Year: 2020

Within the scope of the Contingency Plan for the National Strategic Blood Reserve in the face of the COVID-19 epidemic, blood donors should be previously scheduled, preferably by appointment, respecting the eligibility criteria.

This strategy allows not having so many donors at the same time at the fixed collection sites, being a guarantor for the safety of professionals and donors, respecting the social distance measures recommended in the Guidelines of the General Directorate of Health.

At the same time, no more than 10 donors may remain inside any blood and blood component collection site.

Donors will then be able to schedule their donation by appointment using the following telephone numbers:

Lisbon Blood and Transplant Center: Tel  910 650 140 from 8:00 am to 3:00 pm;                                                                                      – 910 650 100 from 9:00 to 17:00 0r 21 792 1000 from 16:00 to 00:00, the appointment will be made the next day.

Porto Blood and Transplantation Center – 225083400 from 8:00 am to 7:30 pm Immediate appointment, from 7:30 pm to 12:00 am the appointment will be made the following day.

Coimbra Blood and Transplantation Center – 239 791 070 from 8:00 am to 7:30 pm immediate appointment, from 7:30 pm to 12:00 am the appointment will be made the next day.

Within the scope of the same Contingency Plan, the Fixed Collection Station of the Blood and Transplantation Center of Lisbon, is open from Monday to Sunday from 8:00 am to 7:30 pm.

The blood collection session at IPST Central Services, located at Avenida Miguel Bombarda 6 in Lisbon, is open every Friday from 9:30 am to 2:00 pm.

Within the scope of the same Contingency Plan, the Fixed Collection Station of the Blood and Transplantation Center of Lisbon, is open from Monday to Sunday from 8:00 am to 7:30 pm.

The blood collection session at IPST Central Services, located at Avenida Miguel Bombarda 6 in Lisbon, is open every Friday from 9:30 am to 2:00 pm.

More details http://www.ipst.pt/index.php/home/destaques/715-horario-para-agendamento-dadiva-de-sangue

The context of the fire risk for this year is “worrying”, with the impact of the covid-19 pandemic adding to the concerns that already existed, according to a note released today by the Technical Observatory Independent of the Assembly of the Republic.

“The context of risk for the current year is worrying”, reads the document, which points to the “situation of pandemic crisis due to covid-19, with a reduction in the general mobility of the population, and with special confinement of risk groups , with measures of physical distance – mistakenly called ‘social’ – and restrictions on the permanence of a large number of people in limited spaces ”.

This new framework will influence the constitution of teams, garrisons, aircraft crews, heli-transported teams and command posts, “which will necessarily lead to the elaboration of a contingency plan”, underlines the entity, adding that the work take place “at a time when knowledge about the evolution of the pandemic in the coming months is uncertain”.

According to the analysis of the device for fighting rural fires in 2020 made by the observatory experts, in addition to the issue of covid-19, “many of the previous concerns remain”, since “beyond the influence of climate change , also the susceptibility of the territory to the occurrence of rural fires has not decreased ”.

The observatory stresses that it has been drawing “attention to the occupation goals by species established by the Regional Forest Management Plans (PROF) for 2030 and 2050 (OTI 2018)” and that “the revision of these goals results from the need to adapt the forest cover to reduce the risk of fire, by reducing the area of ​​the most flammable species such as eucalyptus and maritime pine and the inverse expansion of leafy species such as oaks ”.

The experts consider that the PROF “continue to be the instrument for the redefinition of forests in order to increase their resilience, imposing the definition of a suitable cover and management models and favoring the expansion of less flammable species”.

On the other hand, “the weaknesses regarding planning pieces are maintained, which rests once again on the hazard map, distributing resources and means based on this cartography”, says the observatory, stressing that “it has already drawn attention to the risk that operational planning is based on this mapping ”.

This is because “it classifies as highly dangerous areas recently covered by fire”, he stressed, that is, “this process results in the overestimation of the risk of fire in areas already burnt to the detriment of other areas of the country with greater potential risk”.

Furthermore, according to the observatory, it is also noted that this Special Rural Fire Fighting Device (DECIR) “does not explicitly reflect the concerns expressed in the studies that the Observatory has carried out, both in the strategic positioning for the first intervention, as well as the importance intervention in the night combat, which proved to be very ineffective in the Monchique and Vila de Rei fires analyzed by this Observatory ”.

The organization suggests that “the device could have specialized teams with greater mobility and intervention authority in the most complex operating theatres”.

The observatory also records “some lack of integration of the combat device with the rest of the Integrated Rural Fire Management System, namely in relation to the components of surveillance, detection, defense of the populations or investigation of the causes”.

