Restriction details: Will tobacco shops, post offices, and banks also close from Monday?

Gergely Gulyás, Minister of the Primes Minister’s Office, mentioned only a few exceptions at today’s government info when he announced the strict rules in effect from Monday in Hungary. That caused a lot of uncertainties among citizens, and the government later clarified some rules.

As we reported before, Hungary will close almost all shops and services for two weeks along with kindergartens and primary schools for the next month in an effort to tackle the third wave of coronavirus infections, the prime minister’s chief of staff announced on Thursday.

Shops, with the exception of grocery stores, pharmacies, and petrol stations, will have to be closed,

and services, with the exception of private healthcare, will be suspended between March 8 and 22, Gergely Gulyás said on Wednesday.

Kindergartens and primary schools will be closed from March 8 until April 7, he said. Gyms will also be closed for two weeks, but licenced athletes will be allowed to train and compete behind closed doors, Gulyás said. 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, he said.

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The government asked employers to ensure that their employees can work from home wherever possible, particularly in the case of those with children, Gulyás said. Mask-wearing remains mandatory outdoors.

Gulyás also said that Hungary would impose tighter controls on its borders, adding, however, that freight and transit traffic will not be restricted.

However, the government’s announcement left many open questions, for example, whether post offices, banks, tobacco shops, casinos, or creches have to close as well. Hvg.hu, for example, asked the government, and they received answers later that day. The government’s information centre said that

banks and tobacco shops can remain open even after next Monday. 

However, nobody said anything about the postal service in Hungary or the creches. In the case of the latter, local governments who maintain the institutions wait for the government decrees hoping that they will contain what they have to do. As it came to light in the afternoon, all casinos have to close in Hungary from Monday.

Interestingly, they could remain open even though all restaurants, cafés, bars had to close last November. As some media outlets discovered this week, they did not keep the COVID-19 rules, but the government did not shut them before because they said that casinos were not catering establishments.

Source: hvg.hu