Budapest wants mandatory masks, the government doesn’t allow it

Budapest’s vice mayor Ambrus Kiss announced that they would like to make wearing masks mandatory again. They are waiting for the Minister of Internal Affairs to respond.

Data shows that there are fewer people suffering from coronavirus than this time last year. However, many people would prefer to make masks mandatory on public transportation, Ambrus Kiss said at a press conference.

Telex writes that this measure is impossible because of an amendment of the law. According to this, Budapest does not have the right to make wearing masks mandatory. The city turned to the Minister of Internal Affairs, asking them to make mask-wearing obligatory.

Ambrus Kiss also announced that the capital assembly will hold a discussion regarding Sziget Festival next week. They will talk about the public space agreement and the Integrated Territorial Program (Integrált Területi Program) as well.

In a former article, Daily News Hungary reported on the brutal rise in the number of new COVID infections. According to the official announcement on Wednesday,  1,668 new coronavirus infections were registered. Data from the day shows that 5,929,164 people got the first dose of the vaccine. 5,706,773 Hungarians have been fully vaccinated, and 1,033,000 people have received a booster jab.

Meanwhile, the government announced that there will be no restrictions on the celebration on 23 October.

read also: Guests coming from Romania to take part in Fidesz’s Oct 23 peace march to result in an outbreak?

“The State Secretary announced: as in the case of many former events – for example, the August 20 line of events or the International Eucharistic Congress –, the restrictions due to the coronavirus epidemic will not be in effect on the national holidays, state and municipal events, church, state, and municipal commemorations, cemetery visitations on All Saints’ Day and the Day of the Dead,” writes koronavirus.gov.hu.

Virologist Miklós Rusvai does not consider wearing masks a necessity. However, he thinks that guests coming to celebrate October 23 might be a problem. The guests will come from Romania, a country where doctors take desperate measures to save patients. The healthcare system in Romania collapsed, and patients had to be transported to Hungary. To find out why Romanian guests might be an issue, read our article about the collapse of their healthcare system HERE.

Source: Telex, DNH, koronavirus.gov.hu