“There are moments when we must take action, without any hesitation,” Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said at the start of the interview.
Regarding the spread of the pandemic, the situation in Hungary is more or less comparable to the rest of Europe, he added. PM Orban reiterated that Austria is a “laboratory case” for Hungarians, noting that Hungary is now at the point where Austrians were a week ago in terms of case numbers, which is why the new restrictions had to be introduced.
Mr Orban underlined that Hungary was in the three most successful countries in Europe regarding the number of hospital beds, and the first in terms of ventilators.
The prime minister stressed that, according to Hungarian experts and analysts, there is only a 50-percent chance that the healthcare system will hold out without further restrictions, adding that “we can’t take that risk,” and therefore new restrictions were needed. He highlighted that the supply of protective equipment is nearly unlimited, adding that decisions had to be made now.
The prime minister pointed out that there are capacities, hospital beds and staff, but there may be more patients than doctors can responsibly care for, and the new measures were needed to avoid such a situation.
On the topic of mask-wearing, he said if 80 per cent of the people wore masks, that should be enough to slow down or even contain the virus. He noted that people had followed the rules, adding that the government would have imposed a curfew earlier, had they not.
Viktor Orban announced that wearing face masks will be mandatory in all public spaces, like elsewhere in Europe.
Regarding schools, the Hungarian premier said that students in year nine and upwards will switch to digital education. Addressing students, he noted that young people can get through the coronavirus disease with flu-like symptoms, but warned that parents and grandparents are exposed to a higher risk. He stressed that it was up to people as individuals to ensure that their families remain intact and every relative survives the pandemic.
“It matters how young people decide,” he underlined.
Regarding rapid testing, he said there was room for caution, because there are ongoing professional debates on their efficiency.
He said the accuracy of negative results was 50 to 60 per cent, adding that he would make the test available to nursery schools, kindergartens and schools.
He said the government would do everything it could to support teachers and kindergarten teachers.
On the topic of people getting tired of the pandemic, he said: “There’s a notable difference between getting weary of something, or dying in it.”
As to the vaccine, he said it was in clear sight. The solution is to “kill” the virus and we must hold out until the vaccine arrives, he added.
PM Orban said Hungary was expecting a shipment from the EU in December or January, which will only be enough to inoculate healthcare workers, police officers and – possibly – the most at-risk social groups. He added that there were some other options on the table, from Russia, China and Israel.
“We will be partially relieved at the end of December and liberated in April,” he said.
Mr Orban said the restrictions to stay in effect for a month will be followed by a phase of restarting the economy, during which time hotels and restaurants will lose their revenues. He added, however, that he had already received proposals for new measures to help every sector of the economy.
“A new action plan designed to help everyone is already underway,” he said.
According to Viktor Orban, their job is not to regulate either life in general or the economy, because these two go hand in hand. He said the goal was to help people in a way to allow them to live the life they want.
Regarding Hungary’s recently approved 90-day special legal order, he said the government was expecting attacks from abroad.
“Although the Hungarian parliament will discuss dozens of laws in the coming days, many will claim that parliament is not sitting and cry dictatorship,” he said.
According to Viktor Orban, certain people do not like the current Hungarian government and many would like to see it gone.
“By now, even toddlers are aware that George Soros is in the background. He is the spider that weaves this net,” he said, adding that some are already at work to bring to power such a government that will serve their interests.