Economy 27 April 2021, 10:15am

COVID-19 in Hungary: new cases lowest since mid-February

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Hungarian authorities confirmed 1,253 new coronavirus (COVID-19) cases on Monday, the lowest since 16 February, increasing the total number of infections since last March to 772,207. The death toll rose to 26,984 after the disease claimed the lives of 183, mostly elderly or chronic, patients. There are now 6,360 coronavirus patients in hospital, with 753 of them on ventilators, the official government website said.

Tuesday’s case numbers are typically lower, but today’s 1,253 is 24% lower than a week ago and 56% lower than two weeks ago. However, the number of freshly confirmed new cases shows the trend of active cases with a slight delay due to the asymptomatic incubation period that lasts several days. This is now especially interesting as Hungary is gradually re-opening its economy.

The falling trend of the pandemic curve is good news as it means that the crowds forming in public areas and restaurant terraces over the past weekend probably contained fewer infected people than data from last week indicated.

Budapest, where the weekend crowds were most spectacular due to its high population, is among the least infected areas of Hungary, which mitigates the risks of re-opening.

The number of fatalities remained high as 183 coronavirus patients died in the past 24 hours, and the average of the past seven days is still above 200. Nevertheless, the trend is improving as the number of fatalities in the past seven days was 12% lower than the week before.

In further good news, the load on Hungary’s health care system is decreasing as the number of coronavirus patients in hospital decreased by 26% in a week to 6,360, while the number of people on ventilators decreased by 23% to 753.

The number of tests applied in the past 24 hours was just 11,389. The positivity rate was 11%, with the average of the past seven days dropping to 11.8%.

The number of people vaccinated is 3,679,730, and 1,711,723 of them have already received both doses. The third wave of the pandemic has peaked but the UK variant is still spreading in Hungary, so it remains important to observe protection measures, the government website said.

75,829 first doses were administered yesterday. At this rate, Hungary would reach the 4 million mark, a milestone for further easing measures, on Saturday instead of the Wednesday or Thursday projected by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán last Friday.

Vaccination uptake in Hungary is now 37%, compared to the EU average of 21%. More than 4.5 million people have registered to be vaccinated and 73% of them have already received at least one dose. Hungary has received further shipments of Pfizer and Sputnik V vaccines, with a shipment of AstraZeneca vaccines also on the way, the website said.