Economy 21 April 2021, 9:26am

COVID-19 in Hungary: 2,527 new cases

Portfolio

There were 2,527 new coronavirus (COVID-19) infections confirmed in Hungary in the past 24 hours, increasing the total since last March to 757,360, the official government website said. The number of fatalities was again high at 207, bringing the death toll to 25,787. While the number of new cases indicates the pandemic is receding in Hungary, fatalities remain high.

The number of new cases continued the downward trend seen in recent weeks: there were 3,597 last Wednesday and 2,527 today, for a 30% week-on-week decrease.

It is inherent in the dynamics of pandemic statistics that the number of fatalities begins to fall later than that of new cases, which is why we have yet to see a steep plunge on this curve. Nevertheless, recent days brought the seven-day rolling average to below 250. Today’s 207 fatalities represent a 27% decrease from last Wednesday’s 285.

The number of people treated in hospital decreased by 505 to 8,097 and that of people on ventilators by 55 to 925. The latter figure dropped below 1,000 yesterday for the first time since mid-March, indicating that the pressure on hospitals is easing.

Authorities applied 22,435 coronavirus tests in 24 hours, 2,527 of which came back positive, for a positivity rate of 11.3%. This was one of the lowest ratios in recent weeks and has contributed to decreasing the seven-day rolling average to 15.3%.

46,500 people were vaccinated yesterday with the first dose, bringing the total to 3,363,596. The second dose was administered to 24,421 people, for a total of 1,425,124. Vaccination coverage is now 34% and 14.6%, respectively. While Prime Minister Viktor Orbán last week projected that Hungary would reach 3.5 million vaccinated citizens by this Wednesday or Thursday, this is now highly unlikely.