Arab Press

بالشعب و للشعب
Friday, Oct 03, 2025

Booster jabs for health-care staff, mask wearing to be compulsory

Booster jabs for health-care staff, mask wearing to be compulsory

From Saturday, the wearing of a mask in enclosed spaces will be compulsory, Gergely Gulyas, the prime minister's chief of staff, told a regular government news briefing on Thursday. Gulyas also said Plans are also afoot for the same in state administration, he added.
Mask-wearing will be compulsory in shops, malls, museums, theatres, cinemas and in areas open to the public in government offices. Using masks on public transport will continue to be compulsory, he said.

Events with more than 500 people attending can still be attended with an immunity certificate, he said.

Also, mask-wearing will be mandatory wherever more than five people are regularly present in a shop. In schools, it will be up to head teachers to decide whether it is compulsory to wear a mask, he added.

Offices and sports facilities will be continue to be mask-free.

Gulyas said modelling indicated that the fourth wave would peak in late November or early December, though, he added, making such predictions was risky.

Expert were agreed, he said, that vaccination was the only truly effective protection against Covid, especially the delta variant, and he cited the examples of Israel and the United States where booster shots had proved effective. The government, he added, recommended a booster jab for everyone from the fourth month on.

People who refused to be vaccinated put the health and lives of others at risk, he said, adding that the government had been forced to make mask-wearing compulsory for this reason.

From Nov. 22 to 28, the government is rolling out a vaccination campaign with an increased number of designated vaccination points in hospitals, with no requirement for registration.

Meanwhile, Gulyas said that while the incumbent Fidesz government holds power, capped utility bills would be here to stay. Gulyas said it was welcome that the price of fuel at the pump had been capped throughout Hungary thanks to government intervention, and that all fuel stations had complied. The tax authority will be checking fuel quality from Wednesday, he added.

Small businesses will be given the opportunity to join a universal energy provider so as to benefit from lower bills, he said.

Lower overheads and fuel prices will help to keep inflation in check, Gulyas added.

Commenting on the reports concerning alleged plans to sell Budapest’s City Hall, he insisted that the administration of Gergely Karacsony was in a state of “chaos” and, given the mayor had publicly rebuked a subordinate, the question of his credibility was hanging in the balance. Also, there was the question of whether he had been in possession of the relevant information, he added.

Whereas Karacsony had promised to create a park in the courtyard of City Hall and renovate the building, it transpired that the courtyard would continue to serve as a car park, while the building was in a worse condition than ever, Gulyas said.

Commenting on statements made by Peter Marki-Zay, the opposition alliance’s prime ministerial candidate, who has cast doubt on the government’s scheme to regulate utility bills, Gulyas, referring to the former Socialist prime minister, said “Ferenc Gyurcsany’s candidate” had admitted to continue with policies pursued between 2002 and 2010 when the price of electricity doubled and the price of gas tripled. The average Hungarian household would pay 400,000 forints more each year if market prices were passed on to them.

Asked in more detail about vaccination, he said the government would work towards making sure that state administration staff who are in contact with the public will have had three vaccinations.

Concerning teachers, no decision has been made regarding booster shots. The vaccination rate among teachers is around 87 percent, he added.

Gulyas said it was worth holding events that are accessible using an immunity card, adding that this would also send a message that inoculation is truly protective.

Asked about whether online education could make a comeback, he said: “If schools stop, everything stops”. Conditions are in place for classrooms to remain open, he said. Pending the decision of the European authorities, approval for vaccination of children under the age of 12 years could arrive in December, he added.

Meanwhile, Hungary, he confirmed, is sending ten doctors to Slovenia to help amid the serious epidemic there.

Regarding the Stop Soros package of laws which the European Court of Justice ruled unlawful, Gulyas said the government was examining the ruling. He added the government considered the European Commission’s “stand in favour of migration taken within a single week of the court’s ruling” to be “a serious mistake”.

Gulyas said the EC should follow the instructions of European government leaders and draft a clear set of rules to advance the protection of the EU’s external borders.

Commenting on the situation on the Poland-Belarus border, Gulyas noted that German Chancellor Angela Merkel was handling the diplomacy, and “Hungary knows what its weight is,” though if a request was received, he added, Hungary would not hesitate to step up. Every possible support for protecting the external borders should be provided, he said.

