Budapest

Four Covid-19 patients, all elderly and with underlying illnesses, have died in the past 24 hours, while the number of registered coronavirus infections in Hungary has risen by 726 to 13,879, koronavirus.gov.hu said on Tuesday morning. The number of fatalities stands at 646, and 4,130 people have made a recovery. …

More than one million people have filled out the government’s “National Consultation” survey on the novel coronavirus pandemic’s effect on health care, the economy and international issues, a government official said on Tuesday. The survey gauges people’s opinions on issues such as raising manufacturing capacity in Hungary, setting up a permanent epidemiological …

“In solidarity with the people of his birthplace,” Hungarian-born billionaire George Soros announcedhe will be donating one million Euros to Budapest to help the capital’s fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. In his statement, he argues that “the COVID-19 pandemic knows no boundaries, not between countries, communities, religions, or people. Anyone can …

Lawmakers on Monday passed a bill aimed at extending a state of emergency and granting the government special powers to take extraordinary measures to contain the spread of novel coronavirus. Among the measures, flouting quarantine regulations is punishable by up to three years in prison. Also, anyone who disseminates fake news or …

Due to the spread of the coronavirus in Hungary and that the epidemic is at the stage of transmissions in communities and will soon progress to the stage of mass infections, hospitals are preparing for an increased number of patients with the disease. Hospitals are continuously expanding the capacities of their intensive …

Hungary has successfully managed to slow down the spread of novel coronavirus compared with other countries in the region, a leader of the central team coordinating efforts against the epidemic told an online press conference on Thursday. Tibor Lakatos said that the positive trend was the result of government measures and people taking restrictions seriously. …

The first complete Hungarian coronavirus genome has been successfully sequenced by the Virological Research Group of the Szentágothai Research Center at the University of Pécs and the Bio-informatics Research Group. Virologist Ferenc Jakab, leader of the Szentágothai Research Center, emphasized that this is an important milestone for further Hungarian and international …

A consignment of protective gear in connection with novel coronavirus has arrived from China, the prime minister said on Facebook on Tuesday. The delivery contains 3 million face masks, 100,000 tests and 86 ventilators, Viktor Orbán said. Consignments from China are being delivered to Hungary regularly, with around ten plane loads expected …

The government has organised its response to the new coronavirus outbreak along the policing, military, health-care and economic aspects of combatting the epidemic, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán told a press conference on Monday. “We will have to succeed on four battlefields simultaneously,” Orbán said at an online press conference of the operative …

The number of novel coronavirus related deaths has increased to seven in Hungary as an old man died, the government’s info website koronavirus.gov.hu said on Monday morning. The site also reported that the number of patients recovered from the illness has increased to 16. The number of people diagnosed and confirmed with …

Over the weekend, 1,469 Hungarians worldwide, who have been stranded due to the new coronavirus epidemic, started their journey home with government help, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said on Sunday. The government has set up ten action groups to handle the response to the epidemic, one of them focusing on helping Hungarians stranded abroad. …

Weeklies and weekend editions of dailies ponder the economic and social implications of the coronavirus emergency, including discussion of the extension of the state of emergency. Hungarian press roundup by budapost.eu In 168 Óra, Péter Somfai suggests panic shopping is due to the lack of trust among Hungarians. The left-wing columnist suggests that the Hungarian …

Hungary’s government information website koronavirus.gov.hu on Saturday confirmed another six cases of the new coronavirus, bringing the number of confirmed cases of Covid-19 in the country to 25. All the new virus cases are Hungarian citizens. The authorities have started investigating whom the six Hungarians may have been in contact with, the …

Budapest’s cinemas, theatres, museums and libraries are being closed down for the time being in connection with the new coronavirus, Gergely Karácsony, the city’s mayor, announced on Thursday. Performances will be suspended in all cinemas and theatres maintained by the municipality, while museums and all branches of the Szabó Ervin Library …

Hungary’s government has decided to cancel next week’s state celebrations of the March 15 national holiday because of the new coronavirus, at the recommendation of the operative board overseeing the response to the virus, the Government Information Office said on Saturday. Though Hungary so far has only identified individual coronavirus …

