a cold”.

The important thing, he said, was to have as many vaccines on hand as possible and to administer them nationwide as quickly as possible so that “life in the country can get back to normal”.

Countries that prolong their vaccination campaigns for up to a year will incur far greater losses

than those that are able to vaccinate the majority of their populations within a matter of a few months, Merkely said. Asked about China’s Sinopharm vaccine, the rector said the jab, similarly to the flu shot, was based on a tried and tested technology using an inactivated virus. “This is a method that’s been

Good news came – the number of deaths linked to COVID decreased radically

vaccine-coronavirus-Hungary

Fully 61 Covid patients, generally elderly and suffering from an underlying illness, died over the past 24 hours, while 1,307 new infections were officially registered, bringing the total number of infected to 367,586, koronavirus.gov.hu said on Sunday.

The death toll has risen to 12,524, while 262,968 people have made a recovery.

The number of active infections stands at 92,094, while there are 3,562 hospitalised Covid patients, 268 on a ventilator.

Hungary began rolling out the coronavirus vaccine in December. So far, 222,005 people have received their first jab, and 56,825 have been fully inoculated.

The government has extended coronavirus-related restrictions until March 1. Hungary has so far signed contracts for 19,7 million doses worth a combined value of 10 billion forints (EUR 28m) with Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, AstraZeneca, Janssen, Curevac.

The country has so far taken delivery of vaccines enough to inoculate 201,000 people with two Pfizer and one Moderna consignment. Under an agreement with Russia, Hungary will receive Sputnik V in three batches to inoculate one million people, the portal said.

Today, the government expects the arrival of 18 thousand Moderna vaccine, and 1,800 family doctors will start inoculating the elderly next week. 

Coronavirus in Hungary – 89 fatalities, 1,370 more infections

coronavirus in Hungary

Fully 89 Covid patients, generally elderly and suffering from an underlying illness, died over the past 24 hours, while 1,370 new infections were officially registered, bringing the total number of infected to 364,279, koronavirus.gov.hu said on Friday.

The death toll has risen to 12,463, while 259,555 people have made a recovery.

The number of active infections stands at 94,261, while there are 3,582 hospitalised Covid patients, 264 on a ventilator.

Altogether 20,147 people are in official home quarantine, and the number of tests carried out has risen to 3,138,146.

Most infections have been registered in Budapest (67,988) and Pest County (45,489) so far, followed by the counties of Hajdú-Bihar (20,754), Győr-Moson-Sopron (20,484) and Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén (20,420). The county least affected by the infection is Tolna (7,979).

Hungary began rolling out the coronavirus vaccine in December. So far, 175,283 people have received their first jab, and 37,727 have been fully inoculated.

The government has extended coronavirus-related restrictions until March 1. Hungary has so far signed contracts for 19,7 million doses worth a combined value of 10 billion forints (EUR 28m) with Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, AstraZeneca, Janssen, Curevac.

The country has so far taken delivery of vaccines enough to inoculate 201,000 people with two Pfizer and one Moderna consignment. Under an agreement with Russia, Hungary will receive Sputnik V in three batches to inoculate one million people, the portal said.

chinese vaccine
Read alsoCoronavirus – Hungary to buy 5 million doses of Sinopharm vaccine

Coronavirus in Hungary – 93 fatalities, 1,569 more infections

coronavirus in hungary

Fully 93 Covid patients, generally elderly and suffering from an underlying illness, died over the past 24 hours, while 1,569 new infections were officially registered, bringing the total number of infected to 363,450, koronavirus.gov.hu said on Thursday.

The death toll has risen to 12,291, while 249,003 people have made a recovery.

The number of active infections stands at 102,156, while there are 3.669 hospitalised Covid patients, 255 on a ventilator.

Altogether 19,131 people are in official home quarantine, and the number of tests carried out has risen to 3,097,809.

Hungary began rolling out the coronavirus vaccine in December. So far, 161,215 people have received their first jab, and 26,293 have been fully inoculated.

Most infections have been registered in Budapest (67,557) and Pest County (45,168) so far, followed by the counties of Hajdú-Bihar (20,567), Győr-Moson-Sopron (20,366) and Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén (20,278). The county least affected by the infection is Tolna (7,863).

