Patients with Covid in Hungary are increasingly young and are less likely to have been vaccinated, virologist Miklós Rusvai said on Sunday.
Both the elderly who suffer from a chronic illness and many teenagers have been fully vaccinated, Rusvai told public news broadcaster M1, adding that it was the unvaccinated middle-aged who were at greatest risk.
At the same time, compared with a year ago there are fewer Covid-related deaths as well as patients requiring respiratory assistance, he said.
The virologist advised people to get the flu vaccine and to wear a mask on public transport and in shops, saying doing so would greatly reduce the risk of spreading and catching viruses.
The epidemic gets worse in Hungary, but Miklós Rusvai would not reintroduce obligatory mask-wearing. However, he said that Hungarians coming from Romania for Fidesz’s peace march on October 23 might be dangerous because the situation there is much worse.
Rusvai said that the mask is crucial because there are other respiratory diseases like the flu, and wearing one can help avoid sickness. He said that the number of new infections would rise. But its peak will be much lower than during the third wave last year. He added that he would not make vaccination obligatory. However, he highlighted that those inoculated protect not only themselves but their relatives, friends, too.
He said that inviting Hungarians living in Romania to Fidesz’s peace march is risky. Rusvai added that the hunting world expo and the opposition primaries did not worsen the situation.
Twenty patients died of a Covid-related illness in the past 24 hours, while 2,361 new coronavirus infections were registered, koronavirus.gov.hu said on Thursday. So far, 5,932,239 people have received the first jab, while 5,710,977 have been fully vaccinated. Fully 1,056,000 Hungarians have received a booster jab.
The number of active infections stands at 17,521, while hospitals are treating 1,105 Covid patients, 155 of whom need respiratory assistance. Since the first outbreak, 841,277 infections have been registered, while fatalities have risen to 30,468. Fully 793,288 people have made a recovery. There are 15,854 people in official quarantine, while 7,217,103 tests have been officially carried out.
Thirty patients died of a Covid-related illness in the past 24 hours, while 1,668 new coronavirus infections were registered, koronavirus.gov.hu said on Wednesday. So far 5,929,164 people have received a first jab, while 5,706,773 have been fully vaccinated. Fully 1,033,000 Hungarians have received a booster jab.
The number of active infections stands at 15,711, while hospitals are treating 1,058 Covid patients, 145 of whom need respiratory assistance.
Since the first outbreak, 838,916 infections have been registered, while fatalities have risen to 30,448. Fully 792,757 people have made a recovery.
There are 12,638 people in official quarantine, while 7,197,609 tests have been officially carried out.
Romanian President Klaus Iohannis has thanked Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán for the Hungarian government’s assistance with efforts against the coronavirus pandemic.
A statement from the Romanian president’s office quoted Iohannis as calling the Hungarian government’s aida “true European gesture of solidarity”, with special regard to the Hungarian authorities transporting and hospitalising Romanian Covid patients in Szeged (S) and Debrecen (E).
With regard to the serious situation in Romania, the Hungarian government sent medicines and ventilators and agreed to hospitalise 50 patients in critical condition.
Hungarian general practitioners will be given close to 800,000 rapid antigen tests to test suspected coronavirus patients, the government website koronavirus.gov.hu said on Saturday.
The antigen tests will allow GPs to identify Covid patients among those suffering from seasonal respiratory infections, the website said.
Those displaying Covid symptoms will need to be tested even if they are a health-care or social worker, someone receiving social care, the contact of a confirmed Covid patient or receiving inpatient or outpatient care, the website said.
GPs will also be authorised to order the patient to get a PCR test, it added.
Those who test positive for the virus are still required to quarantine for ten days.
The website said vaccination was the most effective way to defend against the virus, arguing that less than one percent of those who are inoculated fall ill with Covid.
They used a company to cover their operations in Hungary. There, the CEO did not perform any substantive activity. He only gave his name. The police and the National Institute of Pharmacy and Nutrition (OGYÉI) are investigating because of fraud and the forging of healthcare products.
