The number of patients treated in hospital with coronavirus infection has fallen to below five hundred, 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, highlighting the latest data, that the number of persons treated in hospital with coronavirus infection currently stands at 483, including 23 requiring assisted ventilation, and in the past 24 hours three persons have died in connection with the disease. The number of active cases has fallen, too; at present, there are 1,615 registered active infections.

She highlighted that the epidemic data continues to remain favourable; both the number of new confirmed cases and the number of fatalities have decreased, and the epidemic curve continues to follow a downward course. “We are optimistic, hoping that the we are at the end of the first wave of the epidemic,” she pointed out.

She said in the past 24 hours the number of confirmed coronavirus patients has risen by 37 to 3,678, and so far 476 coronavirus patients have died. 1,587 persons have recovered from the disease, and the number of active infections currently stands at 1,615, 44 per cent reported from Budapest and 56 from the countryside, she added.

She also said in Hungary 38 confirmed cases of infection fall on one hundred thousand persons; this number is 100 in Budapest, 90 in Zala County, 87 in Fejér County, 74 in Komárom-Esztergom County and 40 in Pest County. Nationwide, there are five fatalities falling on one hundred thousand persons.

The highest number of fatalities – 488 – came from those aged over 60; in the age group between 30 and 39 there were three fatalities, between 40 and 49 there were eight fatalities, while between the ages of 50 and 59 years there were 17 fatalities, she said.

She highlighted that from among the patients confirmed in the past 24 hours, 5 are from the Óhegy utca social care home, two from the Pesti út elderly care home and another two from the Seregélyes social home. Outside closed communities, 15 cases were recorded in Budapest, 2 in Fejér County, 8 in Komárom-Esztergom County, 10 in Pest County, and one in Zala County and Nógrád County, each.

She said so far 521 health care workers have been infected with the coronavirus, including 254 active patients. Health care workers account for 14 per cent of the total number of infected persons. 266 of them have recovered, and there has been one fatality.

The Chief Medical Officer further informed members of the public that the domestic development of a coronavirus vaccine had started as part of a cooperation scheme between the University of Debrecen and the National Centre for Public Health.

She recalled that the National Centre for Public Health had been among the first in Europe to isolate the novel coronavirus from samples derived from 30 to 40 persons which constituted the basis of vaccine development. Researchers are examining virus strains and are breeding those most suitable for development in cell cultures. They are currently testing cell cultures and are looking at scientific evidence so that the vaccine can trigger an optimal immune response in the body, she said.

In answer to a question, she drew attention to the fact that outdoor bathing is permitted at designated bathing areas; however, hygiene rules and safe social distancing must be observed.

Ms. Müller also underlined that children in nursery schools were not required to wear face masks. At the same time, she said it is a welcome development that instead of textile towels institutions are now using paper towels.

(Cabinet Office of the Prime Minister/MTI)