Restrictions to stay in place until February 1

The government will keep coronavirus-related restrictions in place until February 1, and secondary schools will continue digital education, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said.

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 the staff in 93 hospitals around Hungary.

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

With the exception of pharmacies and petrol stations, shops can be open until 7 pm. 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 places 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 but only guests arriving for business, economic, or educational purposes.

Sports events must be held behind closed doors. Also, leisure facilities such as 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.

Russian vaccine: all questions cleared – green light on the horizon?

sputnik_v_hungary_vaccine_coronavirus

The National Institute of Pharmacy and Nutrition (OGYÉI) said on Wednesday that Russia’s Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine had been approved in Hungary after establishing that it was effective and safe and the National Public Health Centre (NNK) would be checking every shipment of the vaccine separately.

OGYÉI said commenting on several recent press reports regarding Sputnik V that the institute issued its temporary, emergency approval after two months of assessments and visits to the production facility which it described as a modern and well-equipped plant where the quality of products is guaranteed. The representatives of the institute received reassuring answers to all questions raised in connection with the production of the vaccine, it added.

The safety of the vaccine is also guaranteed by the fact that the licence has been issued on condition that NNK laboratory testing is carried out for a period of around three weeks, it said.

“The vaccine can only be used in Hungary if the laboratory tests confirm that it is of acceptable quality,”

the institute said. In order to ensure the same quality for every shipment, each consignment will be tested separately by NNK, it added.

OGYÉI said it will continue monitoring the effectiveness and safety of the vaccine even after its temporary approval.

Almost 250K Hungarians have already recovered from the coronavirus

85 Covid-19 patients, generally elderly people and those suffering from an underlying illness, died over the past 24 hours, while 1,004 new infections were officially registered, bringing the total number of those infected to 361,881, koronavirus.gov.hu said on Tuesday.
The death toll has risen to 12,198, while 246,596 people have recovered.

The number of active infections stands at 103,087, while there are 3,809 hospitalised Covid-19 patients, 255 on ventilators. A total of 17,834 people are in official home quarantine, and the number of tests carried out has risen to 3,084,716.

Hungary began administering the coronavirus vaccine in December.

So far, 152,704 people have received their first jab, and 17,772 have been fully inoculated.

Most infections have been registered in Budapest (67,306) and Pest County (44,983) so far, followed by the counties of Hajdu-Bihar (20,477), Gyor-Moson-Sopron (20,291), and Borsod-Abauj-Zemplen (20,209). The county least affected by the infection is Tolna (7,809).

heim pál hospital children
Read alsoSymptom-free coronavirus infection caused severe complications in Hungarian children

Restrictions to stay in place until February 1

The government will keep coronavirus-related restrictions in place until February 1, and secondary schools will continue digital education, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said.

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 the staff in 93 hospitals around Hungary.

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

With the exception of pharmacies and petrol stations, shops can be open until 7 pm. 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 places 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 but only guests arriving for business, economic, or educational purposes. Sports events must be held behind closed doors.

Also, leisure facilities such as 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.

Symptom-free coronavirus infection caused severe complications in Hungarian children

heim pál hospital children

Forty such children were treated in the Heim Pál Children’s Hospital.

Young children, who previously had asymptomatic coronavirus infection, were admitted to the intensive care unit with severe complications. RTL News reported that 40 such children were treated either in the intensive care unit or in the internal medicine department at the Heim Pál Hospital.

Unfortunately, they developed several serious inflammatory diseases after contracting the infection.

The news broadcast was informed by the hospital that they are currently treating 7 children with multiple organ inflammation, one of whom is nursed at the intensive care unit. It takes 6 weeks after the children are released to ascertain whether they have fully recovered or not.

“It turned out that there was water in both of his lungs and there was inflammation on the left side, although there was no sign of that. He had no difficulty breathing, no shortness of breath, only a high fever, a very high heart rate, and abdominal pain,” said one of the mothers.

Experts claim that Covid-19 is less dangerous for children, the infection is usually asymptomatic, and the course of the disease is mild.

