On Thursday, Hungary recorded its highest daily increase in coronavirus infection numbers, with cases rising to 85 from 58 the previous day, an increase of 27, the national coronavirus information website showed.
At Thursday’s daily press briefing, the country’s chief medical officer, Cecília Müller, said that the coronavirus operation group expects the infection rate to speed up further.
She added that they also changed the guidelines for those possibly infected. These suspected patients can now be tested at home as opposed to the previous practice of showing up at a designated hospital.
In the case that those infected demonstrate that their symptoms are mild, the patients will be allowed to recover at home provided they can guarantee total isolation.
Meanwhile, Police Colonel Tibor Lakatos of the coronavirus operation group, said that they are currently not planning to instate either a travel ban or blanket curfew, but asked the population to observe the guidelines published on their website and broadcasted daily on Hungarian national radio and television.
The operations group also said there was a shortage of face masks in the country but that all efforts are being made to remedy that situation.
In order to secure a supply, the Hungarian Charity Service of the Order of Malta, a Catholic aid organization, announced that it has begun the production of reusable face masks at a regional facility employing disabled and disadvantaged people and expects to be able to produce about 1,500 masks per day.
At the time of writing, the number of confirmed cases was 85, with 124 people in quarantine, two cured and one death.
Update: This article previously noted 27 infections the previous day and stated that cases had tripled. This has been updated to represent the accurate number of 73 the day before.
Title image: Employees in protective mask and gloves disinfect cooking facilities as a precaution against the spread of the novel coronavirus in a public kitchen for school children in Oroshaza, southeastern Hungary, Tuesday, March 17, 2020. (Tibor Rosta/MTI via AP)
