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LAKATOS: SUPPLIES SECURED FOR PEOPLE

 

Supplies for the population continue to be secured, the head of the emergency centre set up by the operative board coordinating the epidemic response, told a press conference. Tibor Lakatos said government measures were aimed at slowing down the spread of the virus and guaranteeing supplies to all Hungarians. Extraordinary measures introduced remain in force and anybody allowed to enter Hungary or pass through the country must undergo screening. Only those foreigners are allowed to enter whose passage through the country is secured, he added. Since March 12, home isolation quarantines have been ordered in 2,817 cases and 5,094 on-site checks have been made to ensure that regulations were observed, Lakatos said.
Fines totaling 350,000 forints (EUR 1,000) have been imposed against seven people who violated the rules so far, he added.
Lakatos said efforts were being made at the borders to act humanely but the opportunity offered to Romanians and Bulgarians to pass through Hungary resulted in a 29 kilometre tailback developing by this morning on the Austrian side of the motorway border crossing at Hegyeshalom. After coordination talks by the government and police, transit and passenger traffic was successfully restarted to Serbia, Romania and Bulgaria and waiting times at the border were reduced to less than an hour, he added. Freight transport was restarted also at the Kópháza and Rábafüzes border crossings and has been going smoothly in the country, he said.
He expressed thanks to those working at border crossings and in health care, and in the retail sector, securing steady supplies. All food supplies have reached Hungarian depots so far, despite occasional delays, Lakatos said.
Answering a question, he said the operative board had so far not proposed the introduction of curfews but this may be necessary in the future.