Deaths per day in Hungary

Source: Radex Media Group Kft. (https://radex.hu/covid/)

Comment: Data are updated regularly based on the Hungarian government’s official website koronavirus.gov.hu and on WHO’s website who.sprinklr.com.

Due to the restrictions the number of cases is increasing more at a linear than an exponential rate, but Hungary is still likely to enter into the phase of community infections in the near future.

 

 

The Hungarian government’s main goal is to flatten the curve of coronavirus infections by preventing the spread of the virus and avoid the national health system from being overburdened. Early measures taken to close borders, schools, restaurants and other community spaces, shopping malls, the introduction of restrictions on movement and a broad communication campaign have proven successful so far. 

 

As the virus is already present throughout the country and the number of infections is still increasing Hungary will probably enter the phase of mass incidences in the near future.

 

The government is coordinating actions advised by the Operative Board and ten Emergency Action Groups.

 

 

The Hungarian government formed an Operative Board on 31 January to coordinate the mitigation of the effects of the pandemic in the country. The goal of the first measures was to screen localize possible incidents of the infection in Hungary and to organize healthcare and epidemiological measures. The first Covid-19 case was diagnosed on 4 March. On 13 March ten action groups were set up (Educational Action Group, Action Group for the Construction of an Epidemic Mobile Hospital, Action Group for Essential Businesses, International Coordination Action Group, Communication Action Group, Extraordinary Legal Order Acton Group, Financial Action Group, and an Action Group for the restart of the Economy, a Research Action Group and a Border Control Group)

 

 

On 11 March the Hungarian Government declared a state of emergency due to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) epidemic. According to the Hungarian Constitution, in a state of emergency the government may, through its decrees, suspend laws, deviate from laws and implement exceptional emergency measures. The decrees issued during the emergency need parliamentary approval to stay in force after 15 days.

 

 

On 30 March the Hungarian Parliament passed the Coronavirus Act to extend the state of emergency that would allow the Hungarian government’s response to the challenges posed by the spread of the Coronavirus. The Act extends the state of emergency for an indefinite period of time and accords special powers to the government, including the possibility to rule by decree without the Parliament’s approval. The Act also allows for measures ranging to 5 years of imprisonment against those who spread unfounded rumours that ”undermine the effort to protect the country in a state of emergency”.

 

 

Budapest Airport began screening all passengers arriving directly from China on January 31st. Those who had fever or medical symptoms typical of the Coronavirus were ordered to quarantine. On 13 March entry restrictions were introduced. They were initially targeted towards countries with large numbers of cases. Incoming international civilian train, bus and air traffic (except where there is no landing or stopping) was suspended from China, Italy, South Korea, Iran, and as of 15 March, Israel. In order to enforce the travel restrictions, border controls have been reintroduced on Hungary’s Schengen borders.

 

Arrivals from the above countries if there was a suspicion of infection, they were quarantined in a hospital. If not, they. were ordered to subject themselves to compulsory home quarantine for two weeks. The police are authorized to sanction violations.

 

As of 17 March, Hungary closed its borders to international passengers. Only Hungarian nationals or individuals with permanent residence permits may enter the country.

 

 

University buildings are closed and are under prohibition to visit. Universities have shifted to remote study exclusively. As of 16 March, schools are also closed and will continue teaching remotely. Kindergartens and nurseries are closed as well. 

 

As of 17 March, all indoor and outdoor events are prohibited (except for religious gatherings, weddings and burials), regardless of the number of participants, resulting in the closure of cinemas, theatres and concerts.

 

Stores must stay closed between 15:00 and 06:00 every day, however, food and drugstores, household appliances chemical and hygienic product stores, pharmacies, and medical accessory stores are not affected by this restriction. Hospital visits are prohibited. 

 

The expiration date of any official personal documents (ID card, driver’s licence) that would otherwise expire is extended to 15 days after the end of state of emergency.

 

Hungarian healthcare workers, members of law enforcement (including the tax authority), military personnel, government officials can only leave Hungary with the special authorisation of their sectoral minister.

 

The government introduced restrictions on movement from March 28 The decree allows people to leave their homes only for activities such as buying food, going to work, visiting healthcare providers, buying medicine servicing cars, etc. Going out to de exercise or walking is also allowed with members of the household or alone while maintaining a minimum 1.5-meter distance.

 

Over 65s can do their shopping only between 9 and 12 am with the aim of keeping them separate.

 

Restrictions however are not strictly monitored; no special permits are needed to move within or in between cities.

 

 

An Economy Protection Action Plan was introduced that reallocate 18-20% of the Hungarian GDP. In the first phase the Hungarian government reduced social security contributions in certain sectors, provided support for small business flat-rate taxpayers and suspended bank loan repayments. The second phase includes a wage subsidy programme, the relaunch of key sectors in the national economy, and preferential, government-backed loans of HUF 2000 billion (roughly EUR 5.6 billion) to finance companies.

 

In order to provide the necessary funds the government is making transfers within in the state budget and introducing additional taxes on supermarket chains, banks and some other businesses for additional state incomes.

For the moment the state budget deficit goal has been raised from 1% to 2.7%, government estimates a recession of 3% in 2020.

