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Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban was granted power to rule by decree during the pandemic Image caption: Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban was granted power to rule by decree during the pandemic

Preliminary results from an ongoing medical survey of the Hungarian population suggest that around 1% have caught coronavirus.

Of 8,700 people, only two tested positive, while nine had already had it. The tests are voluntary, and do not include patients in institutions like elderly care homes. In the next week, 9,000 more will be tested.

Hungary's official statistics show 3,300 people have had the virus, while 425 have died. The survey suggests that between 0.27% and 1.1% of the population are believed to have had the virus - meaning between 22,000 and 93,000 people among the 8.3m Hungarians aged 14 and over.

Hungary has been one of the European countries least affected by coronavirus, but its government has adopted some of the most draconian powers, including the right to rule by decree until it deems the emergency over. Prime Minister Viktor Orban said it was necessary to "prepare for the worst, and hope for the best".

He ordered 36,000 of the country’s 65,000 hospital beds to be readied for coronavirus patients. No more than 1,000 were filled at any one time.

A ministerial order for all seriously ill coronavirus patients in the country to be transferred to two Budapest hospitals, issued last Friday, was abruptly cancelled over the weekend.

A senior doctor, who asked not to be named, told the BBC that the handling of the pandemic by medical staff had been exemplary. Social-distancing measures introduced early on by the government, and the self-discipline of the population in staying at home, were the main factors in Hungary’s success, he said.