23 March 2020, Budapest
Thank you, Mr Speaker.
Esteemed Speaker, Esteemed Fellow Members of Parliament,
I asked to speak because 12 days ago we declared a state of danger in Hungary. We did so because a virus originating from Asia had reached Europe, and had also appeared in Hungary. This infection started in Asia, but was also introduced to Europe. It is true though that this was hardly avoidable in the present era when economies and societies of the world are so intricately intertwined. At present, there is no vaccine for this virus, though throughout the world a resolute search is under way. In Germany alone, there are 47 ongoing vaccine development projects. Hungary has some recognised medical experts who are part of the international community of scientists and researchers, and through them we Hungarians, too, are contributing to humanity’s great common effort. This task force is led by Professor Ferenc Jakab. Today, however, we have to say that despite the whole of humanity’s combined efforts, no vaccine providing immunity against the virus will be available any time in the near future. We Hungarians decided – instead of waiting for a vaccine – to take on the fight against the spread of the virus. Even if we cannot eliminate it, we will at least slow down its spread. We keep studying the measures adopted by other countries, and as far as I can see, different countries are adopting different decisions; each country has responded to the crisis in its own national way. In the normal order of things, in Hungary we would not have been able to organise collective self-defence, and to ward off this attack together. Organising a collective containment effort, slowing down the rate of infection, protecting our compatriots most at risk, maintaining adequate care, alleviating the ensuing economic consequences and restarting the paralysed economy would not have been possible amidst a set of rules that applies to ordinary, peace-time circumstances.
Esteemed Fellow Parliamentarians,
Changing our lives is now inevitable. Everyone is required to step out of their comfort zones. For a while, we will have to work differently, we will have to behave differently, and we will have to organise our lives differently. This is why we introduced a special legal order for a state of danger that is different from what we’re used to. This new legal order grants the government a mandate, and also provides the means for the government to organise Hungary’s self-defence.
Now, in this address, I’d like to inform fellow Members of Parliament about where we stand in the organisation of this collective containment effort. We have organised our defences on four fronts, Hungary must stand its ground on four fronts all at once: a military containment effort, a police containment effort, a health care containment effort and an economic containment effort. We also knew, we also know that the spread of the virus has three stages, and the containment effort, too, must be adjusted to these. After a stage of isolated infections, we have proceeded to a stage of group infections, and numbers indicate that we are now swiftly approaching the phase of mass infections. This morning, there were 167 confirmed patients in Hungary. Let me emphasise, confirmed patients. This means virus infection confirmed on the basis of control tests conducted under laboratory conditions. Naturally, it would be important to know how many people actually carry the virus in their systems, but this we can only estimate. I asked the country’s best mathematicians, virology specialists and also Semmelweis University to prepare estimates. These have been duly completed, but it is not yet safe enough to talk about them before the wider public, so I asked them to carry on the work. As case numbers rise, so estimates will obviously become ever more accurate. However, I don’t think it would surprise anyone if I said that the current estimated figures are much higher than the 167 identified and confirmed patients. I also wish to inform you that 108 of the 167 confirmed patients are so-called virus carriers who carry the virus in their systems, but do not display symptoms, meaning – in an ordinary sense, in our everyday words – that they’re not ill. They’re infected, they carry the virus, but they themselves are not ill, and it is to be hoped that most of them will not be either. Twenty-seven of the 167 confirmed patients are displaying symptoms, meaning that they’re ill. They’re the ones who could, with great probability, recover even without hospital treatment. And there are 9 compatriots of the 167 infected patients who are very ill. They’re the ones who are in need of intensive care in hospital, and for whom we must root so that they recover. They can recover, but at this time they’re in grave danger. And, Esteemed House, we also have seven fatalities. We feel for their families, and are praying for them. We should also know about them that five of the seven suffered from cardiovascular diseases and diabetes, there was one cancer patient among the seven, and another patient suffered from colopathy. The average age of the seven deceased was 69 years. Everyone can see we have good reason to concentrate our containment effort on the elderly.