A 70-year-old Hungarian man with underlying health conditions was identified as the fifth coronavirus patient in Hungary. Although there were previous cases of the disease in Hungary, they were all foreigners – three Iranian and a British citizen. The elderly man with severe illness was diagnosed earlier today and currently …

Since residents made preparations earlier, the appearance of the coronavirus in Hungary hasn’t resulted in major problems in trade, pro-gov’t daily Magyar Nemzet wrote, in reference to the report of the Hungarian Trade Association (OKSZ). According to wire service MTI’s summary, the numbers of shoppers on Thursday wasn’t at all as high as in …

Four foreigners have been tested positive for the new coronavirus in Hungary so far in isolated cases and the aim is to prevent the development of group infections, the head of an operative board set up to oversee protective measures against the coronavirus said on Friday. Three citizens from Iran and one British man …

Budapest’s Eötvös Lóránd University has ordered a two-week quarantine for students and staff returning form areas affected by the new coronavirus, the university said on its website on Friday. The website said staff and students who returned from China, South Korea, northern Italy and Iran in the past 14 days, or met people who …

The 2022 Europa League final will be held in Budapest’s Puskás Arena, UEFA announced on Monday. The UEFA executive committee’s landmark decision means Hungary gets to host its first-ever single-match final of a men’s international cup tournament. The 2022 Europa League final will be held either on May 18 or …

Hungary should be prepared for further waves of migrants and “regular, massive attacks” on its border fence in the south, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said on Friday, commenting on reports that Turkey has decided not to prevent any more Syrian refugees from travelling on to Europe. Speaking on public Kossuth Radio, Orbán …

Although there are no confirmed cases of the Chinese coronavirus in Hungary yet, and only two Hungarian citizens are infected, both abroad in Japan and Austria,Hungarians have started to accumulate food with long shelf lives, such as rice, pasta, flour, and sugar as well as canned goods in fear of …

In an interview with Hungarian news portal 24.hu, David B. Cornstein, US Ambassador to Hungary, discussed his views of how the Hungarian government stands up against antisemitism, loosening ties with Russia, and that the Soros-Orbán contradiction is actually based on a personal conflict. Cornstein, whose maternal grandparents emigrated from Hungary, said …

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has called it “unacceptable” that four EU member states – Austria, Denmark, the Netherlands and Sweden – rejected European Council President Charles Michel’s proposal for each member contributing 1.074 percent of their gross national income (GNI) to the EU budget running from 2021 to 2027, and insisted that their …

Hungarians evacuated from Wuhan, the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak, earlier this month were discharged from a Budapest hospital quarantine on Sunday, the head of the National Institute of Hematology and Infectology at South Pest Central Hospital toldMTI. The six men and one woman were symptom-free for the entire duration of their quarantine …

“The facts show that the last ten years were the most successful ten years in Hungary’s last 100 years,” Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said in his state-of-the-nation address on Sunday. Orbán: Hungary ‘still here’ 100 years after WWI Trianon Peace Treaty One hundred years after the “death sentence” that was the WWI …

President János Áder has invited Pope Francis to Hungary for the International Eucharistic Congressset to be held in Budapest later this year. Speaking to public media after an audience with Pope Francis, Áder saidhe had visited the Vatican with the intention of inviting the pope to the International Eucharistic Congress scheduled for …

The former Royal Stables and Riding Hall, as well as the Guardhouse, have been reconstructed at Buda Castle, based on the original plans of Alajos Hauszmann as part of the National Hauszmann Plan, bringing the landmarks back to their former glory. MTI/Koszticsák Szilárd The original Stables of the Royal Palace …

The Siege of Budapest ended exactly 75 years ago as the Soviet Red Army ousted the Nazi troops, while resulting in the almost complete demolition of the Hungarian capital and in the death of about 38,000 civilians. However, the end of German occupation did not mean the liberation of Budapest …

According to the European Commission, Ukraine’s laws should be satisfactory for the ethnic minorities that are affected by them, the European commissioner for enlargement and neighbourhood policy told MTI on Wednesday, assessing his two-day visit to Ukraine. Olivér Várhelyi said he had met leaders of the local Hungarian, Romanian and …