Further planes carrying protective supplies, including overalls, face masks and ventilators, are arriving in Hungary in the next few days, the Parliamentary State Secretary of the Cabinet Office of the Prime Minister said on the public service television news channel M1 on Thursday.

Csaba Dömötör said while we have managed to avoid a drastic increase in the number of people infected with the coronavirus, the country may well proceed from the phase of group infections to the phase of mass incidences. Therefore, the goal is to ensure the availability of sufficient protective supplies also for the event of a higher patient load.

To this end, not only finished products are being received, but also manufacturing equipment which enables production in Hungary, he added.

He said upon the distribution of protective supplies, they take into consideration the number of infections, the size of existing stocks and the number of physicians and nurses to be supplied with protective gear in each area.

The State Secretary also said the more detailed information provided with respect to the infected persons and the deceased serves to draw attention to the most at-risk groups. He asked the elderly to stay at home if possible, and to only go shopping during the permitted time slot between 9.00 a.m. and 12.00 p.m. as a last resort, if neither family members, nor the local government are able to help them.

On Kossuth Radio’s programme ‘Good morning, Hungary’, Mr Dömötör highlighted in connection with EU funds available for the containment of the epidemic that Hungary has tied up almost one hundred per cent of the allocation for the period between 2014 and 2020, and the dissolution of already concluded contracts would result in even greater economic losses. Therefore, the measure that the funds available in the plan of the financial framework can also be used for the containment of the epidemic is, in fact, no help at all for Hungary and for another more than ten EU Member States.

It would be necessary to mobilise other funds such as from the European Social Fund, and all regions should be permitted to avail themselves of EU funds, the State Secretary said.

(Cabinet Office of the Prime Minister/MTI)