Hungary announces lifting of Covid restrictions

Experts cannot be certain if there will be a sixth wave of the pandemic, however, they are quite optimistic about the situation

On Thursday, the Hungarian Minister of the Prime Minister’s Office, Gergely Gulyás, announced that Hungary will waive most COVID-19 restrictions starting from 7 March. The decision stems from the fact that infection rates in the country are falling and according to the government, the pandemic situation is under control.

According to Minister Gergely Gulyás, the mask mandate is going away and so are the requirements of a green certificate to enter certain spaces. Furthermore, the government will also lift the regulations allowing private companies to make vaccination certificates compulsory for employees.

The easing of restrictions, however, will not apply to workers in the health sector. The minister explained that using masks and a vaccine mandate in nursing homes, social services and hospitals could have benefits in stemming the further spread of the virus. 

Minister Gergely Gulyás added that the government will leave the special Covid-order in place to enable authorities to act quickly in the event of a sixth wave of the pandemic in Hungary. He continued by explaining that experts cannot be certain if there would be another wave, however, they are also quite optimistic about the situation.

After the fifth wave

Many countries across the European Union experienced massive spikes of Covid-infections in the past two months and some continue to struggle to bring the latest wave down. Hungary is no exception, as the country saw its highest daily rate of new infections since the start of the pandemic at the end of January.

New cases of the disease peaked on 31 January at just over 45,000 in one day, while the seven-day average reached 16,000.

Today, however, Hungarian Prime Minister Victor Orban said that Hungary has defeated the fifth wave. Apart from lifting restrictions, he also added that the government will continue to monitor the situation and provide vaccination facilities on an ongoing basis.