Coronavirus – Several events affecting Budapest postponed

The government’s operative staff in charge of national holiday events has decided to postpone the award ceremony of the Kossuth and Széchenyi Prizes in view of the new coronavirus, Zoltan Kovács, the head of the body, said on commercial Inforadio on Thursday.

The prestigious Kossuth Prize, a recognition of outstanding cultural achievements, and the Széchenyi Prize for scientific work, are traditionally handed over on the March 15 national holiday.

Kovács noted that the government had earlier decided to cancel central programmes of the upcoming national holiday. The list of awardees will be published on the occasion of the holiday, but the prizes will be handed over at a later date, he said.

• Operative board calls for cancellation of all March 15 national holiday events – UPDATE

Moroever, the Covid-19 Working Group of the FINA international swimming federation has postponed various events affect Hungary and the Hungarian national teams.
The women’s water polo Olympic qualifier in Trieste has been postponed from this week to May 17-24, though this decision will be reviewed on April 20.

The working group will decide together with the International Olympic Committee and the Tokyo Organising Committee whether to hold preliminary heats in April for swimmers and water polo players.