And he warns that “the little integration of these aspects results from the lack of organization of a true integrated system with territorial coherence and the inexistence of a National Plan for Integrated Management of Rural Fires, an issue to which this Observatory has systematically warned”.

Finally, the experts note that the analysis made focuses only on the description of DECIR, and in particular on the amount of means available to fight fires.

“It is known, however, that the efficiency and effectiveness of combat, particularly in more complex situations, depends strongly on the quality of the intervention”, emphasizes the observatory, concluding that this “requires an increasing emphasis on the training and qualification of agents”

The Prime Minister acknowledges that this is not the time to open bars and nightclubs, and that it may even be the case that they will not reopen all summer “if necessary”. In an interview with TSF on Monday, António Costa admitted that there are still no dates planned for the reopening of this type of establishment. A warning that has added to the sector’s concern.

“It is not on our calendar yet. We have to make [the reopening] in a gradual way and starting with the sectors of activity where it’s easier to regulate and establish rules for distancing. Now, activities that, by their very nature, live not from distance but, on the contrary, from proximity and interaction, it is clear that they will be in the last place of those that can reopen”, the Prime Minister began by saying.

Asked if bars and nightclubs might not open this summer, Costa answered: “If necessary. If not, even better. If it is, it will have to be… We can’t now call into question what we’ve achieved with enormous difficulty from people. There are people who have not left their home for two months. Only today will families be able to visit their relatives in nursing homes again. Only today will parents be able to put their children in day care. And they do it with a very divided heart, not knowing if it is a risk for the child,” he said. And he insisted: “We cannot question what we have achieved.” And he remembered one criterion: “Maximum containment, minimum disturbance.”

The Association of Bars in the Historic Area of Porto (ABZHP) has already reacted to the declarations. António Fonseca, president of ABZHP, confessed to PÚBLICO that the declarations of the Prime Minister “aggravate the concern” of the sector. “If [the establishments] don’t open this year, what will be done to the people?”

Aware that the Government’s positions may “evolve from one day to the next”, António Fonseca has once again reinforced that the owners of nightclubs want “to know that they are heard”, both by the executive and by the Directorate-General of Health (DGS), even more so when the possibility is on the table that there will be no reopening during the summer.

ABZHP is aware of the circumstances and ensures that the priority is to open spaces “safely” and therefore wants to talk to “seek solutions” with the Government and DGS on possible support and on the preparation of the sector for health and safety measures that could be taken. Due to more than just about this Monday’s statements, António Fonseca admits that businessmen are concerned that there is no dialogue”, despite several attempts already made.

On Thursday the sector sent a letter to the government with a set of measures that could save bars and nightclubs. The entrepreneurs are asking for exemption from all payments to Social Security and Finance (with the exception of VAT), exemption from the Single Social Tax for the years 2020 and 2021 and support for “non-repayable funds from the sum corresponding to the salaries of the permanent jobs for a minimum period of nine months, provided that the jobs at the date of closure are maintained”, among other measures.

The Associação de Discotecas do Sul e Algarve (ADSA) does not believe that the scenario of bars and nightclubs being closed during the summer “may have any viability”, admitting it only if the Government assumes “the expenses and losses” associated with such a decision.

“If all economic activity is gradually opening up, we’re not prodigal children – I think the bars and nightclubs will have to operate as well,” the ADSA president told PÚBLICO. Liberto Mealha hopes that, at least during the month of June, there will be a “green light” for the sector, so that the establishments can try to “make some profit from the summer”, always with full respect for the measures that may be required.

ADSA recognizes that nightclubs were “prepared to open later,” but not to be closed during what are ultimately “the strongest months.”It’s a sector that can’t be marginalized.”

About gyms, Costa says the government is “in dialogue with the association [representative of the sector], to see how hygiene criteria are ensured”. “Standards have to be found” to avoid crowding and ensure “sanitization,” he said, pointing out that the gyms are places where contamination is “easier”.

he President of the Government of the Azores announced today that passengers arriving in the region will be able to choose to carry out a test on departure, or on arrival in the Azores, comply with a voluntary quarantine period or return to the origin.

“Four options are given to passengers who, as of today, arrive in the Azores: travel already with a negative test done before departure; undergo a test upon arrival in the region and wait for the result; or comply with a voluntary quarantine period of 14 days in a specific hotel, with the costs borne by the Region; or return to their original destination ”, declared Vasco Cordeiro.

The measures take effect at 00:00 on Sunday.

The President of the Government spoke at a press conference in Ponta Delgada, following the decision of the Ponta Delgada Court, which granted today a request for immediate release (‘habeas corpus’) made by a plaintiff against the imposition of quarantine in hotels by part of the Government of the Azores.

