People wearing face masks queue in front of a post office in Budapest, Hungary, on March 4, 2021. The Hungarian government presented on Thursday a set of stricter rules in order to combat the third wave of the pandemic, as daily new infections surpassed 6,000, a level unseen since last November. (Photo by Attila Volgyi/Xinhua)
BUDAPEST, March 4 (Xinhua) -- The Hungarian government presented on Thursday a set of stricter rules in order to combat the third wave of the pandemic, as daily new infections surpassed 6,000, a level unseen since last November.
"Non-essential shops and services will be closed from March 8 to March 22, as well as kindergartens and primary schools until April 7," Gergely Gulyas, head of the Prime Minister's Office, said at an online press conference.
Grocery stores, pharmacies, drugstores and gas stations will be allowed to stay open for business, according to Gulyas, who also said that all services would have to be suspended from March 8 to March 22, except for private health care.
Gyms should also be closed for two weeks, Gulyas said, adding that training and matches of certified athletes could only be organized behind closed gates.
Concerning open spaces, public parks and gardens will stay open, while outdoor sports activities will be permitted on the condition that a distance of 1.5 meters can be maintained, he explained.
The use of masks is mandatory everywhere outdoors, he stressed. Gulyas also spoke about a tightening of border traffic, but told reporters that transit and freight traffic will not be restricted.
The Hungarian government is boosting its vaccination program with Russian and Chinese vaccines, as the third wave of the pandemic hit the country.
With access to vaccines from five producers, namely Sinopharm, Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca and Sputnik V, Hungary, the first European Union member state to buy and authorize the use of Chinese vaccines, started to administer the Sinopharm vaccine on Feb. 24.
The country on Thursday registered 6,278 new COVID-19 cases in a 24-hour span, raising the national total to 446,178, according to official data.
In the past 24 hours, 152 people have died from the disease, taking the toll to 15,476 in the country, while 328,136 have recovered. Currently, 6,554 patients are being treated in hospitals, including 639 on ventilators, figures from the government's coronavirus information website showed.
As of Thursday, 785,440 people had received at least the first shot of a vaccine, while 267,153 had two jabs, according to the website. Enditem