 

Pursuant to Government Decree 92/2020 (IV.6) three new funds have been created for the settlement of national and European Union resources to cover expenses of the fight against the pandemic and to restart the economy: Protection Against the Pandemic Fund (HUF 633,51 billion), Economy Protection Fund (HUF 1345,653 billion), and the Fund for European Union Funding to Contain the Pandemic. 

 

The majority of healthcare institutions made the necessary reorganisations The expansion of bed capacity and the capacity of ventilated beds in hospitals across the country is still going on in preparation for mass illnesses. Doctors over 65 are not allowed to work.

 

Procedures for diagnostic and therapeutic protocols are regularly updated based on the latest knowledge and experience. 

 

The initial shortage of protective gears, masks and test has largely been solved by mid-April. Hundreds of tons of equipment including face masks, protective suits, test kits and ventilators have been arriving from China. Hungary has purchased a production line to scale up its mask production soon.

 

Uzbekistan is donating 500,000 medical face masks, while Azerbaijan another 10,000. Kazakhstan enabled planes carrying medical supplies ordered by the Hungarian government from China to refuel at the capital’s airport. Despite export restrictions, Turkey authorised the transportation of 8 tonnes of textiles used as raw material for face masks and hand sanitiser gel to Hungary. The Hungarian government has donated 100,000 face masks and 5,000 pieces of protective clothing to North Macedonia and aiding cross-border Hungarian communities equipment by providing them with 600,000 face masks and tens of thousands of items of protective clothing, equipment and coronavirus tests.

 

 

Health outcomes in Hungary have been lagging behind most other EU countries, reflecting both unhealthy lifestyles and the limited effectiveness of health care provision. Hungary spends below the EU average, both in absolute terms and as a share of GDP for healthcare. A large number of Hungarians either rely on informal payments to health care providers to access care or are visiting private health care facilities, which further deepens inequalities. The health system is excessively hospital-centric, with less focus on primary care and prevention. 

 

The total number of hospital beds are above the EU average, which in times of a pandemic could easily be turned into an advantage in preparing for patient treatments. A great concern is that the Hungarian Health care system lacked sufficient professional workforce even before the crises. According to the Central Statistical Office data in 2019 over 5 percent of jobs were unfilled in Hungary’s health-care sector., with doctors over 65 being relieved from duty because of the pandemic there is a clear shortage of healthcare personnel.

 

The economic impact of the pandemic is a major concern. Most economic sectors are affected at the same time. Strategically the most important sectors in the country like the automotive industry and tourism have come to a standstill, the hospitality industry, the small businesses are struggling just as well. The government expects the unemployment rate to jump to hundreds of thousands. Many Hungarians working abroad in sectors of the economy affected by the crisis have returned to the country, which will also increase unemployment.

 

Hungarian currency exchange rate hit a record low several times in the past weeks.

 

Hungary’s food supply is safe and stable with sufficient amount of food available. According to the Ministry of Agriculture Hungary’s agriculture can supply 25 million people, while the country’s population is 9.8 million.

The minister said the main goal for moving forward is to provide sales opportunities so that local governments can reopen markets. A website has been launched so as many people as possible can take part in seasonal agricultural work to maintain production at current levels. The minister asked, in the spirit of solidarity, commercial units to intensify their cooperation with domestic suppliers in the agricultural and food industries, thus helping to supply the Hungarian population with quality Hungarian goods.

 

 

The effectiveness of online education has not been tested in such large scale in Hungary, the access is not guaranteed for all students and it also heavily relies on the parents’ abilities further increasing inequality in access to quality education.

 

 

The Government allocated additional funds of 2,3 billion HUF for coronavirus research. Research projects run under the supervision of the Ministry of Innovation and Technology and are coordinated by the Coronavirus Research Action Group. The different projects aim at exploring the pathogen, studying the mechanisms of the infection, exploring possible preventive measures, developing effective drugs, treatments, therapeutic agents and devices. Research groups are doing mathematical modelling and analysis of the spread of the coronavirus, supporting forecasts for the government to help evidence informed decision making to slow the epidemic and reduce the burden on the health system. 

 

The Hungarian Academy of Sciences is monitoring the latest scientific developments as well as proposals, action plans and assistance offered by experts that may be involved in the process of the multisectoral management of epidemiology. All information is shared on the Academy’s coronavirus information webpage to help the decision-makers. Articles to inform the public on scientific facts concerning the virus, epidemiology, and the social and economic consequences of the outbreak are regularly published on the website of the Academy.

 

The Presidential Committee on Health of the Academy has formed an ad-hoc working-group to co-ordinate these action and is soon publishing a report advising the government and the public on measures supporting the fight against the pandemic and the return to normal life.

 

The research institutes were turned into on-call mode from 16 March: 15 % of the employees (including mostly staff members from management, administration, and computer centers) are managing the operation of the institute on-site, the remaining 85 % moved to “home-office” and they are executing their research projects from home. In case of experiments with deadline the responsible persons are coming on-site and running the data collection, but data analysis will be executed in home-office. This on-call mode will remain in charge until beginning of summer (hopefully not later than end of August 2020).

Upon assessing possible scenarios for the case Hungary would enter the stage of large-scale infections, to be well prepared the country shall need around 8000 ICU beds equipped with a ventilator and medical personnel to treat the increasing number of patients as well as to perform large number of tests. 

 

Acknowledgement: This report is submitted by Dr. Szabó Annamária from the Secretariat of the Hungarian Academy Of Sciences.