Fifth COVID-19 wave hits Hungary

The fifth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic driven by the Omicron variant has hit Hungary, Bela Merkely, rector of Semmelweis Medical University in Budapest and leader of the Clinical Epidemiology Working Group, said on public television M1 on Friday.

Budapest [Hungary], January 7 (ANI/Xinhua): The fifth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic driven by the Omicron variant has hit Hungary, Bela Merkely, rector of Semmelweis Medical University in Budapest and leader of the Clinical Epidemiology Working Group, said on public television M1 on Friday. Merkely said that since the Omicron coronavirus variant is highly contagious, tens of thousands of new cases can be expected in the country in the coming days and weeks.

"The Omicron variant typically causes only mild upper respiratory infections in vaccinated people -- runny nose, sore throat, headache and fever lasting for a day or two," he explained, warning that the hospitalization rate for unvaccinated people may increase. "The proportion of serious cases is likely to be lower than in the third and fourth waves," he said.

Vaccination against coronavirus is the only way to significantly reduce the chances of being hospitalized, Merkely said, stressing that three vaccine doses offer high protection. Virologist Miklos Rusvai said he expected the number of new daily cases to break all previous records during the fifth wave. "I think that in the fifth wave, we may see over 15,000 new cases per day," he told Xinhua. (ANI/Xinhua)

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