At the weekend, the police have been required to take action against those violating restrictions on movement in a record number of instances, 1,905 times, the head of the duty centre of the Operational Group responsible for the containment of the coronavirus epidemic said at an online press conference held on Sunday.

Colonel Tibor Lakatos said “while the virus is spreading at a slower rate than we expected before, we cannot be irresponsible,” and pointed out that members of the public are required to observe the government decree on the restrictions on movement as well as the rules adopted by mayors locally for the weekend.

In answer to a question, the Colonel said the purpose of the restrictions adopted by mayors for the weekend is to prevent conduct that promotes the spread of the epidemic, such as group gatherings in public places, the illegal use of catering establishments and the use of public transport.

He said, as far as they can see, so far mayors have used their authorisation well, and have introduced measures which prevent the spread of the virus. He observed that such rules must be created within the boundaries of common sense.

The Colonel also highlighted that the disease control situation allows the government to lift some of the restrictions on movement, but measures can only be introduced gradually and carefully, after thorough preparations, on the basis of “other measures implemented consistently”.

He pointed out that the epidemic was not over yet, but was spreading at a rate which allowed the lifting of some restrictions. He stressed this does not mean that we should not expect any further restrictions and should not pay attention to our health. However, “within the boundaries of certain rules, we can recommence various activities”.

In answer to the question regarding the criteria to be taken into consideration upon the lifting of restrictions, he said the most fundamental criteria include the rate of the spread of the virus, the number of infected persons, the number of persons in a critical condition, and the reserve capacity of the health care system.

We must also take account of the measures implemented by neighbouring countries as, he pointed out, “we cannot follow entirely different paths”. He mentioned as an example that, in the case of travel restrictions, Hungary will have to adjust to the less severe restrictions introduced in neighbouring countries. He added that they must further take into consideration that Hungary is not in the same stage of the epidemic as Austria.

In answer to a question, the Colonel said the changing of the shopping time slot reserved for the elderly over 65 has been considered several times, but at this point, they believe that there is no reason for changing this. He added that after 3 May, according to a pre-determined schedule, they will also implement changes in this regard; however, separating the elderly from younger people continues to remain a priority.

The Colonel also said on Sunday morning another plane delivering protective supplies arrived from China. The Colonel thanked everyone taking part in the delivery of protective supplies, the swift administration of customs procedures and the forwarding of supplies to the containment staff for their efforts. He made special mention of the hard work of staff members of the State Centre for Health Care Supplies who are also working at the weekend, warehousing, preparing and transporting protective supplies.

According to his information, traffic at the border crossing stations is smooth; there are more significant delays in incoming cargo traffic at Röszke, in outgoing and incoming passenger and cargo traffic at Nagylak, and in incoming cargo traffic at Csanádpalota.

Regarding reports that since Thursday morning, cross-border commuting has also been made possible at the Serbian-Hungarian border, but the Serbian authority requires Serbian nationals arriving home from Hungary to remain in quarantine for 28 days, Mr Lakatos said initially the Serbian health care authorities construed the agreement between the two foreign ministers differently. However, this problem was solved in bilateral talks, and on Saturday 694 persons were allowed to enter via this border section. He observed that in Serbia there are restrictions on movement until 5.00 a.m. on Monday morning, but after this cross-border commuters will be able to cross the border repeatedly without having to retire to quarantine.

(Cabinet Office of the Prime Minister/MTI)