The number of fresh coronavirus cases hit a new high of 365 on Tuesday in Hungary, while on Wednesday in also remained over 300, the country’s official pandemic portal indicated.
With this, the total number of cases has reached 6,923, with 620 casualties. In the country, 3,930 people have been cured, putting the number of active cases to 2,373, of which 100 are currently under hospital treatment, seven of which on respirators.
On Tuesday, Hungary has again closed its borders — with the exception of the citizens of fellow Visegrád countries — to all foreign nationals in an attempt to keep the second wave of the pandemic in check.
So far, more than half of all Hungarian cases have been detected in Budapest and the surrounding Pest county. Chief medical officer Cecília Müller told national news agency MTI that because the average age of those freshly infected is around 30, the younger generation now has an increased responsibility in observing all public health rules, such as wearing face masks in shops and public transportation, keeping a safe distance and avoiding large gatherings.
She also said that while the disease may be asymptomatic or only show mild symptoms among the young, they can still infect the much more endangered older generation. She also warned that only by following the rules can the country avoid the strict measures which have “hampered life during the spring”.
Two schools in Hungary have not begun the school year on Sept. 1 after teachers or students were found to infected and several major hospitals in the country have instated a visitor ban.
In the Czech Republic, the number of new cases also hit a record high of 656 and daily new cases in eastern neighbor Romania have been above 1,000 since the end of July. In Croatia to the south — a popular tourist destination — cases have been hovering around 300 since mid-August, three times as high as during the first wave in March-April period.
Title image: Number of total coronavirus cases in Hungary so far. (source: koronavirus.gov.hu)
