On Monday, supplies necessary for the containment of the epidemic are arriving in Hungary delivered by seven cargo planes, 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 Monday.

According to Police Lt. Colonel Róbert Kiss’s information, 17 tonnes of protective gloves, 16 tonnes of surgical face masks and several tonnes of other protective supplies will arrive in the country throughout the day.

He said at the weekend the police had taken action in 3,631 instances due to the violation of the rules related to the restrictions on movement. On Saturday, action was taken in 1,905 instances, while on Sunday in 1,726 instances; during the two days, 1,760 persons were cautioned, 1,069 onsite fines were imposed and 802 persons were prosecuted due to different infringements.

At the weekend, 1,476 compulsory home quarantine orders were issued; the number of restrictive orders in effect currently stands at 9,829. Persons in compulsory home quarantine are being checked on an ongoing basis; this weekend, the police imposed sanctions due to 41 violations. The police have checked compliance with compulsory home quarantine orders since 12 March; so far, they have taken action against those violating the regulations in 1,286 instances, he added.

So far, 281 criminal procedures have been instituted in connection with the epidemic, 74 due to scaremongering, 25 due to the threat of public danger, 86 due to fraud and 16 due to the violation of disease control regulations. 50 suspects have been questioned to date.

Traffic at Hungary’s border crossing stations is calm, the Lt. Colonel continued, observing that delays of up to 1 hour should only be expected in cargo traffic on the entry side at Tompa and Röszke.

In answer to a journalist’s question, Mr Kiss said the measure of making parking free from 6 April has been successful. He recalled that the purpose of the government decree was to reduce overcrowding on public transport. According to their assessment, this has been achieved as many people are now using their own cars, he said, adding that the fewer passengers using public transport are able to better observe the rules of social distancing. We have every reason to state that as the disease curve of the epidemic is flatter than estimated and expected earlier, combined with other measures, free parking has also proved to be a successful measure, he said.

In answer to the question as to whether there were many around Lake Balaton who violated the rules related to the restrictions on movement, the Lt. Colonel said in Somogy, Veszprém and Zala Counties, 435 police measures were required in total which is a rather high number. 228 police measures were implemented in Somogy County, 97 in Zala County and 110 in Veszprém County. In Somogy County, 83 persons were cautioned, 79 onsite fines were imposed and 66 persons were prosecuted.

(Cabinet Office of the Prime Minister / MTI)