The epidemic is raging in full force: new records set on all fronts in Hungary

Fully 213 generally elderly patients with co-morbidities died over the past 24 hours, while 10,759 new infections were registered, koronavirus.gov.hu said on Friday.

Altogether 1,477,554 people have been vaccinated in Hungary, 444,451 of whom have received a second shot, the portal said.

The number of active infections has risen to 167,190, while hospitals are caring for 10,264 Covid patients,

1,174 of whom need respiratory assistance.

Altogether 50,701 people are in official home quarantine, and the number of tests stands at 4,202,286.

Ever since the first outbreak, 549,839 infections have been registered, while fatalities have risen to 17,841. Fully 364,808 people have made a recovery.

So far, most infections have been registered in Budapest (105,024) and Pest County (75,634), followed by the counties of Győr-Moson-Sopron (31,591), Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén (30,834) and Hajdú-Bihar (29,721). Tolna County has the fewest infections (11,960).

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Coronavirus-related restirctions extended until March 29

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

Shops, with the exception of grocery stores, pharmacies, petrol stations, drugstores, tobacco shops, shops selling tools for “spring gardening”, pet food and fodder shops, and markets, will have to be closed, and services will have to stop, with the exception of private healthcare, social care, financial, postal, and car repair services, suspended between March 8 and 29.

Kindergartens and primary schools will be closed from March 8 until April 7. Gyms will continue to be closed for two weeks, but licenced athletes will be allowed to train and compete behind closed doors. Parks will be allowed to stay open and outdoor sports will also be allowed for activities in which people can maintain a safe distance of 1.5 metres.

The government asks employers to ensure that their employees can work from home wherever possible, particularly in the case of those with children.

Mask-wearing remains mandatory outdoors.

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

Source: MTI