The measures were taken following today’s meeting of the Government Council, which, under the Legal Regime of the Civil Protection System of the Autonomous Region of the Azores, decreed the situation of public calamity on the islands of São Miguel and Terceira, islands with connections with the outside world, in the context of combating the covid-19 pandemic.

Vasco Cordeiro stated that “if a passenger refuses any of these options, violates voluntary quarantine or prophylactic isolation, mandatory quarantine in a hotel will be determined, assuming, in this case, all the respective financial costs by a decision of his own”.

As is currently the case, the Azorean executive maintains for passengers who are subject to mandatory quarantine, the obligation to perform a screening test on the 14th day.

Vasco Cordeiro considered that another of the consequences that the decision of the Court of Ponta Delgada “can have, is that the approximately 350 passengers coming from abroad and who are, at the moment, fulfilling quarantine in hotels, may eventually decide to abandon that quarantine. ”, Something that, according to the President of the Government,“ some have already done ”.

The head of the Azorean executive said that “as soon as there was knowledge of the ‘Habeas Corpus’ request, it was determined that the health authorities carry out the collection of biological samples and subsequent screening tests for these passengers”, a measure “in order to avoid potential risks of the emergence of transmission chains on the islands of São Miguel and Terceira ”.

“These passengers were also informed that, if they so wished, and only if they so wished, they could abandon the hotels where they were staying in compliance with the mandatory quarantine,” said Vasco Cordeiro.

Ryanair and SATA are not operating between the continent and the region, but TAP continues to have connections, albeit to a lesser extent than usual, between Lisbon and Ponta Delgada and Lisbon and Angra do Heroísmo.

So far, 145 cases of infection have been detected in the Azores, with 105 recovered, 16 deaths and 24 positive cases active for infection with the new coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, which causes covid-19 disease, of which 16 in São Miguel, two in Graciosa, one in São Jorge, three in Pico and two in Faial.T

Campsites and motorhome service areas in the country should be operational and reopen within a week, the federation and association representing these activities announced today, in the process of adapting.

According to a statement sent to the Lusa agency by the FCMP – Federation of Camping and Mountaineering of Portugal and APCAA – Association of Camping Sites in the Alentejo and Algarve, “a physical and formative adaptation is taking place in the places”, so “no immediate reopening should be possible “.

Camping and caravan sites, as well as motorhome service areas, may reopen on Monday, with a maximum capacity of two-thirds of their total capacity, as announced by the government on Friday.

The measure was approved by the Council of Ministers, within the scope of the new phase of deflation that begins on Monday, in the context of the 19-covid pandemic.

However, both the FCMP and the APCAA today indicate that the opening should only happen a week from now, “due to the different realities existing in the national territory and the constraints now imposed”, for the “requalification of spaces for common use, adopting the new mechanisms to control the necessary entries and the application of all security rules “.

In the statement, the two entities indicate that they have prepared a good practice guide for campsites, based on the recommendations of the Directorate-General for Health, “which is awaiting approval from this entity, with a view to clarifying and standardizing safety procedures. to observe during this new phase of deflation “.

They also state that, as a way of “reinforcing confidence in the use of camping sites and service areas for motorhomes”, Turismo de Portugal will make available the attribution of the “Clean & Safe” seal, through the National Register of Tourist Enterprises, to campsites, or via the FCMP platform to service areas for motorhomes.

This certification, “requires the implementation of an internal protocol that ensures the hygiene and social distance measures to combat the risks of contagion from Covid-19, thus guaranteeing the best safety conditions for the operation” of these services.

The FCMP and APCAA call on users to wait for the information given by each entity, regarding the date of its reopening, “so that it occurs in the best possible way, guaranteeing that there will be no reason for a setback in the fight against the pandemic that must be done for all and for all “.

On Friday, in a statement, the Ministry of Economy said that the “Clean & Safe” label has already joined more than 4,000 companies in the tourism sector.

The seal, which is 100% digital, free and valid until April 30, 2021, requires the implementation of an internal protocol that, according to the recommendations of the Directorate-General for Health, must ensure social distance and the necessary hygiene for avoid risks of contagion and ensure safe procedures for the operation of tourist activities.

Within the scope of the declaration of the state of emergency in Portugal, to combat the covid-19 pandemic, the Government had defined until March 27 the deadline for users to leave the campsites and caravan parks, while the permanent residents in these establishments tourists were able to stay in them to ensure the response to housing needs.

At the time, Secretary of State Rita Marques told Lusa that the closure of campsites and caravan sites was taking place “in an orderly and peaceful manner”, underlining the return of foreign tourists to their countries of origin.

António Costa said this evening, at the end of the Council of Ministers meeting that the results of the first measures of de- confinement, taken 15 days ago, were positive in combating the spread of covid-19, there being no reason to postpone a further step in the reopening of activities.

