The procurement of new supplies is ongoing, the head of the duty centre of the Operational Group responsible for the containment of the coronavirus infection said at an online press conference held on Tuesday.

The delivery of protective supplies intended for the intensive care workers of hospitals was completed during the early hours of the morning, Colonel Tibor Lakatos stated.

He added that on Tuesday morning another three million face masks, one hundred thousand test kits and 86 ventilators had arrived from China by plane.

He stressed that the replenishment of supplies and the procurement of new equipment are ongoing; current inventories and the planned procurements ensure the availability of an appropriate quantity of protective supplies for health care workers and those who may come into direct contact with infected persons.

In answer to a question about who will receive the most recently delivered three million face masks, he said protecting health care workers’ health is the number one priority, and so they will be the first on the list, to be followed by police officers, disaster management personnel and soldiers who carry out disease control checks or control border crossing points. Third on the list will be persons who otherwise play an important role in the containment effort.

More and more people are violating the measures imposed as part of the containment effort, Mr Lakatos said.

He added that 4,207 persons are in compulsory home quarantine who have been checked by the authorities more than 26,000 times. In the past 24 hours alone, 3,689 such checks have been carried out. Irregularities have been found in 177 cases; the authorities have imposed onsite fines on 24 individuals and have pressed charges against 130 individuals due to the violation of the rules of compulsory home quarantine.

He highlighted that these measures have been implemented because the individuals exposed to the threat of infection – including those who have been abroad – could carry the virus and could infect others in whom presence of the virus could result in death.

In answer to a question related to defence control groups, Mr Lakatos said such units have been assigned to companies which are vital for the continued supply of the population or are engaged in activities necessary for the containment effort. Duties of the units include reporting any problems in operations so that the necessary measures can be implemented and maintaining the continued operations of the businesses concerned. He added that should the need arise for extending the range of businesses, they will do so.

He also said more and more frauds are trying to profit from the epidemic; 14 procedures have been instituted in such cases. Charges have been pressed due to scaremongering in 16 instances and due to public endangerment in 13 instances. They continue to check compliance with the restrictions on shop opening hours; charges have been pressed due to the violation of rules in forty cases, in addition to the imposition of 16 onsite fines, he said.

Entry and exit at the borders of the country are smooth, he said, there are some delays in exit cargo traffic at Udvar, while in entry passenger and cargo traffic at Parassapuszta. He also said county containment committees had started their operations where containment efforts would be coordinated on a territorial level.

Mr Lakatos highlighted that from 15 April, the limit for contactless payment without use of the PIN number will increase to HUF 15,000, and also mentioned that on Monday the decrees concerning the most recent economy protection measures had been published in Magyar Közlöny [Hungarian Gazette].

(MTI)