COVID-19 in Hungary: daily new cases at record high

coronaThere were 8,312 new coronavirus cases identified in Hungary yesterday, the official government website said Thursday morning.

This is a sad new record, the highest number of coronavirus cases confirmed in Hungary in a day.

The peak of the second wave was 6,819 new cases in a single day, but this has since been surpassed by a 7,269 daily figure earlier this year.

The virus claimed the lives of 172 people yesterday, predominantly of elderly or chronic patients. This is the second highest daily fatality count after the previous day’s 179. The seven-day moving average is also on the rise: in the past week, 146 people  a day died of coronavirus-related causes on average.

Interestingly, the number of coronavirus patients treated in hospital decreased by 19 to 8,329. Meanwhile, 67 people were put on ventilators in the past 24 hours.

It is shocking that while the number of new cases and that of people on ventilators rose sharply, the number of coronavirus patents in hospital has not, even though it should have at this stage of the pandemic. This may indicate that hospitals have reached their capacity, as a number of hospitals in Hungary have filled up in recent days. On the other hand, according to Portfolio’s sources, hospitals are trying to “get rid of” patients as soon as possible and send milder cases home with a supply of drugs. As such, authorising the drug favipiravir for home use may alleviate some of the burden on hospitals, although this is unlikely to be the main cause as it is used for milder symptoms.

Authorities applied 33,464 tests yesterday, an outstanding number, but the ratio of positive tests was still very high at nearly 25%, indicating that the pandemic is still in the rising phase in Hungary.

So far, 1,149,557 people have been vaccinated in Hungary, for a coverage rate of 12%, and 327,428 people (3.35%) have also received the second shot.

GPs have been given the AstraZeneca vaccine this week and have been asked to continue vaccinating the registered elderly who have not received any shots yet. At hospital vaccination points, Sputnik and Pfizer vaccines are used this week, primarily to vaccinate the elderly sent by GPs. People under 60 who have chronic diseases will also be vaccinated in hospitals from Thursday to Sunday, using the AstraZeneca vaccine.

Cover photo: MTI / György Varga