Faced with a rising number of new coronavirus cases, Hungary will tighten its defensive measures from midnight on Tuesday, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán announced in a video on his Facebook page Tuesday morning.
“We have equipped the hospitals and everything is available: beds, ventilators, masks, and protective equipment. Our doctors and nurses are doing superhuman work, but they are also human and their number are finite,” Orbán said in the video. “On top of this, there are several weeks left before the vaccine arrives. If the number of new infections increases at the current rate, our doctors and nurses and hospitals will not be able to cope with the pressure.”
The main points of the new measures are the following:
- Curfew from 8:00 pm. to 5:00 a.m., except for commuting to and from work and in exceptional cases.
- All gatherings prohibited, all restaurants will close, with the exception of workplace cantines and restaurants can still provide home deliveries.
- Shops and services must close at 7:00 p.m.
- Hotels can only accommodate business guests.
- General ban on events, limiting family gathering to 10 persons and funerals to 50.
- All entertainment and recreation venues will be closed.
- Education from eighth class upwards will continue online.
Parliament will vote on the new measures today, and if approved, they will be in force for 30 days.
Neighboring Romania to the east has recently also instated similar measures, with the addition of also quarantining settlements with a high infection rate.
Title image: Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán announcing the new restrictive measures. (Facebook video capture)
