BUDAPEST (Reuters) – Hungary reported 182 new COVID-19 deaths on Thursday, by far the highest daily toll since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, government data showed.
Thursday’s tally brought the total number of deaths to 5,324, while infections rose by 6,635 to 231,844. As of Wednesday, Hungary ran the European Union’s fifth-highest death rate per 100,000 people over a two-week period based on data from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control.
Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s government imposed a partial lockdown three weeks ago to slow the spread of the virus, including a 1900 GMT curfew and closing secondary schools.
Primary schools have stayed open despite a plea from teachers’ union PDSZ for the government to order an immediate winter break.
Orban’s government has yet to decide on whether regulations can be changed for Christmas.
(Reporting by Anita Komuves and Gergely Szakacs; Editing by Alex Richardson and Nick Macfie)
