Hungary cabinet chief, justice minister quarantined over coronavirus

By Krisztina Than

BUDAPEST (Reuters) - Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban's cabinet chief has been quarantined until he tests negative for the coronavirus, after attending a private event last Saturday where a participant tested positive, Orban's office said.

The first test on Gergely Gulyas was negative, it said in a statement on state news agency MTI on Thursday. A state secretary working in Orban's office, Balazs Orban, has also gone into self-isolation since Wednesday.

Orban's office said Gulyas could leave quarantine and attend a government meeting on Friday only if his second test proved negative.

Justice Minister Judit Varga announced on her Facebook page that she had also moved into quarantine after meeting someone on Monday who had been diagnosed with COVID-19. She said her first test on Thursday was negative and she had shown no symptoms.

The governing Fidesz party's director of communications, Istvan Hollik, announced on his official Facebook page that he had also tested positive.

Hollik was one of the organizers of an event where Orban was supposed to speak on Friday. The event was cancelled on Wednesday, according to its official page.

The Hungarian government is expected to discuss new restrictions due to a rising number of infections, flagged by Orban last week.

The central European country recorded 91 new infections on Thursday, the highest figure since April, with total cases now at 5,379. Hungary has recorded 614 deaths from the disease.

(Reporting by Krisztina Than; Editing by Mark Heinrich)