Why does Hungary need soldiers on the streets and in the hospitals?

The decree published in Friday’s Magyar Közlöny specifies exactly what tasks soldiers must perform in hospitals.  During the emergency, their main task is to ensure the smooth operation of hospitals and to help healthcare workers.

Mfor.hu writes that according to the government decree, the following tasks must be performed by the soldiers:

• entry tasks related to body temperature measurement,
• patient management and guidance tasks,
• patient follow-up tasks,
• material transfer tasks between healthcare institutions,
• logistical tasks, including the transportation of medicine, protective equipment, other medical supplies, and food for inpatients, as well as related warehousing tasks,
• package delivery tasks,
• material handling tasks,
• computer data recording,
• tasks related to the packaging, labelling, boxing, and preparing for the transportation of the SARS-COV-2 coronavirus samples,
• and disinfecting.

A member of the armed forces and a volunteer reserve soldier performing actual services may be involved in the performance of the tasks. An important stipulation, however, is that soldiers are not allowed to perform tasks related to medical qualifications in hospitals. However, in addition to the tasks listed above, they may be assigned tasks from the hospital commander or hospital director, but the national hospital commander and the commander of the Hungarian Defense Forces must also be informed.

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The director of the given hospital is obligated to provide care, accommodation, meals, and protective equipment for the soldiers sent to the hospitals. The government decree now announced will be in place until 8 February 2021.

According to Viktor Orbán’s announcement on Wednesday, the army will also help the work of police in complying with the curfew and mask-wearing rules. As a result of that, people could meet soldiers in several parts of the country. A vehicle with the TEK logo could also be seen on the main streets of Miskolc. Minap.hu writes that the involvement of the military and the participation of the Counter-Terrorism Centre (TEK) is also interesting. Minap.hu contacted the Hungarian Armed Forces and the organisation of TEK as well. The latter’s statement says: “In the context of access restrictions, international experience suggests that the number of crimes against property may increase, and in order to respond quickly, TEK will support the police in carrying out their tasks in Budapest and in the rural cities where it has an operations department.”

Gergely Karácsony reacted to the situation in Budapest in a Facebook post. He is grateful for the people of Budapest to comply with the new epidemiological rules. However, he added that he did not understand why TEK militants had to be driven to the emptied streets. “Certainly not with fear and threats, but with sincere speech free from political slogans and false propaganda is it possible to achieve people’s cooperation,” he writes in his post.

Source: Minap.hu Mfor.hu klubradio.hu