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Coronavirus Update: Certain medical procedures suspended to prioritize emergency cases

Throughout the country, hospitals are suspending elective surgeries and examinations due to the coronavirus infection; only emergency interventions will be carried out.

Throughout the country, hospitals are suspending elective surgeries and examinations due to the coronavirus infection; only emergency interventions will be carried out. The delivery of test results has also been suspended. The results of diagnostic procedures can be downloaded in the Electronic Health Care Service Space (https://www.eeszt.gov.hu/hu/nyito-oldal). 

After contacting the Operational Group, the healthcare provider Budapest Egészségközpont Kft. (BEK) has made its inpatient capacity available, the institution told the Hungarian news agency MTI on Monday. From Sunday, they have fully suspended their private services and the non-acute patient care of the National Center for Spinal Disorders operated by them. Acute spinal surgery care continues to remain available at the institution, they stated. 

Additionally, BEK’s hospital at Királyhágó út will be turned into a disease control hospital in the next few days. They have also provided for the immediate procurement of twenty anaesthetic machines capable of long-term ventilation. 

On its website, the Zala County Szent Rafael Hospital reported that from Tuesday in Zalaegerszeg only emergency interventions will be carried out. Only patients with referrals marked as urgent are received for outpatient care, diagnostic examinations and laboratory tests. Screening tests, including lung X-rays and outpatient care at the physiotherapy department, have been temporarily suspended. The therapeutic treatment of oncology patients continues, the local oncology team decides about the urgency of surgery, while patients treated at the department whose treatment can continue at home are being released. 

From Tuesday in Nagykanizsa, the Kanizsa Dorottya Hospital is only able to provide healthcare services related to acute diseases. Patients are only allowed to present themselves for imaging tests and blood sample taking for laboratory tests in justified cases, after medical consultation. People suffering from long-term diseases and receiving oncological treatment will be able to request medicines by telephone, and will receive e-prescriptions from specialists. 

On its website, the Balassa János Hospital in Tolna County is asking patients to only visit the institution in the case of urgent health problems. In the hospital’s outpatient units, patients are only being treated due to life-threatening conditions emerging unexpectedly or in order to avoid long-term health damage; the hospital is otherwise only open for removing stitches and casts, and replacing dressings. Patients can request appointments for cancelled examinations after the end of the state of emergency due to the epidemic, their website reads. 

In the Markusovszky Hospital in Szombathely, elective procedures have been suspended both in outpatient care and inpatient care; only emergency interventions are carried out. 

In the four hospitals and institutions of the Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg County Hospitals and University Training Hospital (SZSZBMK), all planned operations and examinations have been cancelled, no appointments are given, and check-ups have likewise been suspended, the institution informed MTI. Any interventions are only carried out in urgent, life-threatening cases, or in the event of the danger of a deterioration in the patient’s condition. 

At present, in the hospitals of SZSZBMK the visiting ban is being further tightened, and new isolation wards are being set up. The delivery of test results has been suspended; the results of diagnostic procedures can be downloaded in the Electronic Health Care Service Space (https://www.eeszt.gov.hu/hu/nyito-oldal).

From Monday in the county’s healthcare institutions lung X-rays have also been suspended. In addition to cases requiring immediate intervention, tests are only carried out in relation to employees whose employment-specialist physician verifies in a referral that the given examination is essential for the performance of work or the commencement of employment. The mammography center only carries out examinations in urgent cases, including the diagnosis of clinical cases and the suspicion of malignancy. 

From Monday, the Győr Petz Aladár County Training Hospital, too, has suspended elective surgeries, the institution’s director general informed MTI. According to László János Tamás’s communication, this extends to one-day and outpatient interventions. Urgent cases, conditions involving long-term health damage and illnesses whose treatment cannot be delayed for minimum two months are being treated on an ongoing basis. 

They have also suspended screening tests and check-ups, dental care, planned examinations and care. The only exceptions are interventions which seek to prevent health deterioration, the removal of stitches, non-delayable bandaging, cast removal and prenatal care. 

In the Fejér County Szent György University Training Hospital and Surgeries as well as in the Dunaújváros Szent Pantaleon Hospital, there is a visiting ban in force. As part of outpatient care, only urgent cases involving long-term health damage are being treated; elective, non-urgent interventions have been suspended. 

In Székesfehérvár, through the reorganization of operations, sixty-five new places have been created in a separate building in addition to the existing disease control beds, and the necessary medical and nursing staff are also available.

In Dunaújváros, some inpatient departments have been merged to make space for disease control care in the vacated places in two wings of the building, while with the assistance of the disaster management authority, they will set up a pre-screening tent for the admission of patients requiring urgent care. 

A call center set up for advice on the coronavirus can be reached on +36-80-277-455 and +36-80-277-456 or by email koronavirus@bm.gov.hu