Chief Medical Officer Cecília Müller said more and more people are expected to become infected with the new coronavirus in Hungary, and many new cases will be diagnosed.
During an online Operational Group press conference, Müller said more laboratory tests are being conducted, although still only in the contact-tracing phase. She added that seven laboratories are working around the clock to process the tests. So far, 12,148 have been completed.
The chief medical officer said the spread of the virus would move to the next phase, in which masses of people are infected, “in the coming days, within a week”. That is why people must take movement and social distancing restrictions seriously, she added.
Müller said the death rate of those infected with the virus in Hungary, relative to population, is not very high compared to the rest of the countries affected by the pandemic, but added that there is little value in making such comparisons as every country is managing the pandemic in their own way.
She said the conditions of the cases who died correspond to overall mortality data for Hungary: about half had heart or circulatory system diseases and one-quarter had cancer. The average age of those who died was 69, she added. She said 14 of the confirmed coronavirus cases are on ventilators.
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