Hungary’s Health Care System under Unprecedented Pressure

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s warning earlier this week that there is a 50% chance the country’s health care system may not be able to handle the pressure of the second wave of the Covid 19 epidemic rang alarm bells across Hungary. After announcing a set of stringent restrictions on movement, the premier is now backtracking on his earlier words and hitting a confident note that there will be sufficient capacity in hospitals to treat coronavirus patients.

“If things continue in this manner, there’s a 50% chance we can provide hospital care to patients,” Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said earlier this week. The premier uttered the chilling remarks to justify the government’s decision to implement a series of strict restrictive measures aimed at curbing the spread of the pandemic. The most important steps include a curfew between 8 p.m. and 5 a.m., a general ban on all forms of assembly, the closure of all restaurants and recreational facilities, shorter opening hours for shops, online education for students 14 and older, and a limit on the number of participants in family gatherings and privately organized events. In addition, hospital workers, teachers, nursery and kindergarten staff will be tested weekly. Despite the restrictions, worries persist that the health care system will be unable to cope with the flood of patients as the daily number of confirmed infections has jumped to close to 5,000 a day over the past week. There are currently 6,426 people hospitalized across the country.

Change in tone
Over the past 2 days, the premier and government officials have rushed to calm nerves with respect to available hospital capacities and the overall state of the healthcare system. “We are confident that if everyone complies with these measures for 30 days, a much easier period will come and the healthcare system will remain operational throughout,” Orbán told commercial TV station TV2 on Wednesday night. The premier added that he saw a 99.99% chance that the “healthcare system will survive the pandemic” thanks to the measures implemented this week. Gergely Gulyás, Minister in charge of the Prime Minister’s Office said on Thursday that the government’s steps will be enough to stem the spread of infections, provided everyone adheres to them. He also reiterated that there is sufficient free capacity in hospitals across the country. Orbán stressed that the elderly face a very high risk and the government is continuously replenishing the stock of medications used to treat coronavirus patients. Nevertheless, media reports indicate that several healthcare facilities are struggling with severe shortage of staff and some have passed or are nearing the limit of their capacities.

A month of rigor
According to Orbán, authorities will need at least two weeks to assess the impact of the tightening and the question remains whether Christmas celebrations will be impacted by the current regulations. The premier stressed that police forces will rigorously enforce the new restrictions and the military will be called in to ensure compliance with the new measures. Hungary is following closely the developments in neighboring Austria and is implementing similar measures, as politicians believe that the spread of the pandemic shows a similar pattern in the two countries.

Waiting for the vaccine
In keeping with his earlier remarks, Orbán highlighted that the pandemic is here to stay at least until April 2021. That is the earliest date when a vaccine may be available in large quantities. The government is working to secure as many sources of vaccine supply as possible. Negotiations are underway with each country where vaccine research is advanced and promising, such as China, Russia, Israel and America. For now, there is no vaccine that has passed the required four rounds of approval but several have has passed three clinical trials. The government aims to make EU, Russian, and Chinese vaccines available as soon as they are on the market, Orbán said. Minister Gulyás stressed that vaccination will be voluntary and free of charge in every case.
Meanwhile, the government has adopted measures to simplify and accelerate the import of coronavirus vaccines and drugs manufactured abroad, according to a decree published in the Hungarian Gazette. Under new regulations, the National Institute of Pharmacy and Food Health can temporarily allow the domestic use of a medicinal product authorized in a third country to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, provided that the product has been proven to be adequate and effective. The permit may be issued for a period of maximum six months, and may be extended for a further six months in particularly justified cases.