Hungary: Authorities reopen borders to Czech Republic, Poland, and Slovakia September 1 /update 13

Event

Hungarian authorities have announced that borders will reopen for the Czech Republic, Poland, and Slovakia on Tuesday, September 1, despite a border lockdown being introduced for other countries due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. The government had announced that it would close its borders to all foreign nationals from September 1 due to a rise in COVID-19 cases. However, Hungarian authorities made exceptions following talks with Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis as Prime Minister Viktor Orban allowed Czechs with booked holidays to visit the country, providing evidence of a negative COVID-19 test taken within five days prior to arrival is presented. Orban also agreed to extend the reopening of borders to Slovakia and Poland.

By closing borders to all other countries, Hungary became the first nation in Europe's free movement Schengen zone to reimplement strict border controls after borders largely reopened in the past few months following the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Officials have said that a corridor will be maintained to allow transit through the country, and there will be certain exemptions to the ban, including for diplomatic personnel and other official visits. Hungarian nationals returning home from abroad will be required to either quarantine or produce two negative COVID-19 tests. The border closure will reportedly stay in place for at least a month. During this period officials are advising Hungarian nationals not to travel outside the country.

As of September 1, there have been 6,257 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Hungary with 616 associated deaths. Further international spread of the virus is to be expected in the near term.

Context

The first case of COVID-19 was reported on December 31 and the source of the outbreak has been linked to a wet market in Wuhan (Hubei province, China). Since then, human-to-human transmission of the virus has been confirmed.

Cases of the virus have been confirmed in numerous countries and territories worldwide. On March 11, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the global outbreak a pandemic. Virus-screening and quarantining measures are being implemented at airports worldwide, as well as extensive travel restrictions.

The most common symptoms of COVID-19 are fever, dry cough, and tiredness. Some patients may experience other symptoms such as body pains, nasal congestion, headache, conjunctivitis, sore throat, diarrhea, loss of taste or smell or a rash on skin or discoloration of fingers or toes. These symptoms (in most cases mild) appear gradually. Generally, most patients (around 80 percent) recover from the disease without being hospitalized.

Advice

Measures adopted by local authorities evolve quickly and are usually effective immediately. Depending on the evolution of the outbreak in other countries, authorities are likely to modify, at very short notice, the list of countries whose travelers are subject to border control measures or entry restrictions upon their arrival to the territory in question. It is advised to postpone nonessential travel due to the risk that travelers may be refused entry or be subject to quarantine upon their arrival or during their stay.

To reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission, travelers are advised to abide by the following measures:

• Frequently clean hands by using alcohol-based hand rub or soap and water.
• When coughing and sneezing, cover mouth and nose with a flexed elbow or tissue; if used, throw the tissue away immediately and wash hands.
• If experiencing a fever, cough, and difficulty breathing, seek medical care urgently and share your previous travel history with your health care provider.