On Kossuth Rádió this morning, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán began his interview by stating that there is a detailed action plan in place, akin to a “war plan,” for handling the rising number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Hungary. “It is a lie that there are not enough hospital beds and healthcare professionals,” the PM said, adding that “while we don’t claim that the healthcare system is in perfect condition, it is prepared.”
Referring to these lies, spread by Hungarian opposition parties, PM Orbán asked these parties to “refrain from attacking epidemiologists,” and attack him instead, as “they already have vast experience in that area,” but not so much when it comes to epidemiology. Hammering in the point that experts must be allowed to do their work, the PM said, “If they [opposition parties complaining] cannot be trusted with the defense, at least they should not keep attacking our experts.”
Sharing details of Hungary’s war plan against the coronavirus, PM Orbán said, “Should one of the selected hospitals run out of beds, then we go to the next hospital – if we run out of people, then we will start giving the command for more people to come.”
“We have not been just lazing around since March,” Viktor Orbán said, “We have prepared the healthcare system for a different kind of defense than the one we had in the spring.”
Elaborating on this “different kind of defense,” the prime minister said that when the first wave hit the country, the government asked people to stay home so that the healthcare system could be properly adjusted.
“Today,” PM Orbán continued, “we are not asking for anyone to stay at home. Instead, we say: Dear Hungarians, please abide by the rules so that we can continue living our lives as we normally do.” The PM then reminded those listening that Hungary finished among the top 25 in most global reports on the effectiveness of governments’ defense against the coronavirus.
Turning to the topic of a vaccine against COVID-19, Prime Minister Orbán said that “the defense will end only after we have a vaccine. As long as we don’t have the vaccine, we must carry on with the defense.”
On the state of Hungary’s economy, the prime minister reported that there were more Hungarians employed in August than this past January. This means, according to him, that the country must prepare for a shortage of laborers. “The economy will grow faster than the number of workers we have,” PM Orbán concluded.