Economy 22 January 2021, 9:25am

COVID-19 in Hungary: 1,311 new cases, 98 fatalities

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Hungarian authorities confirmed more than 1,300 new coronavirus (COVID-19) cases on Thursday, while the number of fatalities was nearly 100.

intenziv osztaly beteg koronavirus lélegeztetőgép korhaz

There were 1,311 new infections in the past 24 hours and the disease claimed 98 lives, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said on public radio Friday morning. Hungary has already vaccinated 138,983 people, he added.

Based on daily case numbers, the pandemic appears to be ringing off, although the more than 1,000 new cases indicate that the community spread of the virus is still prevalent in Hungary.

Daily deaths have been hovering around the 100 mark, but looking at data from a bit further back we can also see a declining trend. This indicates that the outbreak may have passed its peak sometime in December.

The same conclusion is supported by the number of active cases and the 14-day average of new cases, both of which are decreasing.

Also decreasing is the number of people in hospital (currently 3,959) and of those on ventilators (274).

Authorities have applied 18,000 tests in the past 24 hours, 7% of which came back positive. While good news in itself, the ratio still remains above the 5% threshold for controlling the outbreak set by the WHO.