Honourable House,
On the health care line of defence, Hungary has the following resources and supplies at present. Medical face masks: 1,500,000. We are making 25,000 daily, and if everything goes well, we could increase our production to 80,000 a day. We have 129,000 special face masks. We have 20 million pairs of rubber gloves. We have 170,000 protective gowns. We have 2,560 ventilators at our disposal. This is the situation today. We have sent hunters to every corner of the world; traders and diplomats, too, are busy working. According to the latest news, today everywhere in the West there is a shortage of supplies; available assistance can only be found in the East. There we have reserved enormous quantities, deliveries are arriving on an ongoing basis, more than ten planes are in service. However, I’m only informing you about the numbers that we can be certain of because the supplies have already arrived in Hungary, they are safe and in our possession; the rest is uncertain. As regards hospital capacities, in Hungary we have 66,906 hospital beds in total, and in a worst-case scenario, we can also install 252 camp beds. We will install them. We have 19,431 physicians under the age of 65; 4,312 deployable residents; 900 deployable medical students in the last year of their training – if we regard them as deployable, and I believe we would do well to do so, should the need arise. In total, there are 24,643 persons in medical service or ready to be deployed in medical service. In Hungary we have 105,000 health care workers under the age of 60; meaning workers who are qualified to engage in some form of health care work. We must be aware that there are different records. We have gathered together these records – the databases of the Hungarian Medical Chamber, the State Treasury and the National Centre for Public Health – and have compiled the data I have just shared with you. We are likewise preparing a national deployment plan on the basis of these consolidated records. We determine the quantity of supplies that can be used at any particular time on the basis of the quantity of inventories, the number of health care workers that can be mobilised and the expected number of patients. This morning, the Operational Group adopted the following decisions. From tomorrow morning, all physicians working in intensive care units will receive special face masks; all health care workers working in intensive care units, too, will receive special face masks. Other physicians and nursing staff working in hospitals in non-intensive care units will receive surgical face masks. Anyone taken to hospital suspected of coronavirus infection will be given surgical face masks immediately. I approved this decision of the Operational Group, implementation has begun, and I sincerely hope that tomorrow morning these supplies will be available in all hospitals. I asked the Operational Group to manage supplies in a disciplined and reasonable manner because the period of containment will be a long one, a great many supplies will be required, and we’re still only at the very beginning. I wish to thank health care workers for their efforts so far. They have earned our profoundest appreciation. Thank you, we are grateful. I’m asking them to observe the instructions relating to working arrangements and deployment. This is where we stand on the health care front.
As regards the police containment effort, the police have closed the borders to passenger traffic. Only Hungarian nationals are allowed to enter the territory of the country, and those who received special permission. Cargo traffic continues to remain permitted. We are stopping non-Hungarian nationals seeking to return home at our borders; we have determined special rules for them. They are allowed to transit Hungary via designated humanitarian corridors – under supervision – during fixed hours, meaning safely. The moral command of compassion remains a compass even amidst such difficult circumstances, and we want to make our neighbours our friends. So also at this time, they can rely on us. If we fight together now, later we may become brothers in arms. I asked for guarantees from the Romanians: we are letting those heading for Romania through the Austrian-Hungarian border at the rate at which passengers arriving from Hungary are being admitted to Romania. So far, our police officers have implemented this airlock arrangement successfully.
Esteemed House,
The duties of our police officers are increasing daily. With the escalation of the situation, they must take control of new areas, and must continuously enhance their capabilities so that they can maintain public order. In this department, the situation is as follows: in Hungary the total number of uniformed officers and warrant offices under the age of 65 stands at 70,275. We also have volunteers such as neighbourhood watch personnel and others who could – as a last resort – also perform law enforcement duties; there are 46,573 of them. It is true that they’re not armed, but they do have experience, and have a certain degree of discipline and organisation, so they are deployable.
As regards our military containment effort, soldiers are now taking part in border controls at an elevated level. It is now the duty of the defence forces to prepare for cooperation with the police for the event that they should be required to carry out street patrols. They must also prepare for providing assistance for vital companies in Hungary as their operations must be maintained without disruption. I have assigned operational units to all of these companies. Regarding our military resources, this is how we stand: we have 23,950 career soldiers, 9,381 reservists, and 10,649 persons released from service in the past five years, meaning ex-army personnel released from service within the past five years who still have memories and deployable capabilities. These combined represent a 43,980-strong military force. So I can tell the Esteemed House that today in Hungary the total number of persons available for law enforcement purposes stands at 139,684. If there is a problem, these are the resources at our disposal.
