Protective supplies are being delivered to almost a hundred institutions, for health care workers and law enforcement officers, the head of the duty centre of the Operational Group responsible for the containment of the coronavirus epidemic said at an online press conference held on Tuesday.

Colonel Tibor Lakatos said, based on the Operational Group’s decision, on Monday and Tuesday, consignments have been and are being delivered to dozens of hospitals in the capital and in the provinces. Protective supplies will also be delivered to the National Ambulance Service, the police and the Hungarian Prison Service headquarters.

The 6.5 million protective items include mainly face masks, visors, examination gloves, FFP2 and FFP3 face masks, and protective gowns necessary for medical work, he said.

The Colonel also highlighted that the government decree in effect from 30 April – which lays down that local governments are required to offer creche and nursery school duty services in settlements where these institutions have been closed down due to the coronavirus epidemic – has been published in Magyar Közlöny [Hungarian Gazette]. Duty service must be made available between 6.00 a.m. and 6.00 p.m. on business days, there can be maximum five children in each group, and this duty service is free of charge. The government decree also provides for child supervision at the workplace, he added.

Mr Lakatos reported that the police had recommended the pressing of charges in three cases related to the threat of public endangerment. One of them is in connection with the fake news claiming – at a time when there were no infections present in Hungary – that several persons had died in the country due to the virus. According to another fake news item, several coronavirus patients were taken away from Liszt Ferenc Airport, while the third one claimed that Budapest would be put on lockdown. According to the Colonel’s information, the National Bureau of Investigation of the Rapid Response Police Unit conducted the necessary procedures and has now recommended that charges be brought against the suspects in the above-mentioned three cases.

In answer to a question, the Colonel said the spreading of fake news falls into the category of threat of public endangerment. The police have instituted procedures due to 25 counts of threat of public endangerment; 13 of these are under way. The police have additionally instituted 77 procedures due to scaremongering; 32 of those are in progress. He added that in several cases the perpetrators had been identified. In these cases, the investigations necessary in preparation for prosecution are under way, while in the rest of the cases, there is ongoing investigative work.

He also mentioned that on Monday the police had taken action in 1,183 instances due to the violation of the rules related to the restrictions on movement. Since the introduction of the restrictions on movement, the police have been required to take action in 37,350 instances in total.

(Cabinet Office of the Prime Minister / MTI)