Fake PCR tests in Hungary on the market
According to blikk.hu, the police arrested three people after it became clear that they sold fake PCR tests. Based on the police’s suspicion, in 2020, a Hungarian company advertised and sold PCR tests that were unsuitable for testing.
The officers of the National Bureau of Investigation already determined that the perpetrators harmonised their actions and divided the relevant tasks. They used a company for the distribution
where the CEO did not take part in the daily operation, only gave his name.
Hundreds of deceived customers
The PCR tests they sold were only sampling devices, on which they replaced the labels and put fake identification numbers. As a result, their customers thought that they bought the tests of a Spanish producer.
Police have identified almost a hundred customers already, but there are many more deceived people. The financial damage the members of the gang caused reaches HUF 7 million (EUR 20 thousand).
Based on the information of the investigation, the original idea of the crime came from the 47-year-old U.J. He was caught on October 6 in Mór. There, the officers did a house search and seized everything that could be connected to the fraud. He had two partners living in Veszprém, the 66-year-old Sz.T. and the 46-year-old B.I.T. All are suspects in the case, police.hu reported.
As we reported before, social media became flooded with advertisements of how to get a fake immunity certificate in May. Euronews started to investigate the issue and found that the most expensive but the most trustworthy path is to get one with the help of general practitioners. GPs can send more names to the National Public Health Centre than who they actually inoculate. According to sources who wanted to remain anonymous, the process costs HUF 100-200 thousand (EUR 300-600).
Eleven patients died of a Covid-related illness over the past 24 hours, while 1,141 new coronavirus infections were registered, koronavirus.gov.hu said on Thursday.
Number of infections rising
So far 5,916,769 people have received a first jab, while 5,689,371 have been fully vaccinated. Fully 948,000 Hungarians have received a booster jab. The number of active infections stands at 11,398, while hospitals are treating 742 Covid patients, 113 of whom need respiratory assistance. Since the first outbreak, 831,866 infections have been registered, while fatalities have risen to 30,341. Fully 790,127 people have made a recovery.
There are 9,604 people in official quarantine, while 7,110,156 tests have been officially carried out.
Economy growing
Meanwhile, the Hungarian economy seems to recover after the crisis. For exampe, the output of Hungary’s construction sector grew by an annual 10.2 percent in August, the Central Statistical Office (KSH) said on Thursday. Output of the building segment climbed by 16.3 percent and civil engineering output was up by 2.4 percent.
In absolute terms, output reached 440.9 billion forints (EUR 1.2bn). The building segment accounted for 61 percent of the total. Month on month, output fell 5.8 percent based on seasonally and working day-adjusted data.
Hungary has decided to take 50 coronavirus patients from Romania into its intensive care facilities, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said on Wednesday.
Szijjártó noted Romania’s “extremely serious challenges” mounting in recent days. Hungary’s government has kept in contact with Romanian Deputy Prime Minister Kelemen Hunor and Minister of Health Attila Cseke regarding how Hungary can help Romania, he added. The minister noted that Hungary has
already donated respirators and favipiravir,
and now Hungary has agreed to accept gravely ill Covid patients for intensive treatment in Szeged and Debrecen, in southern and eastern Hungary respectively. The technicalities of the arrangement are under discussion between the two sides, he added.
On the International Competition Network (ICN) in Budapest, Szájjártó said that
Hungary iss a promoter of free and fair world trade.
Therefore, the country wants to ensure “real competition” in which strong and expert competition authorities are key players. The three-day conference hosted by the Hungarian competition authority GVH has drawn some 100 speakers and 1,700 attendees from 130 countries.
GVH head Csaba Balázs Rigó said the conference was a “great opportunity” for the Hungarian authority to keep abreast of cutting-edge knowhow and analytical tools. The conference focuses on current issues such as warding off cross-border anti-competition measures, “crisis cartels during the pandemic”, and issues regarding digitalisation and innovation, he said.
