Number of coronavirus (COVID-19) cases in Hungary 2023

As of May 10, 2023, the cumulative number of confirmed COVID-19 cases totaled approximately 2.2 million in Hungary and 3.5 thousand people were infected with the virus at the time. By this date, the number of deceased had reached nearly 49 thousand.

The spread of COVID-19 in Hungary

Local authorities announced the first two confirmed cases of COVID-19 on March 4, 2020, and the first coronavirus-related death on March 15, 2020. The virus had been present in all counties of Hungary long before the second wave reached the country at the end of the year. February 2021 was marked by the beginning of the third wave of COVID-19 in Hungary and the number of deaths from the virus reached an all-time high in April.

The government’s response

In March 2020, a state of emergency was declared and the first security measures were introduced in Hungary. The same month, the coronavirus law was passed, which enabled Prime Minister Viktor Orbán to rule by decree indefinitely. By June 2020, Hungary had ended its rule by decree and the government had declared a "state of medical crisis". Due to the high number of deaths and severe cases, the government imposed strict restrictive measures again during the third wave in March 2021. Over the following months, however, these restrictions eased gradually owing to the increasing number of people receiving the first dose of the vaccine against the virus.