Hungary is in nationwide quarantine. People can go for a walk, but they need to keep a 2m distance to other people. They can go to work and they can purchase groceries and medicines. But, with most people staying inside all day, and no tourists in Budapest, the streets are almost empty.
We visited some of the most popular tourist locations in Budapest to see what they look like during the coronavirus quarantine. Here you can see the pictures we made during our little excursion.
Coronavirus pictures from Budapest
The Heroes square – almost entirely emptyThe Szechenyi thermal bath is closed.The Andrassy út in BudapestThe Fishermen’s bastion in BudapestBeautiful spring colors in BudapestThe Gellert hill is almost emptyThe view is still amazing at the Gellert Hill
We hope these images will cheer you up! We hope for the coronavirus to disappear as quickly as possible, and once again make it possible to visit Budapest!
From March 28th, Hungary will start a nationwide quarantine that will last for two weeks. It might last even longer, but at first, it is supposed to last for two weeks only.
The nationwide quarantine was announced by the Prime Minister in a radio speech this morning. People are still allowed to leave their homes to go to work, and also to buy groceries and medicines. You are also allowed to leave you home to take a walk, but you should only walk with a distance from others and it has to be because of your health.
People who disobey the regulations can be fined receive fines between 5.000 and 500.000 HUF (15-1500 Euro).
When can I go to the store?
One big change that will take place due to the quarantine is how the grocery stores and pharmacies will operate. Those who are 65 years or older can only visit stores between 9.00 and 12.00. Everyone below 65 years can only visit pharmacies and stores before 9.00 in the morning or after 12.00.
For more information about the coronavirus in Hungary, check this article.
We were all looking forward to the spring fair in Budapest in 2020. But, because of the coronavirus, we can now forget all about it, and instead, hope that the virus will stop joking around soon, and thus, we can at least prepare for the Christmas markets which should open in November.
Yes, the spring fair was supposed to open in April 2020 and remain open for three weeks. But, the way things are today, this is not even something to think about. Why not?
Spring Fair in Budapest
The people of Hungary are still allowed to be outdoor and walk the streets of Budapest. But, the fair is even more for tourists. But, considering that tourists are not allowed to enter the country, the main source of visitors and income for the market is not even present, and thus, there is no need to keep the market open. And even more important, such an event will make you meet lots of other people, eat together, and it is a perfect place for the coronavirus to spread. As a result, the latter is most likely the main reason why the spring fair isn’t going to be arranged in 2020.
The Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban announced that Hungary will close its borders for all private persons who are not Hungarian. As a result, tourists will no longer be able to enter the country.
As a result, there will be closed doors for tourists, meaning that they will no longer be able to enter the country. Local restaurants who have suffered a lot already will suffer even more because of this. But, there is even more.
As of today, restaurants, bars, and other stores will have to close at 15.00. The only exceptions are pharmacies, grocery stores, and those closely related to those categories.
Some theaters and cinemas have been living with the chance to have gatherings for crowds with less than 100 people. But, as of today, they will have to close as well.
Viktor Orban also said that so far it has only been about individual cases of the coronavirus in Hungary. It is expected, however, that in the coming days and weeks it will turn into crowds.
Everyone working with tourism is suffering because of the Coronavirus. That is also true in Budapest, and as a result, lots of restaurants have decided not to remain open in the coming days, weeks, and most likely, months.
One of the best restaurants in Budapest, Textura, which is operated by the same people who run the restaurant Borkonyha (with one Michelin star), reported that they will close the restaurant from March 16th. At first, they plan to re-open the restaurant at the start of May.
We also received a report from a waiter in a very nice Hungarian wine restaurant in the city center (BorLaBor), that after only having a few visitors in an entire day, the management decided to close the restaurant from March 16th as well. Hopefully, the restaurant will be able to re-open once the virus danger is over.
These are just two examples of something that is a trend among restaurants, not only in Budapest but worldwide. Many restaurants in Budapest reported about a 20% revenue decrease in January, followed by approximately 40% in February, and with the total stop of tourism in March, the March numbers will be catastrophic for everyone.