By the end of September, Hungary had reserves of over 5.28 billion cubic meters of natural gas, more than enough to cater to the country’s needs throughout the winter, the Hungarian energy and public utility authority (MEKH) said on Wednesday.
Following its annual review of winter preparedness, MEKH said gas storage facilities were 83 percent full, guaranteeing the needs of private consumers and industry as well as emergency reserves in case of supply interruptions, MEKH said. Natural gas for domestic consumption is supplied jointly by imports, domestic gas production and from reserves, MEKH said.
Government: Investments in Hungary in rude health despite pandemic
The investment rate in Hungary of 27 percent in the second quarter is the highest level for many years, a finance ministry official said on Wednesday, adding that investors in the country were undeterred by the pandemic-related crisis.
Speaking at the 10th Macroeconomic Conference of the Joint Venture Association (JVSZ) on Wednesday, Gábor Gion, the state secretary for finance, noted that
an investment worth 6,700 billion forints (EUR 18.6bn) is currently under way,
which is expected to add 25 percentage points to GDP once it is handed over.
High levels of public and private investment will enhance future GDP, he said, adding that economic sustained growth of an annual 4 percent could be achieved as a result. Gion noted that growth was expected at around 7.5 percent this year and 5 percent in 2022.
The Hungarian government will send 1,000 boxes of the antiviral drug favipiravir to Romania early next week to assist the neighbouring country’s coronavirus pandemic defence efforts, the foreign minister said on Friday.
“The fourth wave of the pandemic is, no doubt, here. Those who have not been vaccinated will easily get into trouble, as it has been the case around the world,” Péter Szijjártó said on Facebook. “Countries with a low vaccination rate are facing more serious problems.”
In Romania “everything is happening now all at once”, Szijjártó said, referring to the most recent hospital fire.
He said Hungary aimed to provide help to its neighbours and is in regular contact with Hunor Kelemen, Romania’s deputy prime minister. Consultations on further help will be continued, the minister said.
“In a first step, we will send 1,000 boxes of favipiravir early next week. This medicine can help prevent or treat serious symptoms,” Szijjártó said, adding that effective pandemic protection efforts in neighbouring countries would also benefit Hungary.
The coronavirus in Romania is so severe that the country was put on Hungary’s red list. Hospitals are full, and healthcare professionals are facing extreme circumstances.
Romania’s coronavirus crisis is getting worse each day. On October 6, PRO TV made a shocking report from hospitals, presenting the tragic reality that healthcare professionals face day to day. In 24 hours, 15,037 new infections were detected, 252 people died, among them a 17-year-old student of an art school and a 32-year-old pregnant woman.
The hospitals are full, and a shockingly high number of patients need oxygen masks. Many of them are in hospital beds placed in corridors or sitting in a chair until a bed becomes vacant. All surgeries are delayed for the next 30 days all over the country, and hospitals do not take in new patients. There are only two exceptions to the rule: if there is an emergency or if a pregnant woman goes into labour.
Ambulances are called nonstop by people who want to take a Covid-19 test. Since the latest update, 14,467 people have got the virus, 263 people died, and 1,556 patients are in intensive care, among which 22 patients are minors, writes maszol.ro. The portal also writes that the number of people opting for the vaccine saw a significant rise.
Over the course of 24 hours, 62,996 people got either the Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, AstraZeneca or the Johnson&Johnson (Janssen) vaccine. A nurse, who spoke to PRO TV , made it clear that vaccines can save lives. “We die and work here and if these patients would be vaccinated, they would not be here,” she told cameras.
Then, two nurses were shown on camera, one of them saying that she does not understand how people are afraid of the vaccine but they are not afraid of the illness. Some citizens compare the current situation in Romania to that of Italy in the past. To help the neighbouring country fight the crisis, Minister of Foreign Affairs Péter Szijjártó generously offered Hungary’s help.
“If it is necessary to care for patients, we have the capacities of the Hungarian healthcare system, so they can count on us,” he wrote in a Facebook post and also reached out to his Romanian counterpart, Bogdan Aurescu, in a letter.
