Hungary extends coronavirus curbs, night curfew until Feb. 1

Hungary extends coronavirus curbs, night curfew until Feb. 1
# 08 January 2021 11:57 (UTC +04:00)

Hungary will extend existing restrictions, including a nighttime curfew, until Feb. 1 to curb the spread of novel coronavirus infections, Prime Minister Viktor Orban told state radio on Friday, APA reports citing Reuters.

Orban also said digital learning in secondary schools would continue. Primary schools opened this week.

Since Nov. 11, all secondary schools have been closed as have hotels and restaurants except for takeaway meals, a 1900 GMT curfew has been in place, and all gatherings have been banned as a second wave of the pandemic hit the country.

Orban said Hungary had received 80,000 doses of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine but that was not enough.

“Existing restrictions will be extended until Feb. 1,” Orban said, adding that more than 42,000 healthcare workers had received the vaccine.

Nationalist Orban, who faces the biggest challenge of his decade-long rule with the pandemic and the economic recession it has caused, said an economic rebound this year would depend on how fast Hungary could vaccinate its people.

He said if the government only relied on vaccines made in Western countries, it would take several more months.

He criticised the European Union’s procurement of vaccines, and praised Britain, which went its own way.

“The British, instead of letting Brussels do it, negotiated themselves and are in a much better state now,” Orban said.

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