Maintaining operations of essential services in Hungary is a priority, and the armed forces aim to guarantee the security of essential companies accordingly, Defence Minister Tibor Benkő said. Benkő told parliament’s defence committee that operative bodies comprising military personnel, police officers and disaster management experts are working with 86 companies in the health-care, pharmaceutical, food production, infocommunications, transport, energy and water management sectors to enforce virus containment efforts.
Army Commander Ferenc Korom told the committee there are two confirmed cases of Covid-19 within the armed forces, an employee of the Honvéd military hospital and another who recently returned from a training in Germany.
Socialist committee member Tamás Harangozó asked the minister whether the number of soldiers deployed had reached 3,000, which would require a report to the committee. Benkő said 1,200 soldiers are working on containment efforts and 800 are deployed to the southern border. Others are securing the humanitarian corridor maintained for foreigners in transit to other countries, he said.