Hungary closes borders for all passenger transport! – UPDATE

Hungary will close its borders for all passenger transport and only Hungarian citizens will be allowed to enter, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said on Monday.

International coordination talks on the closure are under way, he said in parliament.

Government bans all events from Monday midnight

All events in Hungary will be banned starting at midnight on Monday, PM Viktor Orbán said in parliament, adding that sporting events should be held behind closed doors unless the organisers cancel those events altogether.

Pubs, cinemas and other cultural facilities will also be closed.

Restaurants, cafes and shops will be allowed to remain open until 3pm, Orbán said, adding that the restriction will not apply to food stores, pharmacies and drug stores.

Orbán has called on people to postpone all gatherings except for family events, and warned that the elderly were exceptionally vulnerable to the new virus.

• Coronavirus – Budapest thermal baths, Fine Arts Museum, National Gallery closed

Orbán: Epidemic requires rewrite of fiscal, economic policy

The new coronavirus epidemic will require a rewrite of fiscal and economic policy, Orbán said on Monday.

The budget will have to be redrafted “at all levels”, a task that will be coordinated by the finance minister, he said in parliament.

The governor of Hungary’s central bank has also become involved in the matter, Orbán said.

He stressed the necessity of measures to protect workplaces and said talks would start with representatives of the sectors hardest hit by the virus, namely tourism and catering, in order to determine courses of action.

• First coronavirus death reported in Hungary

PM Orbán calls for national cooperation

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán on Monday called for “joint action and national cooperation” to combat the new coronavirus epidemic.

Speaking in parliament, Orbán said that

working together offered the best chances to handle the epidemic, adding that the process would be “difficult and lengthy, with life in the next few months different from what we have been accustomed to”.

Orbán highlighted people working in health care and law enforcement, and thanked them for their efforts.

Orban added that handling the crisis will be a difficult and lengthy process and requires everybody to make adjustments because “the course of life will be different in the upcoming months from what we are used to”. The work of people in health care and law enforcement will be of primary importance in the upcoming period, he said and expressed thanks to them for their efforts so far. He also thanked all Hungarians for their discipline demonstrated in the extraordinary situation and for obeying the regulations.