Due to the spread of the epidemic in Hungary, on Monday, the government introduced new restrictions, but other tools could be deployed still remaining in its hands. In the last case – similarly to Western European countries – targeted measures could be taken in severely affected areas to reduce the number of infections.
“Hungary must work”
Viktor Orbán, Prime Minister of Hungary, has first mentioned this on Kossuth radio two weeks ago, and ever since it has become a slogan in government’s communication. The prime minister based his statement on a national consultation, saying, according to people the virus should not be allowed to paralyze the country again – 24.hu reported.
In the second wave of the epidemic, another lockdown could indeed have catastrophic economic consequences, but at the same time, the virus will not disappear on its own. The cabinet has therefore decided
to make it compulsory to wear masks in public transport, shops, cinemas, theatres, libraries, museums, customer services and health and social care institutions
starting on the 21st of September, as well as restaurants were banned from being open after 11 p.m.
The impact of the latest measures on the spread of the epidemic may be decided within a few weeks. Still, it is not inconceivable that further restrictions will have to be introduced if the number of people infected continues to rise at this rate.
In the next phase of prevention, the government will have more to use. The number of possible scenarios is quite a lot, depending on the epidemiological situation. For now,
Europe is trying out a wide range of solutions.
Many countries outside the continent have managed to stop the second wave, while, in Israel, for example, it was necessary to reintroduce full lockdown.
There are other tools
In Europe and so in the world in general, most governments want to avoid the introduction of another quarantine. To make this feasible, a series of measures to prevent the spread of infection are being introduced, but these vary greatly from state to state.
Many of the regulations applied in Hungary are currently implemented abroad as well.
These include regulations concerning the opening hours of restaurants- closing hours are typically set between 10 p.m. and midnight- but the mandatory mask wearing in enclosed spaces, can also be said common on the continent.
In addition to these, there are many other tools to control the epidemic that may be available to the Hungarian government in the near future if the current regulations do not prove to be effective enough.
- Mask wearing. Concerning this, there is still place for stricter regulations. In Spain, children over the age of six are also required to wear a mask in schools, and the coverage of mouth and nose has been made mandatory in most of the outdoor places to. But Spain is not the only one to make such measures, in Italy it is also obligatory to wear a mask in open spaces between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m. if the distance is not feasible, as well as in Paris, where you can only go on the street in a mask.
- In Portugal, gatherings of more than 10 people have been banned, in Ireland, open-air gatherings have been limited to 15 people, in Bavaria a maximum of five or two household members can meet at a time, and in the Netherlands you cannot invite more than six people to your house.
- Although restaurants and nightclubs can no longer receive guests in Hungary after 11 p.m., these rules can be further improved too. In Ireland, restaurants can only serve people to take-away, in Italy dance and music events have been banned altogether, and in several French cities and Bavaria, the consumption of alcohol in public places has been banned to prevent young people from circumventing the regulations.
- Weddings play a major role in the rise of the second wave of the epidemic, therefore they are already regulated in several countries. In the UK, no more than 15 people can attend a wedding, while in Turkey, a ceremony of up to one hour can be held without guests over the age of 65.
Targeted restrictions
In the second wave, more and more European states are trying out the method that was already used in Asia in the spring: not the whole country, but administrative areas, such as high-risk cities, counties, regions, are put under a lockdown.
At the moment this is being introduced in Spain too, in some of the most severely affected districts and outskirts of Madrid, strict rules apply to around 900,000 people, meaning that the
residents can only leave their homes from Monday if they go to work, take their children to school or need medical care.
In addition, the parks were closed immediately, the restaurants could only be open until ten in the evening, but only with limited capacity.
France is also following a similar path, because although more than 13,000 new infections have been diagnosed in 24 hours the other day, austerity measures have only been introduced where the epidemic is spreading the fastest. Dancing in bars and weddings was banned in Bordeaux and Marseille,
all companies were asked to move to a home office and a ban on visiting nursing homes was introduced.
In Paris, wearing a mask in the open spaces has been made obligatory and compliance with it is ensured by the police and by the civil guards.
Germany is also included in the line of these countries, where provincial governments have also been entrusted with how to proceed with general measures.
Right now the worst epidemiological situation is in Bavaria,
so they are trying to prevent further spreads by restricting gatherings, closing restaurants and banning outdoor alcohol consumption.
Targeted restrictions were chosen on purpose, as they have already shown in several places that they are extremely effective in curving the spread of the virus while not stopping life in other parts of the country.
Tested, proven to work
The Chinese could tell a lot about how to control the epidemic by introducing lockdowns in the cities. In Wuhan, the original focal point of the infection, quarantine was ordered back in February and life has been resumed after 76 days. Later, the number of infected people in Beijing and other major cities also began to rise, but with immediate intervention and the extension of testing, China was able to prevent the major trouble extremely quickly. At the time, many said that in China, this could easily have been done, as the country is governed by an authoritarian government, but such methods would be impossible to implement in a well-functioning democracy. They were wrong.
Most recently
in Australia, Melbourne managed to copy the Chinese example and life there may soon return to normal.
Melbourne was put under quarantine last month after 670 new patients were diagnosed in the city in one day at the peak of the second wave. No one could leave his home unless he had to, this seemed to work soon enough, as on Sunday only 11 new infected people were identified.
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said that this not only prevented the outbreak from erupting, but it also took the burden off of the country’s healthcare system. All this by building a highly effective contact research system and massively testing residents.
The lockdown of cities, counties, regions can be effective anywhere, but only if it is ordered in time and thoroughly prepared.
In Israel, for example, the severity of the situation was realized too late and the infection was so widespread that the whole country had to be quarantined.
Nothing like this has happened in Hungary yet, but it is not at all ruled out that this drastic tool will have to be used in the winter, when Viktor Orbán predicts that the second wave will reach its peak.
Translated by Szidónia Zsiga
