The production of Hungarian-developed ventilators will start shortly, a staff member of the duty centre of the Operational Group responsible for the containment of the coronavirus epidemic said at an online press conference held on Friday.

Police Lt. Colonel Róbert Kiss said the prototype of the ventilator was prepared by the Budapest University of Technology and Economics.

On Wednesday, the production hall was inaugurated, and the production of ventilators will start shortly, with a daily production capacity of ten, the Lt. Colonel stated.

At the press conference, the staff member of the Operational Group’s duty centre said from 3.00 p.m. on Thursday nationals of the two countries as well as nationals of the European Economic Area holding permanent residency cards issued in Hungary may cross the Slovenian-Hungarian border without having to retire to compulsory home quarantine. If they detect symptoms of coronavirus infection within 14 days, they are required to contact the disease control authorities, Mr Kiss said.

He highlighted that the government decree on drive-in popular musical concerts and commemorations attached to the Day of National Cohesion had entered into effect on Friday. Drive-in popular musical concerts may now be held; it is the organisers’ responsibility to determine the conditions of attendance, he added.

Between 3 and 7 June commemorations related to the Day of National Cohesion can also be held. Attendees will be required to keep a safe distance of one and a half metres from others wherever possible. According to the legislative act, local governments, too, are allowed to organise cultural events, Mr Kiss pointed out.

The Lt. Colonel said the number of persons registering for the IT application that can be downloaded onto mobile phones for the monitoring of compulsory home quarantine has risen to 1,715. On Thursday, 708 compulsory home quarantine orders were issued, and so the total number of such restrictive orders currently stands at 10,763.

He mentioned that the number of criminal proceedings instituted in connection with the epidemic had risen to 407, including 110 due to scaremongering, 128 due to fraud, 29 due to the threat of public endangerment and 21 due to the violation of disease control regulations. The police have questioned 80 suspects so far.

Regarding border traffic, Mr Kiss said on Friday morning in incoming cargo traffic there was a two-hour delay at Csengersima and a three-hour delay at Röszke, while on the exit side there was a sixty-minute wait at Röszke.

In passenger traffic on the entry side there are one-hour delays at Nagylak, Röszke and Csengersima, he added.

(Cabinet Office of the Prime Minister/MTI)