Coronavirus contamination in care homes 

A pro-government commentator blames coronavirus cases in Budapest care homes personally on Budapest Mayor Karácsony. A left-wing columnist thinks that the mayor cannot be made responsible for everything that happens in Budapest.

In the Pesti Road elderly care home, more than 200 residents were infected, and 10 have died of  the coronavirus. According to Index.hu, the virus has been found in at least 10 other elderly care institutions in the country. Government officials and media have blamed the spread of the virus in the Pesti Road and another elderly care home in the capital on Budapest Mayor Karácsony. Mr Karácsony, on the other hand, says that both institutions operated fully in-line with the regulations, and maintains that residents were infected after being returned from hospitals without having been tested for coronavirus. The government is thus responsible for the contamination of the homes, he believes. The government has announced the start of general testing in Hungary’s more than 1,000 care homes for senior citizens.

Magyar Hírlap’s Károly Bán blames Budapest Mayor Karácsony for the spread of the coronavirus in a Budapest elderly care home. The pro-government commentator underlines that the home is operated by the Budapest council, and therefore all responsibility for the contamination of its residents are the mayor’s fault. Bán finds it nauseating that Mr Karácsony is trying to shirk responsibility.

In Népszava, Anna Szalai accuses the critics of Mayor Karácsony of applying double standards. The left-wing commentator sees it as particularly absurd that former Budapest Mayor Tarlós also blamed Mayor Karácsony for the coronavirus contamination in Budapest care homes. Szalai recalls that under his watch, Mayor Tarlós several times made it clear that the Budapest Mayor cannot personally supervise every project in the capital.

Tags: Budapest, coronavirus, Karácsony