COVID-19 pandemic in Hungary

The COVID-19 pandemic in Hungary was a part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). On 4 March 2020, the first cases in Hungary were announced.^[2] The first coronavirus-related death was announced on 15 March on the government's official website.^[3]

On March 18, 2020, Surgeon general Cecília Müller announced that the virus had spread to every part of the country.^[4] As of June 2021, Hungary has the second-highest COVID-19 death rate in the world.^[5]

As of 19 March 2023, a total of 16,568,528 vaccine doses have been administered.^[6]

Background[edit]

The Hungarian Operational Task Force was formed on January 31, 2020, led by Sándor Pintér, Interior Minister and Miklós Kásler, Minister of Human Resources, and included:^{[citation needed][7]}

• Surgeon General Cecília Müller,
• Károly Papp, Director of Security Department of Interior Ministry,
• János Balogh, Chief of National Police, and the directors of National High Directorate of Disaster Management, Anti-Terrorism Center, Central Hospital of South Pest, National Healthcare Supplying Service and National Ambulance.^[8]
• Zoltán Jenei, Director of the National Healthcare Service Center

Staff has immediately announced its plan for security against the spread of virus.^[9] After detecting the virus in the country, they announced that operational staff would hold daily meetings at noon.^[10]

On February 1, the spokesperson of National Command of Penalty Execution (BVOP) announced that prisoners of Debrecen and Sátoraljaújhely^[11] had started the production of sanitary masks. They produce 20 000 masks daily in a 12-hour shift, which are stored in different repositories all around the country,^[12] and continually delivered to general practitioners.^[13]

At the beginning of the pandemic, the virus was concentrated in and around Wuhan. Seven Hungarians living in Wuhan, who wanted to move back to Europe, were transported through France and placed in quarantine for two weeks.^[14] They remained healthy during those two weeks and were released on 16 February.^[15]

Due to the events and news connected to the outbreak of the novel coronavirus, in February 2020, several goods—such as antiseptic arm cleaning materials, masks and non-perishable food – were in short supply in a lot of shops in Hungary.^[16] Tamás Schanda, strategical and political under-secretary of Innovation and the Science Ministry said "The Government understands the concerns of the people, but experts say it is unnecessary and pointless to hoard non-perishable food."^[17] The accumulation of goods declined quite quickly, and the detection of the virus in March did not cause measurable problems in shops.^[18]

The Government of Hungary launched its official webpage and official Facebook page about the novel coronavirus, both on 4 March 2020.^[19][20]

Timeline[edit]