The prime minister said blanket restrictions in education were not planned and schools would not be closed down.
Instead, attempts would be made to isolate the infected, he said, adding that individual schools would only be closed down if isolating classes failed. Even then, he said, supervision of non-infected children will be provided in order to allow parents to carry on with their lives. Orb谩n confirmed that elderly care homes and hospitals have been closed to visitors in order to protect the elderly and bans on visits would be enforced even by police if necessary. He said rules on wearing masks may be expanded if necessary and temperature checks will be introduced at school entrances. Further, everyone will be eligible for a flu vaccination free of charge, he said, adding that he was planning to introduce centrally regulated prices for coronavirus tests in the near future.
Domestic tourism performed better this year than ever before thanks to the government鈥檚 related measures, he said, though tourism in Budapest, which relies on foreign visitors, collapsed. He said that for this reason the city鈥檚 leadership should make use of 50-60 billion forints (EUR 140-168m) out of over 100 billion forints of savings that the previous mayor, Istv谩n Tarl贸s, racked up, he added.
He asked Budapest Mayor Gergely Kar谩csony to carry out his tasks 鈥渨ith due seriousness鈥� instead of 鈥渨riting politically motivated letters鈥�. 鈥淟et鈥檚 stay away from experimenting. This is not like painting cycle lanes on roads: either they work or they don鈥檛,鈥� Orb谩n said, referring to new bicycle lanes in Budapest.
On the subject of border closures, the prime minister said that 鈥淏russels bureaucrats鈥� at first had reacted nervously to Hungary鈥檚 partial closure of its borders. But in the end, he added, they would, 鈥渁s usual鈥�, follow Hungary鈥檚 example.
Orb谩n insisted that central Europe would be a safe zone within an otherwise troubled Europe, and Slovaks, Czechs and Poles would be able to move about and live together. The prime minister related how he had been in his kitchen on Thursday evening when President Donald Trump phoned him. He said they spoke at length about virus control measures, the presidential election and cooperation between the US and Hungary. Orb谩n said Trump had a close and almost friendly relationship with the leaders of eastern European countries, adding that what the president represented 鈥渋s good for central Europe鈥�. The prime minister also said he was rooting for Trump in the US presidential election.
Meanwhile, Orb谩n said that were it not for the pandemic, Europe-China relations would be among the 鈥渢op hits鈥� of politics since, with the world in transition, 鈥渢he United States is no longer sitting alone on its throne鈥� and the geopolitical situation was now more complex. Europe, he added, did not want to be trapped between the US and China.
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