According to maszol.ro, discussions about this matter have started, and so far, Hungary is the only ally in the fight against Covid-19 in this form. A hospital in Arad, Romania, asked for help on Wednesday. Patients will be transferred to Hungary from locations close to the border. Transfer can only be made through transport by ambulance since oxygen cylinders that are necessary for the patients could be dangerous on aeroplanes.
Sixteen patients died of a Covid-related illness during the past 24 hours, while 774 new coronavirus infections were registered, koronavirus.gov.hu said on Friday.
So far 5,905,837 people have received a first jab, while 5,674,182 have been fully vaccinated. Fully 877,000 Hungarians have received a booster jab. The number of active infections stands at 9,121, while hospitals are treating 650 Covid patients, 100 of whom need respiratory assistance. Since the first outbreak, 827,410 infections have been registered, while fatalities have risen to 30,275. Fully 788,014 people have made a recovery.
There are 8,006 people in official quarantine, while 7,032,329 tests have been officially carried out.
Meanwhile, the Hungarian government will send 1,000 boxes of the antiviral drug favipiravir to Romania early next week to assist the neighbouring country’s coronavirus pandemic defence efforts, the foreign minister said on Friday.
“The fourth wave of the pandemic is, no doubt, here. Those who have not been vaccinated will easily get into trouble, as it has been the case around the world,” Péter Szijjártó said on Facebook. “Countries with a low vaccination rate are facing more serious problems.” In Romania “everything is happening now all at once”, Szijjártó said, referring to the most recent hospital fire.
He said Hungary aimed to provide help to its neighbours and is in regular contact with Hunor Kelemen, Romania’s deputy prime minister. Consultations on further help will be continued, the minister said. “In a first step,
we will send 1,000 boxes of favipiravir early next week.
This medicine can help prevent or treat serious symptoms,” Szijjártó said, adding that effective pandemic protection efforts in neighbouring countries would also benefit Hungary.
The government made it mandatory for hospital staff and healthcare professionals to take the vaccine. Those who did not obey the new rule will be fired.
Coronavirus in Hungary is getting worse each day. Even university students were obligated to take the jab. In our former article, we informed the general public that at the University of Debrecen, everyone who studies general medicine, dental medicine, pharmacy, public health, or anybody who participates in preparatory courses had to take at least one of the two vaccines by 6 September, regardless of the students’ nationality or citizenship.
In early September, several patients and hospital staff got Covid-19 at Szent János hospital, and the hospital stopped taking up new patients for a while at the infected department. Then the opening of schools caused an issue, as many students got covid and spread the virus due to lack of testing. You can read more about this issue HERE.
No wonder that the government tried every possible solution to stop the virus from spreading. The new rule was introduced, according to which all hospital and healthcare workers are obligated to take the vaccine. Those who refuse to obey the new rule will be fired.
At the University of Miskolc and the University of Szeged, students can enter the building only if they wear a mask. This rule was necessary because the virus has been causing more issues since August. More and more people are hospitalised, and the number of patients on respirators and deceased people are growing. The problem is aggravated by hospital staff leaving the field due to their decision not to get the vaccine. – reported RTL.
Adrianna Soós, leader of Independent Health Trade Union (Független Egészségügyi Szakszervezet), told the tv channel that in smaller hospitals, 4-5 people could terminate work contracts, but in other hospitals, 15-80 employees could lose their job. The total number of dismissed employees could be 2,000-3,000.
It turns out that not only healthcare professionals such as doctors and nurses could get fired, but also other staff members. If someone does not work directly with patients but could be in contact with them, such as cleaning staff or caretakers, but in some cases even the members of the economy department, they could lose their job as well. Those who do not have proof that they refused the vaccine due to health concerns will not get dismission pay.
There are still 400,000 Hungarians over 60 years of age who have not yet been vaccinated even though those inoculated against the coronavirus are much less likely to get sick and have much milder symptoms, virologist Miklós Rusvai told public news channel M1 on Sunday.
