Hungary's Covid-19 death toll exceeds 40,000

Budapest, Jan 12 (IANS) Hungary's cumulative Covid-19 death toll has exceeded 40,000, while the number of severe cases requiring hospitalisation or mechanical ventilation was slightly down, the government's coronavirus information website has reported.

On Tuesday alone, the country reported 3,382 new daily Covid-19 cases, raising the national total to 1,300,994.

Over the past 24 hours, 69 people have died from the disease, taking the cumulative death toll to 40,016 in the country, while 1,147,818 people have recovered. At present, 2,932 patients are being treated in hospitals, including 274 on ventilators, the government's website said on Tuesday.

Hungary's Covid-19 death toll stood at 30,000 at the beginning of July 2021, Xinhua news agency reported.

Miklos Kasler, Minister of Human Resources responsible for healthcare, said that during the ongoing fifth wave of the pandemic the number of daily infections could reach 13,000, the number of hospitalisations could be between 8,000 and 9,000, and around 200 people could die per day.

Kasler told Info radio that he was "absolutely certain" of the need for a fourth vaccine dose and that the government was ready for that eventuality.

The recommended wait between the third and the fourth vaccine doses may be longer, but more tests are needed to determine when a fourth vaccine dose could be administered, the Minister added.

As of Tuesday, 6,294,707 people have received at least the first dose of a Covid-19 vaccine, 6,033,675 people had both jabs and 3,292,175 people also had their booster shot, the government's website said.

Hungary has also started the vaccination of children aged between five and 11 years.