Asked about recent legislation on changing address rules for voters in the general election, Gulyas said the new rules did not offer any greater room for manoeuver that those up to now. Neither did they connect with the right to vote, he insisted. The government estimates that 1.5-2 million people live somewhere other than at their declared address, he added.

During the five-week parliamentary session, no objections to the amendment were made, he said. A debate emerged only later, when an organisation linked to George Soros complained about the new law, Gulyas added.

Responding to a question on the economy, Gulyas said the government considered it important that certain sectors of the economy should be in Hungarian hands to a sufficient degree, and more must be done to achieve this in the food industry and retail.

Regarding the possible redrafting of next year’s budget, he said the government awaited the central bank’s 2022 inflation forecast to be published in December.

He said the government concurred with the consensus that inflation would not fall back to around three percent before the second half of next year.
Newsletter

Related Articles

Arab Press
0:00
0:00
Close
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
Nvidia and Abu Dhabi’s TII Launch First AI-&-Robotics Lab in the Middle East
UK, Canada, and Australia Officially Recognise Palestine in Historic Shift
Dubai Property Boom Shows Strain as Flippers Get Buyer’s Remorse
JWST Data Brings TRAPPIST-1e Closer to Earth-Like Habitability
UAE-US Stargate Project Poised to Make Abu Dhabi a Global AI Powerhouse
Saudi Arabia cracks down on music ‘lounges’ after conservative backlash
Saudi Arabia Signs ‘Strategic Mutual Defence’ Pact with Pakistan, Marking First Arab State to Gain Indirect Access to Nuclear Strike Capabilities in the Region
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Kuwait opens bidding for construction of three cities to ease housing crunch.
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
Turkish authorities seize leading broadcaster amid fraud and tax investigation
Apple Introduces Ultra-Thin iPhone Air, Enhanced 17 Series and New Health-Focused Wearables
Big Oil Slashes Jobs and Investments Amid Prolonged Low Crude Prices
Social Media Access Curtailed in Turkey After CHP Calls for Rallies Following Police Blockade of Istanbul Headquarters
Gold Could Reach Nearly $5,000 if Fed Independence Is Undermined, Goldman Sachs Warns
Uruguay, Colombia and Paraguay Secure Places at 2026 World Cup
Trump Administration Advances Plans to Rebrand Pentagon as Department of War Instead of the Fake Term Department of Defense
Tether Expands into Gold Sector with Profit-Driven Diversification
Trump’s New War – and the ‘Drug Tyrant’ Fearing Invasion: ‘1,200 Missiles Aimed at Us’
At the Parade in China: Laser Weapons, 'Eagle Strike,' and a Missile Capable of 'Striking Anywhere in the World'
Information Warfare in the Age of AI: How Language Models Become Targets and Tools
Israeli Airstrike in Yemen Kills Houthi Prime Minister
After the Shock of Defeat, Iranians Yearn for Change
YouTube Altered Content by Artificial Intelligence – Without Permission
Iran Faces Escalating Water Crisis as Protests Spread
More Than Half a Million Evacuated as Typhoon Kajiki Heads for Vietnam
HSBC Switzerland Ends Relationships with Over 1,000 Clients from Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Qatar, and Egypt
Sharia Law Made Legally Binding in Austria Despite Warnings Over 'Incompatible' Values
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Miles Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
Trump Backs Putin’s Land-for-Peace Proposal Amid Kyiv’s Rejection
Zelenskyy to Visit Washington after Trump–Putin Summit Yields No Agreement
Iranian Protection Offers Chinese Vehicle Shipments a Cost Advantage over Japanese and Korean Makers
United States Sells Luxury Yacht Amadea, Valued at Approximately $325 Million, in First Sale of a Seized Russian Yacht Since the Invasion of Ukraine
Saudi Arabia accelerates renewables to curb domestic oil use
Cristiano Ronaldo and Georgina Rodríguez announce engagement
Asia-Pacific dominates world’s busiest flight routes, with South Korea’s Jeju–Seoul corridor leading global rankings
Private Welsh island with 19th-century fort listed for sale at over £3 million
Sam Altman challenges Elon Musk with plans for Neuralink rival
×