The number of new confirmed coronavirus patients has decreased for four days, the Chief Medical Officer said at the Friday online press conference of the Operational Group responsible for the containment of the coronavirus epidemic.

Cecília Müller said it will be necessary to monitor the effects of the less stringent rules introduced in the countryside and the development of the epidemic for minimum two weeks. “We are closely and cautiously monitoring events and the numbers that reflect the pattern of the epidemic in order to see” whether the relaxing of the rules “will change the dynamics of the epidemic,” she added.

Ms. Müller outlined the latest national data: the number of infected persons has risen to 3,178, the number of active infected persons stands at 1,921, 9 persons have died in the past 24 hours, the total number of fatalities is 392, while the number of recovered patients currently stands at 865. To date, 99,058 tests have been carried out in total.

The Chief Medical Officer said on Friday she signed an agreement with Minister of Human Capacities Miklós Kásler and Rector of Debrecen University Zoltán Szilvássy about the establishment of a Hungarian vaccine factory so that Hungary may become independent also in the area of the production of vaccines.

The national vaccine plant’s product range will “include both compulsory vaccines and optional vaccines,” she added.

Mr Müller said from Friday also pharmacies will be able to sell FFP1, FFP2 and FFP3 face masks, meaning that everyone now will have access to them.

The Chief Medical Officer said after the relaxing of rules in the countryside, many buildings that had been unused for some time could reopen. She drew attention to the fact that in hot water systems – when left unused over an extended period – legionella bacteria could proliferate which, similar to the coronavirus, could cause severe pneumonia, primarily in the case of elderly persons and persons suffering from chronic diseases.

Therefore, it is important to drain and disinfect systems not used for a while, and to subject them to so-called ‘thermal shock’, thoroughly rinsing them with hot and cold water several times.

Ms. Müller also highlighted that while in the countryside restaurants and cafes were allowed to reopen, group events still cannot be held. She asked restaurant operators to increase the distance between tables in the gardens and on the terraces of restaurants, and to regularly wipe the salt and pepper mills placed on tables with disinfectant wipes.

She also suggested that restaurants should make hand sanitisers available to customers, use paper towels in toilets, and clean toilets more frequently, several times a day.

The Chief Medical Officer further said if customers are to help themselves to cutlery, it should be wrapped, while the personnel preparing and serving food should not handle cash, there should be a separate person taking money.

In answer to a question from the press, she said in the Pesti út elderly care home, 303 residents and 26 nurses have been registered with coronavirus infection, the number of fatalities stands at 41, while 60 persons have recovered from the disease.

In answer to another question, she highlighted that the infected persons registered during Semmelweis University’s national research would not feature in the national statistics, given that they can only include patients identified through tests carried out at the request of general practitioners or according to the disease control protocol in the laboratories designated by the National Centre for Public Hygiene.

(Cabinet Office of the Prime Minister/MTI)