Economy 12 May 2020, 9:20am

Hungary to concentrate COVID-19 patients in two Budapest hospitals

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The government’s decision to transfer all coronavirus (COVID-19) patients to two hospitals in Budapest will allow other hospitals in Hungary to begin medical procedures postponed because of the pandemic as soon as possible, the official government website said. There will be less medical staff working with coronavirus patients, and elective and planned surgeries and rehabilitation can gradually resume, the statement said.

The Hungarian medical system will return to the procedure used in the early stages of the pandemic, when new coronavirus patients are admitted to two Budapest hospitals, the Szent László and Korányi hospitals, Chief Medical Officer Cecília Müller wrote in a memo sent to all Hungarian hospitals and to the National Ambulance Service. The measure, made possible by a low spread rate of the virus, will allow regular treatment in hospitals to resume gradually, she added.

At present, there are 35 hospitals in Hungary involved in the treatment of coronavirus patients. From now on, newly diagnosed patients in critical condition who require hospital treatment will be taken to one of the two hospitals above. The second echelon includes the hospitals in Kiskunhalas, Miskolc, Szekszárd and Ajka; should these hospitals be full as well, other regional hospitals may be used.

As for current patients treated outside Budapest, hospitals may choose to transfer patients in serious conditions to the two designated hospitals in their own interest, or may decide to continue treatment in place.