Second coronavirus patient in Hungary studied in Gödöllő

© Technológia: Index.hu

This is a developing story, we will update our article as we find out more information.

In an unusual turn of events on Thursday, the coronavirus task force's daily press conference was held by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. He announced that currently in Hungary there are 2 confirmed cases, 24 people are under quarantine, and 230 samples were taken for testing. Orbán said that Hungarian efforts will focus on individual cases to avoid community infections.

The task force assessed that the coronavirus is a major threat to public health and to the economy, but human lives take priority, Orbán told journalists, adding that defence against the virus requires efforts from everyone, and asked the citizens of Hungary to be cooperative and understanding. Hungary will use all available resources to handle the situation.

Orbán said that for now, there is no central order to cancel larger events, and the government will decide until Tuesday if the state events of the 15 March national holiday will be affected by the virus.

Answering Index's question, Orbán confirmed that the other patient studied at the Szent István University of Gödöllő, adding that he only learned that information on Thursday as well. 

The Prime Minister said that Hungary's general financial reserves seem to be sufficient for handling the situation now, but later on, the government might establish a dedicated reserve.

Next to speak was Minister of Human Capacities Miklós Kásler.

Answering a journalist's question, Kásler said that the Iranian students asked to be tested on 24 February and they were quarantined the "day before yesterday or yesterday," adding that the police was involved in the contact investigation as well, as in the period between the arrival of the two infected students in Hungary and their isolation, they "lived their lives, attended classes, met their friends," and one of the Iranian students "could have met 15 or 16 people." Kásler said that none of the people they contacted had been quarantined yet except for the girlfriend of the patient studying in Gödöllő and the pregnant wife of the other who studies at Semmelweis - they are in isolation as of Wednesday.

Kásler dodged answering a row of other questions as well, for instance, he did not how one of the Iranian students could have withheld that information - Kásler started talking about how police has tools to find that out, and he did not answer our reporter's questions about the group of infected tourists who visited Budapest at the end of February.

The Minister of Human Resources said that traffic restrictions concerning countries worst hit by the virus were on the table, but as no other European countries implemented such measures, the Hungarian government did not take this step yet. 

First two cases announced yesterday

The first two cases of Covid-19 in Hungary were announced on Monday evening. The two patients are both Iranian citizens studying in Hungary, but as János Szlávik, the Head of Infectology at the Central Hospital of Southern Pest informed this morning on M1, the two cases are unrelated. They both visited their families in Iran recently and arrived back to Hungary on 22 and 28 of February, but only tested positive for coronavirus this Wednesday.

One of the patients studies at the Semmelweis University of Medicine, where student body claims he did not adhere to the two-week self-quarantine period requested by the university. The two infected students only show minor symptoms, they are currently in isolation at the Central Hospital of Southern Pest, and they will stay there until their complete recovery.

The Hungarian authorities are currently investigating how the two students caught the disease, where they might have moved within Hungary and whom they could have contacted. The English-language pharmaceutical sciences program at SOTE has 15 other students, the university ordered those who had contact with their infected classmate not to attend lectures and seminars.

Infected tourists visited Budapest

Authorities are also investigating a group of tourists who spent two days in Hungary at the end of February while carrying the virus. Czech authorities announced Tuesday that they have found two cases, citizens of the USA and Ecuador, the patients studied in Milan from where they travelled to Vienna, Brno, Budapest, and Prague at the end of February. 

On Wednesday, Hungarian authorities informed that the tourist group consisted of four women, three of whom were later found to be infected. They arrived in Budapest on 26 February and left on the 28th, and visited a ruin bar, a crepe shop, a pharmacy, and the Széchenyi Thermal Bath in the meantime, with at least one of them producing symptoms. 

If you show symptoms, call your doctor

On Monday, Hungary's Chief Medical Officer Cecília Müller said that in accordance with the updated coronavirus protocol,

Instead, they should call their doctor over the phone if they exhibit symptoms of the disease and have recently returned from an infected area. The doctor will proceed to ask the patient a series of questions to determine the likelihood of infection and will inform emergency services if they suspect a possible case. An ambulance will then take the patient to the closest contagious unit, and if the throat swab lab test returns positive, the patient will be transferred to the Central Hospital of Southern Pest for isolation and treatment.

(Cover: screenshot / Index)