Third coronavirus patient in Hungary is a 69-year old British man, fourth case also confirmed

The third coronavirus patient in Hungary is a 69-year-old British man who lives in Debrecen, Hungarian Chief Medical Officer Cecília Müller told public media on Friday morning. In the meantime, Hungary confirmed the fourth case on Thursday night.

A 69-year-old citizen of the UK is the third person in Hungary to test positive for Covid-19. He arrived in Debrecen, Hungary on 29 February by plane from Milan, Italy, and was hospitalized days later in the Kenézy Gyula Hospital in Debrecen, when he started showing symptoms. Müller also said that the man has another pre-existing disease.

Earlier, on Thursday night, the number of coronavirus cases in Hungary rose to four on the government's official website - a short statement was released later informing that the fourth patient is the girlfriend of one of the two Iranian students who tested positive on Wednesday. Müller said that the fourth patient also spent a month in Iran before returning to Hungary, and both had chances to meet infected people during their trip.

Müller also announced that Hungarian authorities found 60 instances when the two Iranian students were in the same room with others, authorities are currently assessing how close their contact was with the infected students and therefore, how likely it is that they also contracted the disease. This most likely concerns the student of Semmelweis University, as the other patient quarantined himself in his flat early on.

According to the official coronavirus website, at the time of writing this article, there are

Hungary announced the first two cases in the country on Wednesday, two Iranian university students studying in Budapest and Gödöllő were infected on their (independent) trips to Iran. The first two patients and their partners are in isolation at the Central Hospital of Southern Pest, and their contact investigation is still ongoing.

Authorities are also retracing the steps of a group of infected tourists who spent several days in Budapest at the end of February before testing positive for the virus days later in Prague. So far, it seems that they visited a ruin pub, a crepe shop, a pharmacy, and the Széchenyi Thermal Bath.

The first Hungarian citizen to contract Covid-19 was a man who worked on the cruise ship Diamond Princess was confirmed to have the disease at the end of February, he is still being treated in Japan.

(Cover image: Balogh Zoltán / MTI)