Social and Family Affairs Minister Vilmos Kátai-Németh said in a video uploaded to his Facebook page on Saturday that everyone should pay special attention during the heat alert to elderly people living alone, young children, people with disabilities, chronically ill people and homeless people, as they are at increased risk.

The social care system and the child protection system are prepared for the extreme heat, he added.

The minister also asked that if anyone sees a person in need of help, they should not walk past them but call the 112 emergency number.

The red code has two important purposes: on the one hand, it draws society’s attention to the extraordinary situation; on the other hand, under the special protocol, all institutions in the social sector must accept homeless people based on notifications from the dispatch service, regardless of whom they normally provide services for.

From Saturday, the national chief medical officer ordered a second-level heat alert based on the forecast of the meteorological service. The heat alert will remain in effect until midnight on Tuesday.

Artificial intelligence was used for the translation of parts of the original Hungarian text.