Coronavirus In Budapest - An Expats Tale
With each passing day, the coronavirus has affected me and my family in a tremendous way. I was preparing for a trip to Italy for a blogger convention that was canceled, then the flight was canceled, followed by the country going on lockdown. Days later Hungary is now in the State of Emergency, followed by the United States grounding all flights. It’s been a whirlwind.
We have spent our monthly budget on food and supplies during the hysteria and the threat of having to self-quarantine. All while losing two of my freelance clients until further notice. It’s been a wake-up call, to say the least.
While my family is currently healthy, we have to hunker down and support each other in this time of need. While the stores are still open and the shelves are still stocked, how will this play out? I’ve joked that I’ve seen too many seasons of the Walking Dead, so I will be able to survive this. But boy is this a trickle-down effect on our finances, our way of life, and not to mention the fear of being so far away from my family.
Currently, in Hungary, there are 13 known cases of the coronavirus and this week they sent off tests for over 600 people. While our city is a tourist attraction for people from all over the world, there is no wonder that we would inevitably get hit. To me, the testing process seems a bit too late, as I’m sure half of those 600 test will come back positive. Healthcare in Budapest is free but it is handled poorly.
For example, a group of Iranian students was quarantined in the same room. Instead of being separated while waiting for test results. In this time the virus spread to most of them, who wasn’t actually positive at the time of the original test.
I’ve heard horror stories about public health care before this virus outbreak and have only dealt with the private health care here in Hungary in the past. The coronavirus itself is only being handled by public healthcare, which scares me. With my lack of Hungarian, I wouldn’t know what to do if I caught the virus in this country.
This is only the beginning I just fear what’s next. I will update this blog as things unfold.
