From Friday, Austrian, Czech and Slovak nationals as well as Hungarian nationals arriving from these countries are allowed to enter Hungary without being required to retire to compulsory home quarantine, a staff member of the duty centre of the Operational Group responsible for the containment of the coronavirus epidemic said at an online press conference held on Friday.
Police Lt. Colonel Róbert Kiss stressed that as a result of consultations with the law enforcement agencies of neighbouring countries, from Friday 8.00 a.m. the government decree on border crossing from Austria, the Czech Republic and Slovakia entered into force.
Pursuant to the decree, nationals of Austria, the Czech Republic and Slovakia as well as Hungarian nationals arriving from these countries may enter the territory of Hungary without being required to retire to compulsory home quarantine, he said.
He added that all nationals of the European Economic Area come under the same consideration as Hungarian nationals who are entitled to permanent residence in Hungary and are able to prove this with a permanent residency card.
The Lt. Colonel also mentioned that from Friday another government decree took effect which makes the organisation of drive-in pop music concerts possible as the safety and disease control experiences of concerts of this type held at the end of May were favourable, these events were also favourably received by members of the public and there is a demand for events of this nature. Based on the legal rule, during these events members of the audience are required to remain in the car in which they arrived at the scene. Organisers are required to determine the conditions of attendance at drive-in concerts and to inform members of the audience thereof; at the same time, enforcing compliance is also the organisers’ responsibility, Mr Kiss added.
He said so far 2,190 persons have volunteered for the electronic monitoring by the authorities of compliance with the rules related to compulsory home quarantine. At present, the application has 854 active users. On Thursday, 815 new compulsory home quarantine orders were issued, resulting in 9,693 such restrictive orders in effect in total at present.
The number of crimes related to the epidemic has risen to 422, including 122 procedures instituted due to scaremongering, 29 due to the threat of public endangerment, 128 due to fraud and 22 due to the violation of disease control regulations. So far the police have questioned 80 suspects.
Regarding border traffic, he said in cargo traffic on the entry side there is a two-hour delay at Csanádpalota and one-hour delays at Röszke and Ártánd, while on the exit side there are two-hour delays at Röszke and Csanádpalota.
In bus traffic on the exit side there is a one-hour wait at Csanádpalota. In passenger traffic on the entry side there are two-hour delays at Nagylak and Csengersima, while on the exit side there is a one-hour wait at Nagylak.
In answer to the question as to what Hungarian holiday home and port owners in Croatia could expect upon returning home, the Lt. Colonel said the general rules apply to Hungarian nationals who return to Hungary from Croatia in passenger traffic.
He added that they are subjected to health screening; in the event of the suspicion of infection, they are referred to a designated quarantine facility, while in the absence of symptoms they are required to retire to compulsory home quarantine for 14 days. He said there are ongoing consultations with the Croatian law enforcement agencies about the lifting of the existing restrictive measures, and so they are asking for some more patience.
In Romania the number of infections has increased one and a half fold compared with last week’s average. In answer to a question about the possible tightening of measures, the Lt. Colonel said the Romanian-Hungarian border section is also a Schengen external border, and so there is ongoing border control there. He said in passenger traffic all Romanian-Hungarian border crossing stations are open, while in international cargo traffic the designated border crossing points can be used from 6.00 a.m. until 12.00 a.m. on weekdays and at any time at weekends and on public holidays.
He said Romanian nationals working in agriculture are allowed to enter Hungary; on Friday so far 642 persons have arrived in Hungary. Other than in the case of agricultural workers, however, the general rules of entry apply to Romanian nationals, meaning that they are not allowed to enter the territory of Hungary unless they were granted preliminary exemption based on individual considerations. The Operational Group is liaising continuously also with the Romanian authorities, and will take the necessary measures, he added.