Hungary reintroduces COVID-19 restrictions

The government of Hungary introduced three new restrictive measures on Thursday in order to curb the fourth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, reported Xinhua.

"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 Nov. 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," Gulyas underlined.

"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," Gulyas added.

"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," Gulyas told journalists.

In the past 24 hours, 45 people have died from the disease, taking the toll to 30,692 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.

As of Thursday, 5,947,085 people have received at least the first shot of a vaccine, while 5,728,025 had two jabs, and more than 1,164,000 got their booster shot, according to the website.