According to Budapest Deputy Mayor Kata Tüttő, there are so many coronavirus infections among the people who work on Metro Line 2 that if two more people get sick, the Metro may need to be shut down. The government later announced that the inoculation of metro workers had begun alongside that of police officers and soldiers.
According to her, “During the first and second waves, public services were not in jeopardy; however, today there are so many infections among the workers at [public transport company] BKV, in metro traffic control, tram drivers, bus drivers, that it is not certain that the metro will run tomorrow.”
Tüttő added that if the people who run the subway get sick, they cannot replace them in any way.
“To be precise, we are at the point that if two more people get sick, the Metro may need to be shut down,” she explained.
Kata Tüttő argued that they were constantly asking for the vaccination of public service workers. As this has not happened, waste transport, cleaning, and public transport are at bigger risk than ever before.
ATV later announced that the inoculation of Metro workers had begun, of which Tüttő was informed by government contacts. The decision was likely brought to stop the metro line from shutting down completely, as many people depend on it.
Chief Medical Officer Cecília Müller stated that police officers and soldiers would be inoculated as well. Other public servants were not mentioned.
Featured photo illustration by Zsolt Szigetváry/MTI
