The hard part of the coronavirus epidemic has yet to come when the stage of group incidences will be replaced by mass incidences, the Parliamentary State Secretary of the Cabinet Office of the Prime Minister said on Kossuth Radio’s programme ‘Sunday Paper’.
Csaba Dömötör underlined that it was not irrelevant at all how soon and with what intensity the rise in the number of incidences would occur. The goal of the government is to slow down the spread of the virus in order not to overwhelm the health care system, he added.
He highlighted that life had perceivably slowed down in response to the restrictions on movement that had taken effect on Saturday.
The State Secretary specifically drew attention to the fact that the time slot available for the elderly for shopping did not serve to ease the regulations in force; on the contrary, its purpose is to introduce a further necessary restriction. He said the government is asking – as it did in the past – the elderly to stay at home, to ask family members or the local government to buy food and medicines for them, and to only avail themselves of the time slot between 9.00 a.m. and 12.00 p.m. as a last resort.
“We have the greatest respect for compatriots who have for decades carried this country on their shoulders. We want them to believe that these measures have been implemented for their protection,” he said.
According to Mr Dömötör, there is not a single person in the country whose life is not affected by the epidemic, and complying with the rules requires an enormous amount of patience.
“We are grateful to the millions of Hungarians who are displaying extraordinary discipline during these difficult days, while our special appreciation goes to those who are standing their ground in their respective fields of work and are fighting against the virus,” he stated.
The government’s representative also said, despite the difficulties, these are also days of unity. “We have many different ideas about the world, but right now we’re all in the same boat which says ‘fight against the virus’,” he said, adding that “we can get through this if we all row in the same direction, and in this regard every single stroke counts”.
Mr Dömötör pointed out that Parliament would decide on Monday about the extension of measures implemented during the state of danger. This could have already taken place last Monday if the opposition had not obstructed it.
He highlighted that, despite all rumours to the contrary, the government’s emergency measures could only extend to preventing and eliminating the epidemic as well as to alleviating its harmful economic effects. He repeated that the reason why there was no specific time limit for the duration of emergency measures was that at this time there was not a single person who could tell for how many months this struggle could last.
The State Secretary described the left-wing opposition’s attitude as disappointing as, in his view, they are behaving as if they had not realised that in this situation even those must cooperate who are otherwise very much in disagreement on most issues.
Mr Dömötör asked the opposition to join the government, there will be time for internal political debates later as right now the epidemic is completely indifferent to them. He said it is strange and sad that when the whole country is fighting an invisible enemy, Jobbik is busy sending out anti-government telephone messages to people all over the country.
He stressed he was proud that many members of his political community were organising help for the elderly even if they did not publicise their efforts.
The State Secretary said the cabinet’s primary goal – in addition to protecting human lives – is to protect jobs. This is why they have decided on the suspension of credit debt repayments and certain employer contributions on workers’ wages, and the cancellation of the flat-rate tax of 80,000 small businesses. Already at this point, these measures are providing help for hundreds of thousands of families; however, further measures are likely to be implemented with a view to avoiding mass unemployment, he explained.
Mr Dömötör also highlighted that the government was doing everything it could to ensure the availability of sufficient supplies.
He recalled that on Saturday 27 tonnes of supplies had arrived from China, while on Sunday they were expecting 3 million face masks. These supplies primarily serve to protect health care workers who are working in the frontline of the epidemic, he said.
The cabinet’s representative said they have also decided to introduce from Monday a system of hospital commanders in the interest of ensuring effective supplies management in institutions and to provide free regional travel on public transport for health care workers.