Covid-19 turning nasty in Europe, Hungary rejects lockdown measures for the time being

HUNGARY - In Brief 23 Oct 2020 by Istvan Racz

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Here follow two graphs on new Covid-19 daily infection cases, representing 7-day averages (data from Worldometers.info, ECDC and Koronavirus.gov.hu). The first one is for Hungary:The second one shows data for Europe (the whole continent, EU and non-EU, this time, also as 7-day averages):We would leave the question of which one of these two is worse for political debates. To us, both look worryingly ugly, suggesting that the epidemic is currently pretty much out of control and requires urgent action. It is no surprise that European governments are quickly moving towards the reintroduction of lockdown measures, on a selective basis of course, to avoid major economic and social harm, but appear less and less concerned about the latter and increasingly worried about the disease itself. Measures include closing down schools, prohibiting public (and even private) gatherings of size, night curfews, restrictions on people's freedom to move around during daylight, stressing various safety measures and sanctioning non-compliance, etc. The countries affected represent a very long list, so that by now it would be much easier to list the exceptions.Yesterday, Slovakia (Hungary's direct neighbour to the north) announced a two-week limited curfew on a nationwide basis. They are planning to virus-test the whole adult population within the next three weeks. PM Igor Matovic stated that should this general testing not be carried out, he would step down.Hungary, on the other hand, seems to follow a different route. PM Orbán does not seem to be willing to step down on any Covid-related events or the lack of those, and he seems to be heavily concerned about the economic and political impact...