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GOVT EXTENDS RESTRICTIONS FOR ANOTHER WEEK

 

The government is extending the timeframe of restrictions on movement introduced to combat the novel coronavirus epidemic for another week from Saturday, the head of the Prime Minister’s Office has said.
The cabinet will continue to review the regulation at its Wednesday meetings before determining whether restrictions can be eased or should be tightened, Gergely Gulyás told an online press briefing. The public will be updated on the status of the restrictions during the regular government press briefings on Thursdays, he added. Local mayors have again been given special authority for this coming weekend to impose their own restrictions in their municipalities, Gulyás said. He said the measures implemented by mayors for the Easter holidays had succeeded in preventing large gatherings.
Meanwhile, Gulyás said the government has so far spent 500 billion forints (EUR 1.4bn) on buying protective equipment and making other preparations in connection with the epidemic.
He said the aim was to ensure that the country’s health-care system is able to cope with a “massive increase” in infections, adding that this was the reason behind the instruction to hospitals to set aside a proportion of beds for coronavirus patients.