We will return with more information about restaurants in Budapest as we expect many more announcements because of similar situations in the upcoming days and weeks.
At the daily update on March 14, we have been told that the number of people diagnosed with the Coronavirus in Hungary has now grown to 25. That means an increase of six persons since yesterday. This is the biggest increase in one day so far in Hungary.
The Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban announced Friday evening during a live speech at Facebook that the schools and kindergartens in Hungary will be closed from March 16th.
He did not give any information about the duration, but he did expect it to be a question of months and not weeks! The universities were closed earlier this week, and now the kindergartens and schools follow in the same example.
For those attending school, there will be online courses and digital teaching. In other words, this is not a holiday, but they will study from home instead.
Viktor Orban also said that it is very important that the parents try to solve the problem of watching out for the children at home. It might be tempting to ask the grandparents for help, but considering that the virus is more dangerous for those who are old, he encouraged everyone to try to solve this without involving the grandparents.
Would you like to know more about the Covid-19 virus in Hungary? Click the link for daily updates in our main article!
Yesterday, it was said that all indoor gatherings with more than 100 people present had to be canceled. As a result, theaters, cinemas, and other cultural programs were expected to be canceled from March 12th. But, some cinemas have fixed the problem, meaning that they only sell 99 tickets to each movie. So, if you want to watch a movie in a Budapest cinema, you still have the chance!
A few weeks ago, we wrote an article dealing with the price of a cinema ticket in Budapest. We also told you how much you will have to pay for popcorn and a nachos with some salsa dip. But, did you know that you can still enjoy a movie in a Budapest cinema combined with some popcorn?
If you visit www.cinemacity.hu, you can still reserve tickets, purchase tickets, and prepare to have a nice evening out, even though people fear the coronavirus. So, they have set a limit on 99 tickets per film, meaning that there will not be more than 100 people present. In that way, they will stay clear of the regulations from the government, and those who care more about movies than about the coronavirus will have a chance to give heed to their interest.
But, people will most likely stay at home. The upcoming James Bond premiere has been postponed, because of the virus. Anyone releasing a movie now will know that it will get a big minus, so I guess other big releases coming in the upcoming weeks and months might do like James Bond and postpone their premieres as well.
Every day we are given information once about the progress of the coronavirus in Hungary. The daily update on March 12th tells us that three new people have been infected by the virus.
The three new people are:
A lady who has been isolated in the Szent Janos hospital for days.
A person from Iran who has been infected by one of the other people from Iran.
A Hungarian man who was infected during a recent trip to Israel.
As of today, all theaters, and cinemas are closed. Children are still attending schools and going to kindergarten. Both parents and teachers hope that the government will decide to close school and kindergartens as well, but still, that is not happening in Hungary, even though it has happened in neighboring countries such as Austria, Romania, Slovakia, and Poland.
After the announcement made by Gergely Gulyas yesterday, people flocked to the stores to purchase groceries, flour, and other articles in Budapest. The announcement was about closing universities, and also about not allowing anyone to visit Hungary from Italy, China, South Korea, or from Iran.
His announcement worked as a catalyst, and a few hours later, people started to report about the most important goods to be impossible to find on the shelves of many stores.
But, are people starting to store up for the coming weeks? We paid a visit to a local Aldi store in Budapest this morning at seven o’clock. That is just after opening, and we expected the shelves to be packed with ingredients and ready for a new day. What is the truth?
Here you can see what met us.
Some milk for long storage could be found…
Those arriving first to the shop will get their hands on this meat!
This is where the flour should have been…
Some hermetics are still to be found, but tomato sauces, spaghetti, and similar objects are almost gone completely!
If you want to buy chocolate, orange juice, or maybe some cucumbers, you wouldn’t have trouble doing so. But, if you went to the store looking for flour, tomato sauce, spaghetti, pasta, rice, and all sorts of meat, you will soon find it harder to shop with success. And let us not forget, this was early in the morning when the shelves were supposed to be full.
We had a similar incident with empty shelves a few weeks ago, but then things turned quieter, and all products slowly returned to the shelves. Let us hope the same will happen once again. But, if there will come more critical announcements, or if we will start to see people infected in larger numbers, this might get worse!
