Coronavirus in Hungary – Representative screening shows just two positives, so far

A nationwide representative screening for infection by the novel coronavirus has produced just two positives from 8,276 tests so far, Béla Merkely, the rector of Semmelweis University, who is heading the project, said on Tuesday.

Semmelweis University, Hungary’s three other medical schools and the Central Statistical Office (KSH) started the screening of almost 18,000 people on May 1 with the support of the innovation and technology ministry.

Merkely said

the numbers so far would suggest that there are between 243 and 7,230 people with Covid-19 over the age of 14 in Hungary.

The screening is also testing for coronavirus antibodies in people who have been infected and recovered.

The number of people showing signs of previous infection and recovery are nine from a sample of a 1,524, Merkely said.

That would put the total number of such Hungarians over the age of 14 between 22,399 and 92,624 or between 0.27 percent and 1.1 percent of the population.