Infectologist says school closure would be disastrous in Hungary

Szlávik recalled that the most COVID-19 patients (107) have been lost recently on 6 November and that coronavirus claimed 103 lives over the past 24 hours. 

Some say we should expect even worse figures but we'll see

, he told the portal. 

He also pointed out that the average age of COVID-19 patients has been gradually rising, and while mostly young people were infected at the end of the summer, the new patients are older now. This explains why the number of fatalities keeps rising in intensive care units, he said. 

Szlávik admitted that while he as previously thought the epidemic will reach its plateau in November, he now believes no one could project now when it will peak. In respect of the new lockdown measures to go effective as of midnight today, the infectologist noted that 

it takes at least two weeks for any such measure to make its impact felt therefore it is difficult to say anything about them at this point.

He stressed, however, that he is against closing schools, not only because coronavirus carries the smallest risk for children, but because

if elementary schools are closed, every specialist health worker, nurse and young doctor would stay home with their children, and that would be tragic for health care.

Parents should be concerned about themselves and their parents rather than about their kids, said Szlávik.

It is clear that if an ICU is expanded by 50% then it will take 1.5-times as bigger staff to care for the patients.

He added that they solve this issue by reassigning people but he could not say how many of his doctors and medic in his hospital came from other institutions. 

Szlávik also talked about the symptoms of covid-19, saying suffocating is the most horrific one.

The most horrific feeling anyone can have is not getting enough air while breathing, feeling as if someone was sitting on their chest, he said. Patients suffering from this symptom receive oxygen therapy at first and it if does help artificial ventilation is inevitable. 

Cover photo by: MTI/Attila Kovács