Budapest stood the test of the first and second waves of the coronavirus to a great extent thanks to the cooperation of the city’s residents, Mayor Gergely Karácsony said on Friday.
He told a meeting of the Covid 2021 opposition assessment committee that the local government’s “brave and forward-thinking steps and inclusive communication” had contributed to Budapest residents demonstrating discipline in observing the restrictions.
The municipal council introduced all epidemiological restrictions earlier than the government, including protective measures for social institutions, mask-wearing rules and testing programmes, he added.
Karácsony said current information showed that it is necessary to prepare for a third wave of the epidemic, and the next two or three weeks would be “hellishly difficult”.
He also told the meeting that if Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s remark that the success of protection can be measured by the number of lives saved at face value, then “the protection campaign has failed”.
Featured photo by Zoltán Balogh/MTI
