The Activity of the Government Office of Békés County During the Period of the COVID-19 Pandemic

Civic Review· VOL 17. Special Issue, 2021, 87–103., DOI: 10.24307/psz.2021.0007

Dr. Attila Rákoczi, Phd, Director General, Government Office of Békés County (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.), Assistant Professor, Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.); Dr. Anett Krizsán, Director, Government Office of Békés County, Authorised Instructor, Gál Ferenc University (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.).

Summary

In the battle against the COVID-19 pandemic, our country reacted immediately and is now implementing a coherent and coordinated defence strategy. It indeed means the synchronised activity of health care organisations, military, police and disaster management forces as well as territorial public administration bodies. It closely concerns the social field and educational directorate, however protecting the economy is also greatly focused on. Government offices on (district) county level as state public administration bodies of general competence carry out a number of tasks during the times of defence against the pandemic. Initially, they were assisting in handing out protective equipment for the health care sector, making pandemic-related decisions, implementing the testing of social institutions, teachers and health care staff and executing economy protection measures. Following the availability of vaccines, the responsible county working groups are organising the scheduled vaccination activities. The study presents in detail the activities of the Government Office of Békés County in the fight against COVID-19, besides just carrying out its core tasks.

Journal of Economic Literature (JEL) codes: F16, I13, I15, M21, O12, O38, P16, Z18
Keywords: Covid-19, pandemic, defence against pandemic, public administration, territorial public administration