Hungary reintroduces Covid restrictions

Budapest, Oct 29 (IANS) The government of Hungary has introduced three new restrictive measures in an attempt to curb the fourth wave of the Covid-19 pandemic.

"Following a consultation with experts and having studied the available data on infections, the government decided on three anti-epidemic measures: companies can now mandate the vaccination of employees, the wearing of face masks will be mandatory in public transport from November 1, and a ban on visits has been imposed in healthcare institutions," Gergely Gulyas, head of the Prime Minister's Office, said at a press conference.

"The vaccine is the only tool that can offer effective protection," Xinhua news agency quoted Gulyas as saying.

"The government, as an employer, will require vaccination, and we also call on the local governments to decide whether they prescribe mandatory coronavirus vaccines for their own employees.

"Anyone who refuses to be vaccinated must be placed on unpaid leave, and if this emergency measure is maintained for one year, the person on leave can be dismissed. The deadline of the administration of the vaccine will be specified in a decree that will be issued in a day or two," he added.

In the past 24 hours, 45 people have died from the disease, taking the toll to 30,792 in the country, while 797,142 have recovered.

Currently, 1,970 patients are being treated in hospitals, including 204 on ventilators, the government's coronavirus information website said.

The overall infection tally stood at 863,419.

Till date, 5,947,085 people have received at least the first shot of a vaccine, while 5,728,025 were fully vaccinated, and more than 1,164,000 got their booster shot, according to the website.