Those working in basic health care as well as in elderly care homes and social institutions will receive further protective supplies, the head of the duty centre of the Operational Group responsible for the containment of the coronavirus epidemic said at a press conference held on Friday.

Colonel Tibor Lakatos said that on Friday the State Centre for Health Care Supplies will deliver four weeks of supplies to those working in basic health care, while elderly care homes will receive two million surgical face masks, 307,000 pairs of protective gloves and 7,000 protective gowns.

He recalled that general practitioners and dentists had received protective supplies from state stocks several times in the past but, he said, “we must change over to responsible supplies management”. This mode of supplies management must be implemented both centrally and at the level of institutions, and the process will be supervised in hospitals by hospital commanders, while in elderly care homes by institution commanders, he stated.

He said border traffic is calm despite the fact that ever more border crossing points are being opened to workers and students. He said there could be some delays in outbound traffic at Röszke, Nagylak and Csanádpalota, but these delays are under an hour. Only in passenger traffic on the entry side at Nagylak should border-crossers expect a delay of 2 hours.

He said the greatest pressure is on the Austrian-Hungarian border; there are some 13,000 border-crossers daily. He pointed out it is reassuring that on this border section on Thursday there were no suspected cases of infection.

According to his information, at present there are 11,036 persons in compulsory home quarantine; on Thursday, the police checked compliance with the relevant rules in 7,534 instances. The police have checked compliance on the part of persons under such restrictive measures since 12 March, having carried out 386,099 checks since. On Thursday, they experienced 35 violations, while in total 1,580 persons have violated the rules of compulsory home quarantine to date.

On Thursday, the police cautioned 247 persons, imposed 114 onsite fines and prosecuted 100 persons in connection with the violation of the rules related to the restrictions on movement.

In the countryside on Thursday, the police cautioned 22 persons, imposed 9 onsite fines and prosecuted 4 persons in connection with the new rules regarding containment measures.

In answer to a question from the press regarding the conditions under which mass events could be held after the restrictions extending to 15 August according to the government decree now in force, he said the restrictions can only be lifted gradually, according to strict rules. The government itself has planned to lift the restrictive measures in multiple stages as upon lifting one restriction or another, they must continuously monitor its effects, he added. The duty centre of the Operational Group is involved in this monitoring activity; they evaluate the data daily and make recommendations to the government.

Regarding the electronic monitoring of compulsory home quarantine, he said pursuant to the government decree released on 4 May, electronic monitoring can also be introduced for persons who were required to retire to compulsory home quarantine earlier. This is, however, subject to 3 consents; upon its implementation, when downloading the mobile application created for the purpose,  and upon registration in the system. He added that an advantage of the electronic system is that it reduces the monitoring duties of the police, while at the same time, they are able to enforce the rules more discreetly in the case of those in compulsory home quarantine.

In answer to the question as to whether children are allowed to attend playgrounds in Budapest and Pest County, the Colonel said the rules on the restrictions on movement lay down the reasons for which persons can leave their homes. While these include individual sporting activities and walking for health reasons, their experiences show that in playgrounds children are unable to observe the regulations, and so several local governments have closed them down. The Colonel asked those living in the capital and in Pest County to plan their leisure-time activities taking this into consideration.

(Cabinet Office of the Prime Minister/MTI)