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Hungary, Finland brace for new virus wave

Gergely SzakacsAAP
Finnish PM Sanna Marin says she knows people are tired but "we have to be strong" against COVID-19.
Camera IconFinnish PM Sanna Marin says she knows people are tired but "we have to be strong" against COVID-19.

Authorities in Hungary and Finland have warned that the coronavirus crisis shows no sign of letting up as the World Health Organisation says more needs to be done to help patients suffering from the long-term effects of COVID-19.

Hungarian hospitals will come under a strain not seen before over the next two weeks as the country enters the hardest period since the start of the pandemic, Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on Thursday.

"I have only bad news," Orban said in a Facebook video.

"We are facing the hardest two weeks since the start of the pandemic. The number of infections is rising sharply and will continue to rise due to the new mutations."

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Experts expect hospitalisations to increase drastically in the next two weeks as the pandemic's "third wave" hits Hungary, the prime minister's chief of staff Gergely Gulyas added.

The restrictions in place since November 11 - including an 8pm to 5am curfew, limiting restaurants to take-out and delivery service and the closure of theatres, spas, hotels and other establishments - must be kept in place, he said.

Meanwhile, Finland plans to reintroduce a state of emergency that would allow the country to close restaurants for a three-week period starting March 8.

"I know you're tired. So am I. But we have to be strong and now the situation is more difficult," Prime Minister Sanna Marin told a press conference on Thursday.

The variant first detected in the UK was present in Finland and "is more difficult to tackle, the old tools are not enough. Closed borders are not enough".

The new measures require students over the age of 13 to switch to distance learning and halts their leisure activities.

A public meeting ban for more than six people is introduced and people are urged to avoid private gatherings.

People in Finland would still have to work remotely and wear face masks.

A formal text will be presented next week before parliament.

The WHO's Europe unit is reporting that about one in 10 people who contracted COVID-19 continue to show "persistent ill health" 12 weeks after infection.

Hans Kluge, the head of WHO Europe, said much about so-called "long COVID" remains unknown but the "burden is real and it is significant".

In a policy brief released on Thursday, WHO Europe urged policymakers to do more to acknowledge and treat long COVID-19, which can bring severe fatigue, chest pain, heart inflammation, headache, forgetfulness, depression, loss of smell, recurrent fever, diarrhoea and ringing in the ears.

It said available data showed that about one in four people with COVID-19 show symptoms about a month after testing positive while one in 10 experience symptoms after 12 weeks.

Kluge told reporters that the coronavirus is still spreading at "very high rates" across the 53-country European region, citing two variants of concern.

However, he said fewer than 1 million new cases have been reported for a second straight week and transmission is slowing.

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