Nurses deserve our appreciation and gratitude for their hard work, the Chief Medical Officer stated at the Tuesday online press conference of the Operational Group responsible for the containment of the coronavirus epidemic.

On the occasion of International Nurses Day, Cecília Müller thanked nurses for the hard work they perform throughout their lives. She said it also also thanks to nurses that as many as 12 coronavirus patients have been successfully removed from assisted ventilation at the Szent László Hospital; their condition is stable. Eleven of these patients are aged between 60 and 79, while there is also a patient aged 40.

The number of new infections is being kept stable and low, she said. From Monday to Tuesday, the number of new infections has risen by 29, the number of recovered patients is now above a thousand, and 425 persons have died, including 4 in the past 24 hours, she said reporting the latest data.

The Chief Medical Officer highlighted that the inspection – ordered earlier – of residential social and eldely care homes was under way.

She recalled that in these institutions she had imposed a ban on admission, a visiting ban and restrictions on movement already at an early stage.

She said in institutions where the infection had emerged comprehensive disease control investigations had been carried out and in several places the authorities had implemented measures.

In one third of these institutions – 345 – experts have already concluded the inspections. In only two of these institutions they found that there was no permanent medical service; in these institutions, they have taken the necessary action. At the same time, 193 of these institutions also used the services of other medical specialists, including orthopeadic specialists and psychiatrists, she indicated.

In 95 per cent of the institutions inspected so far, staff members have been duly trained, while in three instances the authorities took action to ensure that workers without health screening should not be allowed to take up work.

In the vast majority of institutions, the necessary physical conditions – hazardous waste management, availability of individual protective supplies and other equipment necessary for nursing and care, rules of disinfecting and washing up – were in place; deficiencies were only uncovered in a few instances.

In 273 of the 345 institutions inspected to date, no measure of any kind was required, Ms. Müller highlighted, adding that they will conduct such inspections on a regular basis, and the need may even arise for a legislative amendment.

The expert also spoke about the new protocol for the referral of patients to hospital. She said as the numbers of newly-infected persons and patients treated in hospital have decreased, they can return to the referral protocol that was in place at the beginning of the epidemic.

She said, in accordance with the new referral protocol, new coronavirus patients in a severe condition will have to be taken to one of two institutions in the capital, the South Pest Central Hospital (Szent László Hospital) and the National Korányi Institute for Pulmonology.

At present, coronavirus patients are being treated in 35 hospitals around the country; however, so that these institutions, too, can return to providing health care services on a comprehensive basis, they have centralised care for coronavirus patients.

Patients who are in need of hospital treatment due to infection also at present need not be transported to one of the two designated institutions in Budapest. However, if requested by a hospital, after consultation by telephone, one of the two institutions will receive these patients, she said.

The expert stressed that disease control preparedness must be maintained for the event that any change should occur in the number of incidences, and the referral protocol also identifies the institutions that could be repeatedly involved in the treatment of coronavirus patients should the need arise.

Ms. Müller reported that the accredited laboratory of the National Centre for Public Health had participated in an international proficiency test, as part of which they had been required to detect the presence and quantity of the novel coronavirus in unknown samples. The laboratory of the National Centre for Public Health scored one hundred per cent in this test, she said.

In answer to a question, the Chief Medical Officer also said there are sufficient donors for blood plasma therapy.

(Cabinet Office of the Prime Minister/MTI)