Merkely: tightening border protection is not enough



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Hundreds of thousands of Hungarians who were on vacation abroad, especially in Croatia, were the biggest contributors to the fact that the second wave started 3-4 weeks earlier than expected. The good news is that the virus is circulating among young people at the moment, Béla Merkely, rector of Semmelweis University, told RTL Klub.

“It all depends on how we do it. I don’t think it would have been a problem to have a summer wedding if we followed the rules. It would not have been a problem if the young people had not attended thousands of parties in Siófok, Lake Balaton or Croatia”, Béla Merkely began. a summary of the situation to the Channel Newsletter.

About the second wave, he said, he personally expected it for the second half of September. [a második hullámot]because he thought that starting school would be the thing that would increase both the number of contacts and therefore the probability of infections. “Compared to this, we are now seeing the prolongation of the first wave from neighboring countries in Hungary,” he explained why another epidemic period has come to Hungary. He sees that this could not be prevented, only the risk could be reduced, but it is a serious problem that hundreds of thousands of Hungarians have traveled abroad.

I thought this year might end without a vacation abroad, but many people, presumably hundreds of thousands, were still on vacation abroad, which contributed to the fact that the second wave started three to four weeks earlier than we I would like.

said the rector of Semmelweis University about the reasons. He also suspects that the number of infections started to rise as early as July, and the number of diagnosed cases in Croatia had already started to rise, where the epidemic situation is now such that the prevalence of the infection is as high as in Romania. Subsequently, those who returned home from the Adriatic went to mass events such as a ceremony on August 20 as super-infectious.

As Merkely pointed out, Croatia was in the green category in Hungary all summer, even now. The expert did not speak about it again, but in Austria, the United Kingdom and Germany, the recommendation for Croats was changed to yellow for a month and a half due to the increasing number of infections. By the way, not only the average Hungarian family, but also various members of the government (such as the Prime Minister and the Foreign Minister) were on vacation in the Croatian Adriatic this year.

Merkely sees that tightening the border crossing is not a sufficient measure in itself, because the number of positive cases in Hungary is already very high. According to the rector, it is to be expected that the virus is circulating among young people for the moment and has not entered the older age group.

“As far as I know, if the fans are taken directly from the airport to the Puskás Arena, wear a mask and only sit in one in three chairs, and the derby is held outdoors, there will be no serious epidemiological event,” said the 24th September. the rector of the UEFA Super Cup final in Budapest. He reiterated that compliance and caution are paramount. He answered the question of whether, after the government closed Hungary to foreigners on Friday, it would not be a risky move for fans of seriously infected Spain to come to the match between Sevilla and Bayern Munich.



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