However, as the above cases demonstrate, there is a so-called multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) that can develop after the disease.

baby-hungary newborn
Read also‘Pandemic’ to become a new female name in Hungary?

Coronavirus in Hungary: Huge drop in the number of deaths and infections

coronavirus in Hungary 2020 hospital

Fully 64 Covid patients, generally elderly and suffering from an underlying illness, died over the past 24 hours, while 1,257 new infections were officially registered, bringing the total number of infected to 359,574, koronavirus.gov.hu said on Sunday.

The death toll has risen to 11,968, while 241,472 people have made a recovery.

The number of active infections stands at 106,134, while there are 3,793 hospitalised Covid patients, 254 on a ventilator.

Altogether 18,929 people are in official home quarantine, and the number of tests carried out has risen to 3,052,068.

Hungary started rolling out the coronavirus vaccine in December. So far, 145,257 people have been inoculated, and 8,135 have also received their second jab.

Most infections have been registered in Budapest (66,917) and Pest County (44,693) so far, followed by the counties of Hajdu-Bihar (20,344), Gyor-Moson-Sopron (20,218) and Borsod-Abauj-Zemplen (20,091). The county least affected by the infection is Tolna (7,747).

Restrictions to stay in place until February 1

The government will keep coronavirus-related restrictions in place until February 1, and secondary schools will continue digital education, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said.

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 in Hungary – 93 fatalities, 1,344 more infections

coronavirus in hungary

Fully 93 Covid patients, generally elderly and suffering from an underlying illness, died over the past 24 hours, while 1,344 new infections were officially registered, bringing the total number of infected to 358,317, koronavirus.gov.hu said on Saturday.

The death toll has risen to 11,904, while 239,880 people have made a recovery.

The number of active infections stands at 106,533, while there are 3,856 hospitalised Covid patients, 259 on a ventilator.

Altogether 20,095 people are in official home quarantine, and the number of tests carried out has risen to 3,035,627.

Hungary started rolling out the coronavirus vaccine in December. So far, 143,184 people have been inoculated, and 6,944 have also received their second jab.

Most infections have been registered in Budapest (66,711) and Pest County (44,537) so far, followed by the counties of Hajdú-Bihar (20,253), Győr-Moson-Sopron (20,180) and Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén (19,971). The county least affected by the infection is Tolna (7,709).

Restrictions to stay in place until February 1

The government will keep coronavirus-related restrictions in place until February 1, and secondary schools will continue digital education, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said.

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 in Hungary – 98 fatalities, 1,311 more infections

test coronavirus in Hungary 2020 hospital

Fully 98 Covid patients, generally elderly and suffering from an underlying illness, died over the past 24 hours, while 1,311 new infections were officially registered, bringing the total number of infected to 356,973, koronavirus.gov.hu said on Friday.

The death toll has risen to 11,811, while 237,362 people have made a recovery.

The number of active infections stands at 107,800, while there are 3,959 hospitalised Covid patients, 274 on a ventilator.

Altogether 19,908 people are in official home quarantine, and the number of tests carried out has risen to 3,018,389.

Most infections have been registered in Budapest (66,525) and Pest County (44,361) so far, followed by the counties of Hajdú-Bihar (20,205), Győr-Moson-Sopron (20,133) and Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén (19,916). The county least affected by the infection is Tolna (7,661).

Restrictions to stay in place until February 1

The government will keep coronavirus-related restrictions in place until February 1, and secondary schools will continue digital education, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said.

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.

Plastic card proving protection against Covid-19 to be launched in February

vaccination in hungary

The Hungarian government is “forced to find its own sources for a vaccine” as mass vaccination against Covid-19 has not yet started in the European Union due to “delays by the European Commission”, the head of the Prime Minister’s Office told his regular weekly press conference on Thursday.

“The government is in talks with every potential supplier including China and Russia,” Gergely Gulyás said. He stressed that the government would only buy vaccines “which have been used to inoculate several million people” and which the Hungarian authorities deem “safe and effective”.

