Hungary registers 6,268 new coronavirus cases, total now tops 200,000

Hungary on Saturday registered 6,268 new COVID-19 cases in a 24-hour span, raising the national total to 204,708, according to the government's coronavirus information website, reported Xinhua.

In the past 24 hours, a record 152 people have died from the disease, taking the toll to 4,516 in the country, while 54,021 have recovered. Currently, 7,536 patients are being treated in hospital, and 644 of them are on ventilators.

"The number of infected does not yet include the results of the large-scale testing conducted in schools and kindergartens, the results of which are expected at the beginning of next week," the website informed.

A daily shopping slot reserved exclusively for elderly citizens is the latest measure introduced on Nov. 24 in a series of efforts aimed at curbing the pandemic. Thus between 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. on weekdays and 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. on weekends, only those above the age of 65 are to shop in grocery shops, drugstores and pharmacies.

The mandatory wearing of masks outdoors, a curfew from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m., and a switch to online education for secondary schools and universities remained in force until further notice.

"Registration for the vaccine will kick off next week so that authorities can properly assess how many people intend to get vaccinated," Prime Minister Viktor Orban said Friday morning on public radio MR1.

Hungary's COVID-19 cases have risen sharply since late August. The country's total cases topped 10,000 on Sept. 10, 50,000 on Oct. 21, 100,000 on Nov. 7, and 150,000 on Nov. 17.

As the world is struggling to contain the pandemic, countries including France, Germany, China, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States are racing to find a vaccine.

According to the website of the World Health Organization, as of Nov. 12, there were 212 COVID-19 candidate vaccines being developed worldwide, and 48 of them were in clinical trials.