Third wave of Covid-19: a tightening of the lockdown rules has just been announced

HUNGARY - In Brief 04 Mar 2021 by Istvan Racz

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This morning, the government cabinet has decided the tightening of the existing Covid lockdown rules, in view of the rapidly aggravating domestic Covid situation. Here is today's standing of the domestic daily new infections curve (7-day averages, official data):Under the freshly announced rules:- Elementary schools and nurseries will be closed from March 8 until April 7 (effectively until after the regular Easter holiday). Digital education will be introduced where applicable. (High schools and universities have been closed already and working through digital education since November.)- Shops, except for foodstores, pharmacies, drugstores and petrol stations will have to close between March 8 and March 22. In the same period, all commercial services will cease to work, except for private health care.- Wearing face masks will be obligatory everywhere in public areas, including outdoors.- Leisure activities in public areas will be seriously limited (detailed rules on this are not available yet).- The government's existing wage support scheme will be extended to all sectors directly affected by the new measures.- A gradual reopening is officially envisaged from March 22.The tightness of these measures reminds us of the first lockdown rules from late March to early May last year. However, the negative impact on growth and the budget is likely to be smaller, assuming the duration of the enhanced lockdown regime will be indeed limited to two weeks, i.e. roughly one-third of the length of the similar regime last spring. But even so, the MNB is unlikely to go for any policy tightening, with a view to a stronger forint or lower inflation, for the time being. Meanwhile, mass va...