We show in an interactive graphic the situation of the coronavirus epidemic in Hungary.

Coronavirus: the second wave

Half a year after the spring outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, the second wave of the pandemic has arrived. The radical increase in the number of infected is forcing more and more countries to re-impose restrictions, despite the fact that the world economy has not even recovered from the effects of the spring outbreak. According to the posters, the second wave also reached Hungary. Follow our news!

The number of infected people identified has increased by this number and the number of chronic patients has died – this is the number of coronavirus in Hungary that is displayed every morning on the epidemiological information website. While in many other countries the graph shows how the epidemic is developing, in Hungary, in addition to announcing some basic figures, the number of infected people in which counties have been found since the start of the disease is published in an image file epidemic, and the rest is solved by journalists.

The number of active cases, the number of deaths and hospital admissions are published, but for example, how many tests were done and how many were positive is not considered so important to report, just note how many times in total so far. The test was done: From here, our job is to save the total number from the previous day, subtract it from the same day, and then calculate the proportion of positive tests compared to it. Now we have created our own infographics to make what is really important more transparent.

In the infographic, readers can choose from six data sets:

  • number of new infections registered in the last 24 hours,
  • number of hospital patients,
  • active case number,
  • number of new tests per day,
  • number of deaths per day,
  • positive test rate.

If these six data sets are placed side by side, a slightly more detailed picture of the coronavirus epidemic will emerge. It is becoming clear, for example, that the number of active cases is increasing day by day, and that the proportion of positive tests exceeds the 5% threshold for weeks, and that it should remain below the recommendation of the World Health Organization . The number of new cases per day does not appear to be growing much, but the test rate shows that authorities are less and less able to keep up with the spread of the epidemic. However, the number of active cases is growing despite the fact that not a third are being tested as much as they should. The number of people admitted to the hospital and, of course, the number of deaths shows that this is not a peak at the moment.

It is also important to pay attention to all this, because the epidemiological information website communicates the numbers in such a way that even if the truth is written, the point is often not revealed.

Do you still remember, for example, when Iranian students suffered from the coronavirus in Hungary at the beginning of the epidemic? In those days the nationality of the infected was published in all epidemiological reports. Later, when the Hungarians became the majority, this data set did not become central information. However, they began to publish the percentage of infected people and victims in Budapest, and a daily map of how many infected people had been diagnosed since the beginning of the epidemic, which may seem serious information at first glance, but without adding what is. active number of cases per county, how many recovered, what it all means in terms of population, and of course where, how many tests were done, not much more than a map with four different shades of red.

And of course there is a list of underlying diseases of “mostly elderly chronic patients.” Which shows that the underlying disease is simply high blood pressure or diabetes in many people, and it has happened several times that specifically identifiable people’s health data has been published. And the bioethicist who told HVG emphasized that it was unethical to defend himself by saying that he would have died later.

Of course, the fact that public actors highlight what they want from the statistics is nothing new. But what is happening now with epidemiological information is much more problematic than that. On the one hand, it is not about government communication, but about the provision of information to an independent body of politics, which somehow always emphasizes what is in line with the current communication objectives of the government. On the other hand, it is dangerous.

It can also cause panic, but you may even believe that there are not many problems. However, if this is not true, both are serious errors.


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