There is a favourable trend in elderly care homes, the number of institutions affected by infections has not increased, the Chief Medical Officer said at the Wednesday online press conference of the Operational Group responsible for the containment of the coronavirus epidemic.
Outlining the latest epidemic data, Cecília Müller said in the past 24 hours 10 new cases have been registered and two persons have died. The number of active infections currently stands at 1,207 and 414 patients are being treated in hospital, including 24 requiring assisted ventilation.
She added that also at present there are infected persons in 33 institutions; patients and carers are slowly recovering, and the latter will soon be able to return to work.
Among the 5,991 residents living in these 33 homes, 899 positive cases have been identified, and 468 persons have already recovered. She said with the reopening of hospital wards closed down earlier due to the coronavirus epidemic, the treatment of non-coronavirus patients is continuously on the increase.
The Chief Medical Officer said it is important that during examinations in higher education institutions, there should be only the examiner and maximum two students present in any one room. They are all recommended to wear face masks; however, this is not compulsory, she said. She asked students taking examinations to take their own equipment with them and if possible to keep the windows of rooms open.
Also at group examinations, keeping a safe distance must be ensured, she highlighted, and also asked students now taking examinations not to gather in larger groups.
Ms. Müller stressed that “the virus is still here with is,” and the pandemic has not gone away yet. According to Tuesday data, there are some 6,400,000 infected persons world-wide, their number is increasing by around a hundred thousand every day, and the number of fatalities is above 38,000 daily.
She said in Europe up to Tuesday, more than two million infections had been registered, while in the United States as many as 1,860,000. The United States has the highest number of new cases – 22,000 according to the latest data – followed by Brazil (14,500), Russia (9,000), India (8,000) and Peru (5,500). In answer to a question, Ms. Müller said the oldest patient who left the South Pest Central Hospital recovered was 102 years old.
She also said most expert opinions seem to agree that the coronavirus will stay with us, and during the winter season it will produce excess incidences, in addition to the seasonal flu. However, experts are now fully prepared for this based on the experiences of the first peak; Hungarian health care itself has multiple plans for the emergence of a second peak.
Ms. Müller confirmed that the workers of service providers may enter homes functioning as quarantine premises for the purpose of carrying out essential repair work because “evidently, there are home emergencies whose fixing cannot wait”. In situations like this, workers are required to wear face masks and gloves on the premises, she added.
(Cabinet Office of the Prime Minister / MTI)
