Chief Medical Officer Cecilia Müller said Hungary’s rising coronavirus case numbers show that the country is “on the cusp of a third wave of the epidemic”.
The CMO said epidemiological trends in Hungary have been deteriorating over the last several days, with 2,853 new Covid infections registered on Wednesday. The number of Covid-19 patients treated in hospital has also been rising, with 4,021 people currently hospitalized, 332 of them on a ventilator, she said, noting that 104 people died on Wednesday. The number of active infections has also risen to 78,625. “We’re seeing worsening epidemiological data,” she said, underlining the importance of implementing the government’s vaccination plan.
According to MTI, Müller noted that Hungary has authorized the use of five Covid vaccines. Vaccinations are ongoing with the Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, AstraZeneca and Sputnik V jabs, while experts are still examining the Chinese Sinopharm vaccine. Hungary is scheduled to take delivery of another 83,500 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine on Thursday evening, the CMO said, noting that this batch would be enough to inoculate 41,750 people. These vaccines will be delivered to general practitioners next week.
Finally, Müller said the government will again deploy mobile screening buses offering antigen rapid tests to those whose GP had ordered them to take a Covid test. Those who test positive will also be tested using a PCR test on the spot, she added.
Photo credit: koronavirus.gov.hu