Honourable House,
The coronavirus epidemic threatens human life in the first place, but the global pandemic also has grave economic consequences. Now the entire economy is in trouble, but not all at once. There are sectors in the economy such as tourism, catering and services where trouble is already manifest. We set up a separate task force under the leadership of Minister Andrea Mager whose duty it is to consult with representatives of the sectors in trouble, and to make recommendations. As jobs are at risk, I asked her to concentrate primarily on protecting jobs. We consulted with the most important employers and actors of the economy already in trouble, and completed the first action plan seeking to manage the economic consequences of the coronavirus epidemic. As the global economy, and the Hungarian economy in it, will slow down or even come to a halt according to many, the mission of the first action plan is to contain this slowing down. It will be followed by others because decisions will also be necessary for restarting the economy. I last spoke here before you on Monday. Since then, we have adopted economic action plan decisions, and published them on Wednesday. However, as they were not announced here, I will also outline them before the Esteemed House.
The first step of the action plan is a payment moratorium extending to the end of the year. This decision of ours will leave some 3,000 billion forints with Hungarian families and Hungarian businesses. This is how much they would have paid to banks up to the end of the year. This is an enormous sum which is a great deal of help for Hungarian families and businesses all at once. In our minds, this measure is a family protection and economy protection measure at the same time. It helps businesses to keep their operations going and to preserve the majority of jobs, and at the same time it helps families in these difficult months so that they don’t have to use up their savings. Everyone can get their breath back. We have obliged banks to suspend all stoppages. This applies to all credit debts towards banks and financial institutions; consumer loans, automobile loans, housing loans equally. Student loans and baby expecting loans taken out so far, too, fall into this category. Debtors are not required to submit a request; this will be automatic. Only those will have to contact their banks who want to continue the repayment of their debts. I wish to inform the Honourable House that banks will not be left without support; the National Bank of Hungary will provide for them the liquidity they will need this year. As far as I can see, the conditions of safe banking operations are guaranteed. I know that it will be difficult for financial institutions, for banks as well, but I ask them to realise that in this situation they, too, must help, and I’m asking them to cooperate with us.
Esteemed House,
We have also given swift assistance to sectors which immediately found themselves in trouble. Tourism and catering are effectively on the floor, the chances of the entertainment industry are extremely slim, and taxi drivers, too, are on the receiving end. We are giving them major tax breaks. In the case of tourism, catering, the entertainment industry and sports services, we are cancelling contribution payment liabilities. This means that they will not be required to pay contributions in relation to their workers. We sincerely hope that, as a result, we could perhaps save some jobs. This was our first action plan last Wednesday.
This morning we adopted further decisions. These are the following. We supplemented the measures I just mentioned with six additional ones. Firstly, after taxi drivers, we are granting another 81,480 small businesses exemption from the payment of the ‘KATA’ flat-rate tax until 30 June. Hairdressers, beauticians, decorators, glaziers, electricians, other human health care service providers, performing artists, plumbers, gas and heating technicians, carpenters, those working in outpatient care, floor and wall tilers, personal trainers, persons engaged in other sporting activities, and those catering for the needs of the elderly and persons with disabilities all fall into this category. This is a long list, I only mentioned a few occupational groups; a decree to be released tonight will contain the details. Secondly, we are authorising the deferment of ‘KATA’ debts incurred before 1 March; taxpayers in arrears with such payment liabilities will be required to pay these debts in the quarter following the end of the state of danger. Thirdly, similar to tourism and catering, Hungarian media providers will also be granted exemption due to their lost advertising revenues. Fourthly, in consultation with the chamber of bailiffs, we are suspending evictions and confiscations. Fifthly, we are also suspending tax-related executions; existing tax debts will have to be paid after the end of the state of danger. Sixthly, we will extend the various maternity entitlements expiring during the state of danger, and will keep mothers in their present status for the duration of the state of danger.
Honourable House,
The number one priority in the economy is to protect people’s jobs, and to help those who do lose their jobs to find new ones within the shortest possible time. We’ve already done this before, after 2010 when we inherited hundreds of thousands of unemployed people – we did it then, we will stand back on our feet.
Honourable House, Honourable Fellow Members of Parliament,
The period ahead will be difficult, it will demand efforts on everyone’s part. It is worth making these efforts because we can literally save lives, and the more of us that cooperate, the more lives we’ll be able to save. We are being faced with a task that no one can solve on their own. Everyone shares responsibility, everyone must make a contribution, everyone must do what they can. Instead of political dissension and political disputes, the time has come for standing together, regardless of party affiliation. This is what I’m asking of my fellow parliamentarians as well.
Thank you for your attention.
(Cabinet Office of the Prime Minister)
