Index – National – Almost three thousand new infected, more than one hundred deaths

By Thursday, the new coronavirus infection (Covid-19) had been detected in 2,971 new Hungarian citizens, increasing the number of people infected in Hungary to 322,514. Most of the deaths were 108 elderly and chronic patients, bringing the number of deaths to 9,537. The number of recovered people is also constantly increasing, currently 150,102 people, the number of active infected people has decreased to 162,875 people. The hospital has 5,856 coronavirus patients, 402 of whom are on ventilators.

To stop the epidemic and ensure the performance of hospitals, it is still important to respect protective measures.

The vaccine has reached a new stage in the fight against the coronavirus epidemic with the arrival of the vaccine in Hungary, a total of eighty thousand doses of Pfizer vaccine so far, which will allow to vaccinate 40 thousand health workers. The vaccines that arrived on Wednesday were delivered at 21 hospital vaccination points: in addition to several hospitals in Budapest, in Győr, Kecskemét, Szolnok, Tatabánya, Kaposvár, Pécs, Miskolc, Szeged, Székesfehérvár, Debrecen, Balassagyarmat, Nyeszprés, and Veshezprémé. More shipments will arrive in the coming weeks and vaccination could continue at that rate.

In the first half of next year, pharmaceutical authorities are expected to authorize new vaccines, and then additional vaccines may arrive in Hungary to begin mass vaccination of the population.

that the authorities will be able to contact the applicants. To date, almost 600,000 people have registered to receive the vaccine online and by mail. The post office delivered a letter to retirees in December informing them of the possibility of registration by the National Medical Director Cecília Müller. Retirees can also report their need for a coronavirus vaccine by completing and returning the form attached to the letter.

To maintain health protection, the government

• extension of epidemiological preparation for half a year and
• it also suspended flights from Great Britain.
• The protection of elderly and chronic patients is of the utmost importance. The elderly are also asked to pay more attention to themselves and general precautions.
• Hospitals and nursing homes are still prohibited from visiting them.
• In addition to health workers, social workers involved in defense, police officers, soldiers and public servants can also use public transport for free. Free rides require a certificate from the employer stating that the person is performing duties related to the emergency or consequences of a coronavirus pandemic.
• There is still a curfew between eight in the afternoon and five in the morning, everyone has to get home at eight at night.
• A case of exemption from the curfew is work, which, however, must be justified. You can download a sample certificate here.
• Stores, with the exception of pharmacies and gas stations, can stay open until seven at night and then open after curfew expires, so they can open at five in the morning at the earliest.
• Service providers and services not mentioned in the regulation (eg hairdresser, masseuse, personal trainer) can normally operate under the curfew rules.
• The rules introduced so far on the use of masks and maintaining the distance remain valid.
• Wearing a mask is mandatory in some public areas of settlements with more than 10,000 inhabitants. It is the mayor’s responsibility to designate the areas.
• It is not yet mandatory to wear a mask during sports activities or in parks or green areas.
• All meetings are prohibited.
• Restaurants cannot accept guests, they can only stay there to bring food.
• Hotels cannot accept tourists, only guests arriving for business, economic or educational reasons.
• It is prohibited to carry out any type of event, including cultural events and Christmas fairs.
• Sports matches must be held behind closed doors.
• The use of leisure facilities, including in particular fitness rooms, indoor swimming pools, museums, libraries, cinemas and zoos, skating rinks, is prohibited.
• Private and family events (such as birthdays) can be held for up to ten people, excluding children under 14 years of age.
• Funerals can be held for up to fifty people.
• Weddings can be held without a wedding, however only certain people can attend the event.
• Public parking is free. Commercial P + R, Parking, Parking, Enclosed Surface Parking, and Unoccupied Surface Parking are available free of charge from 7:00 PM to 7:00 AM. The facility operator is obliged to allow free parking during this time zone.

The police strictly monitor compliance with the rules, impose fines and close places where regulations are not followed. Soldiers support police work in various cities across the country and ease the burden on health workers at the hospital.

Keeping schools running is still important, which is why schools are cleaned during winter break and, when necessary, soldiers disinfect them. Elementary schools will open on January 4. Before starting school, preschool and school staff can request free, voluntary rapid tests, whichnline can be booked date . Educators and other institutional personnel can conduct free, voluntary surveys at 99 sampling points across the country before teaching begins.

To stop the spread of the community, you are asked to:

• We will continue to avoid places where there are many people inside,
• if possible, keep social distance,
• Wash your hands frequently and thoroughly.
• Anyone who has been ordered an official home quarantine for a stay abroad or for any other reason must strictly comply.
• Anyone with symptoms should not go to the community, but stay home and
• notify your GP by phone.

Free flu vaccines are already being given as part of health protection. The provision of influenza vaccines to GPs is ongoing.

In addition to maintaining health protection, the government is working on additional economic and family protection measures.

(Cover image: Research associate Zoltán Veréb packages the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine that arrived at the Dermatology and Allergology Clinic of the Albert Szent-Györgyi Clinical Center at the University of Szeged on December 30, 2020. Photo: Tibor Rosta / MTI)