Hungarian progress in tackling coronavirus

A liberal commentator acknowledges that the government’s coronavirus measures have been effective, but adds that in order to avoid a second wave of infections, Hungarians need to maintain their self discipline.

According to the Hungarian coronavirus task force, there have been no new COVID fatalities since Saturday, and the number of newly identified infected individuals has  continued to decline.

Index’s Dániel Bolcsó, in a collation of leading epidemologists’s views, writes that Hungary has so far been successful in containing the pandemic, but public self-discipline needs to be sustained in order to avoid a second wave of infections. The liberal commentator recalls that in Hungary, the coronavirus has claimed relatively few victims, thanks to timely measures by the government, and the willingness of the public to reduce social contact. But as a result of the very low infection rate, Hungary is nowhere close to herd immunity, and therefore Hungarians must maintain strict health protocols including social distancing and mask-wearing for months until vaccinations are available, Bolcsó warns. He adds that intensive testing is still necessary to swiftly identify and isolate local virus hotspots before they grow into the kind of national wave other countries have experienced.

Tags: coronavirus