The amount that can be paid in shops using contactless bank cards without the need to type in a pin number will be raised from 5,000 forints to 15,000 in the interest of minimising physical contact during the virus epidemic, the finance ministry said.
A consignment of protective gear in connection with novel coronavirus has arrived from China, the prime minister said.
The number of confirmed coronavirus cases has risen to 226 by Wednesday (25th March).
By Sunday evening, at least six people – doctors and clinicians who had been tested for the coronavirus – turned out to be infected. They were presumably in contact with László Rovó, an infected rector of the University of Szeged (SZTE).
Hungary is at the start of a long period of protective measures against the novel coronavirus, Viktor Orbán has said.
The government has organised its response to the new coronavirus outbreak along the policing, military, health-care and economic aspects of combatting the epidemic, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said. “We will have to succeed on four battlefields simultaneously,” Orbán said in an online press conference.
Overall 218 Hungarians are in quarantine in other countries due to the coronavirus epidemic, Tibor Lakatos, emergency centre head of the operative board in charge of Hungary’s efforts against the outbreak, said.
The National Bank of Hungary (NBH) has said lenders may not raise borrowers’ instalments after a moratorium on repayments expires at year-end.
The government has submitted to parliament a draft amendment to the law on theatres that would expand its control over state-funded theatres operated by local councils.
Marking the day of Polish-Hungarian friendship, Polish President Adrzej Duda highlighted in a letter to Hungarian President János Áder the common history and values that Poland and Hungary share.
