As expected, the restrictive measures currently in effect at all border crossing stations on the Hungarian-Croatian border will be lifted on Friday, 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 Wednesday.

Police Lt. Colonel Róbert Kiss said, according to Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó’s announcement, Hungarian and Croatian nationals will be able to enter one another’s countries without the obligation of retiring to compulsory home quarantine.

The Lt. Colonel recalled that from Monday border controls had been rescinded at all of Hungary’s internal Schengen state borders.

He drew attention to the fact that the general rules relating to entry into Hungary by non-Hungarian nationals, the specific rules relating to entry into Hungary by Bulgarian, Czech, Slovak, Serbian, Austrian, Slovenian and German nationals, the rules relating to international transit traffic for humanitarian purposes and international cargo transportation with destinations in Hungary, and the provisions relating to the submission and granting of applications deserving special consideration on individual grounds will continue to remain in force.

He added that, based on the authorisation provided by the legal rules in effect, the police are conducting random checks within the administrative territory of Hungary.

Mr Kiss said the number of persons registering for the IT application that can be downloaded onto mobile phones for the electronic monitoring of compulsory home quarantine has risen to 2,496, while the number of active users currently stands at 797.

On Tuesday, 566 compulsory home quarantine orders were issued, resulting in 8,805 in effect in total at present, he said.

The number of criminal procedures instituted in connection with the epidemic has risen to 435, including 124 due to scaremongering, 29 due to the threat of public endangerment, 131 due to fraud and 28 due to the violation of disease control regulations.

In these cases, the police have questioned eighty persons as suspects to date, he added.

In answer to a question, he said the Operational Group will remain in session also after the end of the state of danger. They will regularly analyse and evaluate the latest epidemic data and will monitor any restrictive measures that may be introduced in neighbouring countries.

He announced that – with regard to the state of preparedness introduced in health care in preparation for the fight against a possible second wave of the epidemic – the Operational Group had decided to set up a deployment unit.

It will be the duty of this unit to immediately implement the necessary measures onsite in the event of the emergence of coronavirus infection in any particular area or institution, he highlighted.

(Cabinet Office of the Prime Minister / MTI)