New travel restrictions introduced in Hungary: contradictory decisions were made
Gergely Gulyás, head of the Prime Minister’s Office announced new travel restrictions for Hungary on Sunday. These take effect on Tuesday midnight. Restrictions were ordered by the government to avoid a second wave of coronavirus infections. The restrictions supposedly overlap with the EU’s recommendations, but some seem illogical and overcomplicated.
The minister claimed that the new restrictions do not aim to restrict people’s freedom instead maintain people’s freedom by avoiding a greater epidemic in Hungary, Index reports.
Countries are divided into three categories: green, yellow, and red based on their current number of infections and the moving average of the last two weeks.
- Green: number of infections is low
- Yellow: number of infections are less severe (the number of infected increases but we cannot talk about mass infection yet)
- Red: number of infections is critical (there are mass infections all over the country)
Certain counties’ ratings are harder to understand than others.
For example, the United States is rated yellow even though they have the highest number of infections in the whole world (40-60,000 new infections a day) as opposed to Canada, where they register about 300 daily cases, and yet the country is classified as red. Thailand is also red, where they basically have no new cases since May (1-10 cases a day). Interestingly, New Zealand is also considered red even though they have zero new cases since the end of April, but Italy is green even though they register over 200 cases per day. Croatia seems to be controversial as well. Their numbers indicate that the second wave has started and only getting stronger, yet the country is marked green.
Check out the full list of countries here.
It is important to mention that not the same rules apply for Hungarian citizens and for foreigners wishing to enter the country.
For example, if foreign citizens are coming from countries marked yellow and they show any sign of the virus at their arrival, they cannot enter the country, and they cannot cross the border at all if they are coming from countries marked red.
As usual, there are many exceptions when people are exempt from the restrictions and can enter the country even from countries marked yellow or red.
Exceptions include carriers transporting goods, people coming to attend court or other official proceedings, to participate in official business, to access healthcare services, people who study here or wish to attend important family affairs (weddings, funerals, etc.).
Source: www.index.hu