Hungary toughens COVID-19 lockdown to curb "very strong" third wave

FILE PHOTO: A man receives a dose of the Sinopharm coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine, in Budapest, Hungary February 26, 2021. REUTERS/Bernadett Szabo

BUDAPEST (Reuters) - Hungary announced new COVID-19 lockdown measures on Thursday to try to curb a "very strong" third wave of the pandemic, closing most shops and shifting to remote learning in primary schools.

With new cases hitting a three-month daily high of 6,278 on Thursday, mainly because of the spreading coronavirus variant first found in Britain, Prime Minister Viktor Orban faces a growing political challenge.