Rusvai said the current data are roughly the same as a year ago but the number of the inoculated is very low among those treated in hospital, on ventilators or among the fatalities. The number of infected cases will definitely increase, he added.
The vaccine will help ensure that fewer people will go to hospital, need to be put on ventilators or lose their lives as a consequence of the Covid-19 disease.
According to international trends, we are already in the sixth wave worldwide, Rusvai said, and the third wave was the strongest. Since then, the number of new infections and deaths has been decreasing.
The government will provide a subsidy of 12.2 billion forints (EUR 34.2m) to hospitals to reduce waiting times for operations cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic, the human resources ministry said in a statement on Friday.
The government wants “each patient to get an early diagnosis and receive treatment as soon as possible”, the ministry said, adding that they expected a “drastic reduction” in waiting times.
The ministry noted that elective treatments had been postponed for months during the earlier waves of the pandemic. Planned operations and rehabilitation resumed on May 13.
Out of the grand total, hospitals will receive 3.5 billion forints (€ 10 million) this year and 8.7 billion forints (€ 24.86 million) in 2022, the statement said.
Six patients died of a Covid-related illness in the past 24 hours, while 531 new coronavirus infections were registered, koronavirus.gov.hu said on Friday.
So far 5,873,523 people have received a first jab, while 5,615,273 have been fully vaccinated. Fully 691,000 Hungarians have received a booster jab. The number of active infections stands at 8,133, while hospitals are treating 438 Covid patients, 54 of whom need respiratory assistance.
Since the first outbreak, 820,078 infections have been registered, while fatalities have risen to 30,151. Fully 781,794 people have made a recovery. There are 5,839 people in official quarantine, while 6,858,523 tests have been officially carried out.
Two patients died of a Covid-related illness in the past 24 hours, while 526 new coronavirus infections were registered, koronavirus.gov.hu said on Thursday. Elderly people who have not accepted the coronavirus vaccine make up the majority of those hospitalised in the fourth wave of the pandemic in Hungary, the head infectologist of Budapest’s South Pest Central Hospital said on Thursday.
So far 5,869,259 people have received a first jab, while 5,600,425 have been fully vaccinated. Fully 667,000 Hungarians have received a booster jab. The number of active infections stands at 7,960, while hospitals are treating 411 Covid patients, 48 of whom need respiratory assistance. Since the first outbreak, 819,547 infections have been registered, while fatalities have risen to 30,145. Fully 781,442 people have made a recovery.
There are 5,495 people in official quarantine, while 6,844,088 tests have been officially carried out.
“Half of those without vaccines read and spread misconceptions about the vaccine being harmful,” and are impossible to convince otherwise, János Szlávik told on public news channel M1. Groups trying to reach elderly citizens typically living alone in rural areas “are working to reach the other 50 percent”, he said.
Incentives like an immunity requirement to acces certain services may help that work,
he said.
Barring an effective medicine against Covid-19, “which needs at least two years to develop and so will be available next year at the earliest”, vaccines are the only effective way to combat the pandemic, Szlávik said, and called on parents to have their children inoculated to stop the spread of the virus.
Szlávik warned that the delta variant was much more infectuous than previous mutations.
While earlier variants spread to 3-4 people from one patient on average, the delta variant may infect as many as 7-8, he said.
Two patients died of a Covid-related illness in the past 24 hours, while 501 new coronavirus infections were registered, koronavirus.gov.hu said on Wednesday. Meanwhile, Romania struggles with skyrocketing number of new infections, while Slovenia reintroduced obligatory mask wearing at the beginning of September.
So far 5,865,865 people have received a first jab, while 5,591,911 have been fully vaccinated. Fully 646,000 Hungarians have received a booster jab. The number of active infections stands at 7,740, while hospitals are treating 406 Covid patients, 46 of whom need respiratory assistance. Since the first outbreak, 819,021 infections have been registered, while
fatalities have risen to 30,143.
Fully 781,138 people have made a recovery. There are 4,825 people in official quarantine, while 6,829,896 tests have been officially carried out.
