• Home
• Channel: Current Affairs
• NNK: Budapest Mayor 'Wrong' About Antigen Tests - Karácsony Disagrees

NNK: Budapest Mayor 'Wrong' About Antigen Tests - Karácsony Disagrees

• 9 Nov 2020 7:47 AM
• Hungary Matters

Budapest Mayor Gergely Karácsony “is wrong” in trusting antigen detection tests to produce reliable results for Covid infections, the National Public Health Centre (NNK) has said.

NNK was reacting to Karácsony’s recent announcement that the municipality of Budapest will purchase 100,000 antigen rapid tests which he said “are as reliable as PCR tests”.

NNK called the mayor’s statement “a huge mistake and professionally unfounded”

- arguing that antigen tests were unsuitable for mass screenings of those who are symptom-free, or exhibit only mild symptoms of Covid-19 infection.

An antigen test in a latter case would most likely produce “a false negative result”, NNK said.

It recommended the antigen test to be used for patients with moderate to severe symptoms.

Karácsony responded on Facebook, saying that “it is regrettable that NNK has been dragged into the smear campaign directed at the Budapest municipality”.

Testing for Covid is the duty of the state, he said, adding that the number of tests had been “ridiculously low”.

He said the municipality of Budapest had already conducted more than 50,000 PCR tests “instead of the state”.

Karácsony insisted that unlike PCR tests, antigen tests produced almost 100 percent accuracy “just in a matter of 15 minutes and at a lot lower cost”.

“This is why the National Ambulance Service is using them,” Karácsony said, adding that neighbouring Slovakia is using antigen tests to screen the whole population.

Photo courtesy of Northfoto.com

• How does this content make you feel?
• I love it
• I like it
• I dislike it

• Antigen Test Mayor Karácsony

XpatLoop Media Partner

Hungary Matters

Launched in January 2014, this newsletter published on week days covers 'everything you need to know about what’s going on in Hungary and beyond', according to its publisher the state media agency MTI.

Explore More Reports

'Absurd': Charges Proposed Against Budapest Mayor

• 12 Dec 2025 8:03 AM

An investigation into the Budapest Pride march in June has concluded with a recommendation to raise charges, Mayor Gergely Karácsony said on Thursday, adding that he is accused of violating the right of assembly.



Budapest Crisis: Lifeline Loan or Power Grab?

• 11 Dec 2025 6:17 AM

The government's aid loan programme is a "safety belt" for Budapest to ensure that the city remains functional, its employees get paid, and "nobody pockets the money owed to them", Alexandra Szentkirályi, the group leader of the ruling parties in the city assembly, said on Facebook on Monday.



Updated: 'Budapest Will Not Kneel', Says Mayor to Gov't

• 4 Dec 2025 12:00 PM

At a "Budapest Pride March 2.0" rally outside the Carmelite Monastery, the prime minister's office, Gergely Karacsony, the mayor of Budapest, vowed the city would "not kneel", as he handed the City Assembly's resolution on its "real financial crisis" to a government representative.



Budget Crisis Threatens Budapest’s Public Services, City Hall Rejects Insolvency Ultimatum

• 2 Dec 2025 6:15 AM

The financial stability of Budapest is currently at the centre of a fierce political standoff between the City Assembly and the national government. The dispute intensified this week after Mayor Gergely Karácsony and the city administration rejected a government proposal to declare the capital insolvent, an act the government had framed as a prerequisite for offering financial aid.