Gulyás slammed the European Medicine Agency for slow licencing, and said that Hungary’s authorities had already granted a licence to the AstraZeneca vaccine.

“If the European authority followed suit, vaccination (in Hungary) could start,” he said.

He also noted that a Russian vaccine had also been granted a temporary licence to be applied in Hungary.

Vaccine supplies to the EU are “clearly insufficient”, Gulyás said, noting that mass vaccination was already under way in Israel, the US, the UK and in several Arab countries.

Hungary cannot ease its coronavirus-related restrictions as long as there is no significant drop in the number of new cases, Gulyás said, but added that the spread of the virus was slowing down and the number of fatalities was also decreasing, contrary to a large part of the region where a third wave of the pandemic had hit.

Gulyás said that people to be inoculated would be asked which vaccine they preferred, but added that if the preferred product was not available the client would have to wait until it was purchased.

Gulyás called it “irresponsible” to “spread rumours about vaccines that could save lives”. He also said it was fake news that unused vaccines were dumped. “It could not happen and it would have serious consequences,” he said, adding that doctors must not disregard the official vaccination schedule.

Concerning Russia’s Sputnik vaccine, Gulyás said that “Russia seems to have resolved issues around a lack of production capacities” and will be able to produce the vaccine in large quantities. Concerning the Chinese vaccine, he said the government has signed a deal aimed at unlocking the “immediate supply” of one million doses, but added that licensing by Hungarian authorities is still pending.
 
Gulyás said patients would not be offered an opportunity to reserve dates for inoculation with their GPs, saying that “an appropriate schedule cannot be followed unless there is a central registry”.
 
Residents will be provided a plastic card certifying that they have been inoculated or they have recovered from Covid-19, starting probably in mid-February, Gulyás said, adding that once a sufficient number of people were vaccinated restrictions could be lifted.

Gulyás was asked about leftist criticism of the government pressuring the health authorities to licence the Russian and Chinese vaccines in Hungary, in light of the Austrian, Danish, and Greek governments calling on the European Medicine Agency to grant a licence to the Oxford/Astra Zeneca vaccine. He said the government would not pressure any authority to disregard professional protocols.

Answering a question about whether Hungary would meet the European target of vaccinating 80 percent of people above the age of 80, as well as health and welfare employees, by March, and 70 percent of the adult population by the summer, Gulyás said that in light of delays in vaccine supplies from the EU, this could only be achieved if alternative sources of supply were involved.

Gulyás said that Pfizer could not be sanctioned for temporarily supplying smaller amounts of its vaccine under effective agreements

Wage increase in health sector to cover GPs, dentists

The government has decided to include GPs in the wage increase scheme in the health sector because the success of GP practices is vitally important for the operation of the health-care system, the head of the Prime Minister’s Office said on Thursday.

Gergely Gulyás told a regular press briefing that GPs have been instrumental in the efforts against the coronavirus epidemic and they deserve to be recognised.

Those that fully participate in the general GP practice partnership scheme will benefit from the full wage increase, Gulyás said.

Those that choose a looser form of participation will get 80 percent of the difference as detailed in the wage scale for doctors, he said. Those that opt out will still get a 30 percent wage increase, he added.

The same will apply to dentists working in state-run surgeries, Gulyás said.

Defence minister: Army development must continue to guarantee security

military action hungary

Hungary’s army development programme must continue despite the epidemic situation in order to guarantee the security of the country and the people, Defence Minister Tibor Benkő said on Thursday.

The army contributes to protective efforts against the coronavirus epidemic, with nearly 1,400 soldiers assisting in the operation of 29 hospitals and 93 other health institutions, he told public Kossuth radio.

Soldiers carry out disinfection tasks when necessary and also help police in border protection, he added.

The pressure of migration is increasing on the southern borders, with an increasing number of migrants trying to enter Hungary illegally, he added.

When Hungary joined NATO, it made a commitment to participate in international cooperation frameworks, Benkő said. As part of this, soldiers get trained on international know-how and methodology, he said.

In recent years, nearly 1,000 officers participated in various international training schemes and educational programmes to meet the requirements of their positions, he said.

Hungarian Armed Forces
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