As many as 1.8 million people stated their opinions which can be summed up as “we must protect everyone’s health, but the country should not grind to a halt, and it is in this spirit that we are taking action,” the Spokesperson of the Government Communication Centre said on the public service television news channel M1 on Monday morning.

Örs Farkas added that in the second wave of the coronavirus epidemic the tactic will be different from that followed during the first wave. The first wave took the world by surprise, and therefore the goal of the government was to gain time in order to prepare health care for being able to provide appropriate care.

“During the first wave, Hungary defended itself successfully. All analyses that scrutinised and ranked countries world-wide regarding their coronavirus efforts ranked Hungary among the 25 countries that best defended themselves against the epidemic,” he highlighted.

However, the second wave reached the health care system well-prepared, and therefore this time the goal is to ensure that life does not stop in Hungary, Mr Farkas added.

In the case of health care, the government has developed a kind of “rolling plan” which means that coronavirus patients requiring hospitalisation will be treated throughout the country, he pointed out.

According to the spokesperson, at present there are fewer patients than available hospital beds, and so the designated hospitals are able to fulfil their duties.

He stressed that in the national consultation some 1.8 million people stated their opinions which can be summed up as “we must protect everyone’s health, but the country should not grind to a halt, and it is in this spirit that we are taking action”.

The government is treating the protection of the elderly and students as a top priority, and is also strictly regulating entry into the country, he added.

In answer to a question, he also said he expects opposition parties to continue to hinder the government’s measures as they did during the first wave.

Regarding the credit rating agency Moody’s decision of last week, he said they may have upgraded the outlook of the country’s debtor rating because they have recognised that since 2010 Hungary has pursued a stable economic course, and additionally may recover from the crisis caused by the epidemic swifter than other countries. “This is evidently positive feedback both for the government and the central bank,” Mr Farkas said.

(Cabinet Office of the Prime Minister/MTI)