COVID-19: 123 deaths on Monday, nearly 5,300 people in hospital in Hungary

If you want to compare the current pandemic wave with the one a year ago, go ahead. Here are the key metrics for you: new cases, hosplitalisations, number of ventilated Covid patients, and deaths (if you scroll down). If you don't want to compare the data, that's also fine, just look at the numbers and curves and columns for this year alone.

Based on 7-day averages, hospitalisations continue to grow at a diminishing rate, while the number of ventilated Covid patients is rising at a growing rate.

Highlights of of today's data release:

• new cases -19.5% d/d, -37.6% w/w;
• 7-day average of new cases -4% d/d, -33% w/w;
• Covid patients in hospital +105 (+2%) d/d, +124 (+2.4%) w/w;
• Covid patients on ventilator +5.7% d/d, +20% w/w;
• Covid deaths +31% w/w.

The downturn of the green curve on the left-hand chart below shows that in terms of COVID-19 cases the fifth wave has peaked, but it will take some time before hospitalisation, ventilation, and death figures start reflecting this. The diminishing growth rate of hospitalisations is the first sign and long(er)-term positivity rates and their key ratios are also coming lower.

How to read the following chart?
On the two charts below the 0% line is important. When the curves are under 0% there’s a decline, when they go over 0% it’s an increase.

More importantly, when a value is north of 0% but the curve descends, it means an increase at a slowing rate, rather than a decrease. If the curve is above 0% and ascending, it is an increase at an accelerating rate. When we are under 0% and the curve goes lower, it translates into an accelerating decrease, and when it goes up it marks a decelerating decrease.

42,754 people have died of coronavirus-related diseases since the outbreak in the spring of 2020. That is the official figure. The actual number is way bigger.

Hungary is fourth (4,444) in the world (third if we exclude Bosnia and Herzegovina (4,648) with a small 1.6-million population) in terms of Covid deaths per one million population, behind Peru (6,183) and Bulgaria (5,040).

The aggregate figure of Covid deaths between 1 August and 14 February is slightly lower in 2021/22 (12,727) than in 2020/21 (13,155).

Note that excess mortality statistics (released by the Central Statistical Office, KSH) paint a more accurate picture of the severity of the coronavirus pandemic than the numbers published by the coronavirus task force, but due to constant revisions the final (or close to final) mortality data will not be available for the period under review at least until late March.

If you were wondering how were were doing in terms of coronavirus-related mortality, here are the daily deaths figures and their accumulation for the period between 1 January and 14 February in 2021 and this year.

For vaccination info, click on the link below. It was written yesterday but not much has changed since then.

And here are the weekend's Covid statistics:

Cover photo: Getty Images