Hungary reports 11,132 new COVID-19 cases, a new high

The Hungarian government on Saturday reported a record 11,132 COVID-19 cases in a 24-hour span, raising the national total to 560,971, reported Xinhua.

In the past 24 hours, a record 227 people had died from the disease, taking the toll to 18,068 in the country, according to figures from the government's coronavirus information website.

As of Saturday, 1,520,350 people had received at least one shot of a vaccine, while 465,643 had two jabs, the website showed.

"Due to their vulnerability, the elderly are still the first in line for the national vaccination program," the government informed, adding that vaccination would be continuous throughout the weekends.

The website also recalled that due to the drastically rising number of patients, the COVID-19 restrictions currently in force until March 22 in Hungary have been extended for "at least" another week.

The Hungarian government has been supplementing its vaccination program with Russian and Chinese vaccines to fight the third wave of the pandemic in the country. So far, Hungary has gained access to vaccines from Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna, AstraZeneca, Sputnik V and Sinopharm.

Hungary, the first European Union member state to purchase a Chinese vaccine and authorize its use, started to administer the Sinopharm vaccine on Feb. 24.