Hungary among the best in health crisis management – or is it?
During the summer, the Hungarian National Bank developed an index on its own to show how well Hungary is coping with the COVID-19 pandemic. According to this new index, Hungary has been the best among European countries in managing the pandemic. Since then, the country fell a bit behind, but still managed to hold out among the top three.
Hvg says that all previous records have been broken by the number of coronavirus patients cared for in hospitals and on ventilators in Hungary. 1,750 died, and the number of active cases jumped from 21,000 to over 50,000 within a month.
According to the Hungarian National Bank’s report, Hungary is the third-best country in dealing with the pandemic. Only Germany and Malta were placed before the country.
The success of health crisis management can be measured in many ways around the world, but the Hungarian National Bank instead of choosing from an existing index created its own Epidemiological Competitiveness Index.
According to this index, Hungary was the country with the best health crisis management in July, and it is the third right now.
Although the number of active patients and deaths per 100,000 inhabitants is constantly rising, the unemployment rate is low, and Hungary has the longest credit moratorium in Europe.
The Ministry of Finance expects a government deficit that is middle ranking in Europe, and the country’s GDP only fell by 5.8% in the first half-year. But the most important thing on the index must be the credit moratorium, as it has put Hungary five places ahead on the list.
Hvg reports on the index that it is not just the economy that matters. The report says: “Hungary is still at the forefront of Europe” in terms of the success of health crisis management. The report counts the number of active patients and deaths per 100,000 people from the beginning of the pandemic. This would mean that
even though Hungary is among the worst in Europe considering infections per 100,000 capita in the second wave, it is offset by the fact that Hungary was one of the best in the first wave.
“The second wave has posed new challenges to national economies,” the report warns. As they have put it: “the increase in the number of active cases and the prolonged crisis situation, in particular, may necessitate the introduction of new measures. However, there is an opportunity that Hungary’s relative competitive position within the European Union may strengthen after the pandemic ends”.
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Source: Hvg.hu