“There are no coronavirus patients in Hungary today”, State Secretary for Healthcare Ildikó Horváth declared at a press conference in Budapest on Wednesday.

“Nobody in Hungary is currently suffering from the coronavirus. Nevertheless, we are taking the illness, which has claimed several lives in China, seriously. The epidemic can spread around the world as a result of travel, and accordingly the Hungarian government is also paying particular attention to preventive measures”, she stated.

“The National Centre for Public Health (NNK) is in continuous contact with the World Health Organisation (WHO), and with the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC)”, the State Secretary told reporters.

“One of the most important things it to behave in a calm and disciplined manner”, she said.

The State Secretary was asked about the fake new reports concerning the coronavirus, in response to which Ms. Horváth recommended that people acquire their information from the NNK.

She also emphasised that there is currently an influenza virus epidemic in Hungary. Some 15-20 thousand people are suffering from the disease. She asked that if people sense the symptoms, they should remain at home so as not to infect others.

With relation to the coronavirus, National Chief Medical Officer Cecília Müller said she is receiving advice and written reports concerning travel. “In addition, hand sanitizers have been installed at the airport. Patients with ‘critical’ symptoms are being identified by the airport health service. This is also what happened in the case of the patient with a high temperature who arrived in Budapest overnight. The laboratory tests confirmed that he is not suffering from a coronavirus infection, and is clinically well”, she stated.

“According to the information currently available, four coronavirus patients have been identified in Germany and three in France. There continue to be no coronavirus patients in Hungary”, she underlined.

“The apparatus that is tasked with and responsible for preparing for epidemiological challenges has fulfilled, and will continue to fulfil, its responsibility. We have established the competencies that are suitable for identifying the new strain of the coronavirus”, the Chief Medical Officer said.

“Everyone who has any epidemiological task at all has been provided with the necessary information and rules of procedure. The experts know what they are doing”, she declared.

The South Pest Central Hospital has been designated to treat possible patients, while the NNK’s laboratory is responsible for testing.

The expert stressed that for the sickness to develop requires a source and a vulnerable constitution. “We are only talking about an epidemic if the illness occurs in large groups”, Ms. Müller told reporters.

Virologist Zoltán Kis from the National Centre for Public Health briefed the press with relation to diagnostics, which in Hungary is exclusively being performed in the NKK’s laboratories. He also said that the NNK’s national security laboratory is prepared to participate in the development of a vaccine against the new coronavirus.

In reply to a question, Cecília Müller and Ildikó Hováth both spoke about the fact that the epidemic is dynamic, meaning that the epidemiological situation could change at any time. “If it does, the NNK and the government will both immediately implement the required measures and will inform the public of the change in the situation”, they stated.

The new strain of the coronavirus (nCoV-2019), which belongs in the same family as the SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) virus, causes symptoms similar to influenza, and can cause serious respiratory complaints. It has a latency period of 2-10 days. The epidemic caused by the virus is suspected of having spread from a market in Wuhan last December. The number of people who have died from the disease in China has now increased to 132. The number of people who are proven to have been infected by the coronavirus is some six thousand. At least 47 confirmed cases have been reported from 16 countries, including Thailand, France, the United States and Australia. No deaths have occurred outside China thus far.

(MTI)