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Operational Group: We have reached a static stage; the epidemic is declining in Hungary

“We have reached a static stage; the epidemic is declining in Hungary,” said Cecília Müller at today’s briefing of the Operational Group.

“On Thursday, another shipment of protective equipment will arrive at 29 hospitals, elderly homes and the ambulance service,” Lieutenant Colonel of the Police Róbert Kiss stated at the beginning of today’s Operational Group presser. He added that there are now two apps for mobile phones. “One helps with the electronic monitoring of those in compulsory home quarantine, and the other [...] allows authorities to see who has been in contact [with an infected person] for more than twenty minutes,” Kiss detailed.

Chief Medical Officer Cecília Müller reported that the number of newly confirmed cases this week is in keeping with last week’s trend. “The number of active infections is declining and has now dropped to 1,775,” she noted.

“59 percent of those actively infected, 79 percent of those who have died and 59 percent of those fully recovered have been from Budapest or Pest County; 658 coronavirus patients are hospitalized, and 49 are on ventilators,” Müller said, adding that “there has been a significant increase in the number of laboratory tests, which now total 123,258.”

Taking into account the new figures, the chief medical officer emphasized that “we have reached a static stage; the epidemic is declining in Hungary.”

Responding to a question from the press, Müller pointed out that “we have more and more knowledge about the pathogen […] In addition to the inflammatory and enhanced immune response, there is increased blood clotting, and symptoms come from these thrombi [which] can also be the cause of skin symptoms and multiorgan disorders.” The CMO added that “permanent damage can also occur, although this is relatively rare, and there is primarily some reduction in lung capacity.”