According to the Prime Minister, given the data on the evolution of the pandemic, the government concluded that “the first containment measures taken 15 days ago, which came into effect at the beginning of this month, did not alter the control trend” of the new coronavirus.

“In view of these developments, there is no reason for us to delay, backtrack or postpone any of the measures that we had planned to enter into force next Monday. On the contrary, just as 15 days ago, we still have a robust system of testing capacity. We are now, after Lithuania, Cyprus and Denmark, the fourth country in Europe with the highest number of tests carried out by a million inhabitants,” said the head of government.

Among the measures approved by the Council of Ministers is the extension of the state of calamity until 31 May, “continuing the process of de-confinement that began on 30 April, without calling into question the evolution of the epidemiological situation in Portugal”, reads the communiqué.

The Prime Minister announced new rules for the de-confinement period.

Beaches

About beaches, António Costa stressed that users must ensure a physical distance of 1.5 meters between different groups and a distance of three meters between sun hats, awnings or thatched umbrellas, from June 6.

According to the deconfinement plan divulged after the Council of Ministers, during the bathing season, in the use of the beach sands there are “forbidden sports activities with two or more people, except nautical activities, surf lessons and similar sports”.

In the awnings, thatched umbrellas and beach huts, “as a rule, each person or group can only rent in the morning (until 13h30) or afternoon (from 14h00)”, with a maximum of five users.

The Infopraia application is already available, which citizens can access before going to the beach and see if the destination beach is red (full and not advisable), yellow (almost full) or green (accessible). “You can download it now,” challenged the Prime Minister.

“We can’t have security officers on every beach saying that the beach is crowded” and if the respect for others is not confirmed, the Government admits closing beaches.

Commercial Spaces

“A fortnight ago we opened the small shops and announced that we could take a new step. That’s what’s going to happen”, the Prime Minister declares, thus confirming the second phase of deconfinement, with the opening of more commercial spaces, including restaurants, cafés and pastry shops. Left out of the reopening are bars and discos.

However, the required sanitary rules, namely the limitation of capacity, are maintained. “I understand that it is strongly restrictive of catering and its activity. We want the conditions to be created so that from June onwards we can take a step forward and take away this limitation on capacity, maintaining a distance and friendly protection,” he says.

Cafes, pastry shops and restaurants

Restaurants can also reopen on Monday. But with some restrictions.

• The capacity of the spaces should be reduced by 50 percent.
• Masks are mandatory for all staff in cafes and restaurants.
• The layout of tables and chairs must ensure a distance of at least two metres between people. At the same table, people can sit facing each other or side by side.
• The opening hours are reduced. Cafes and restaurants can only operate until 23h00.
• Owners must disinfect all areas of frequent contact at least six times a day. This is the case for door handles, doors, taps and tables.
• Critical equipment such as automatic payment terminals and individual menus must be disinfected after each use.
• At the entrance and exit of the establishment, customers must disinfect their hands. They must also use a mask, except during the meal period.

Nursing Homes

The Chief Executive also announced that from Monday visits to nursing homes by relatives will resume, although still with restrictions on the number of people and maintaining the rules of social distance.

“From Monday it will be possible to resume visits to homes by relatives,” announced António Costa, adding that the restriction on these visits “was one of the most difficult decisions” taken by the executive.

Schools

11th and 12th grade students return to face-to-face classes on Monday. The return applies only to subjects subject to exams. The use of masks in schools is compulsory and social distance must be respected.

Students who do not attend classes in person, at the option of their parents, have justified absences. In this case, the school is only obliged to guarantee distance learning to groups at risk.

The reopening requires new security measures. In classrooms, there must be an exclusive desk for each student, who cannot face another colleague. The break times must be as short as possible and within the classrooms.

Classes take place from 10h00 to 17h00 and students will be divided into two shifts: one in the morning and one in the afternoon.

Day care centers

António Costa recognises that “it’s a particularly sensitive issue, for families who need day cares to open so they can return to work, for parents who are concerned about their children’s safety and for those who work in the day cares”.

The Prime Minister says that 80% of day care staff have been tested, but he points out that at least until the end of the month the Government keeps financially supporting parents who decide to continue at home with their children.

• A distance of between one and a half and two metres between the children inside the rooms, during meals and naps is planned.
• Professionals should wear a mask, but not the children.
• It is also recommended that close contact with the children be reduced to the indispensable.
• In the rooms where the children are sitting on the floor, the shoes should be left at the door.
• Professionals should also ensure, whenever possible, that children do not share objects.

Teleworking

For António Costa, the end of the compulsory teleworking should not be the end of this distance working option. “On the contrary,” he says. The Prime Minister says that this de- confinement should always be coordinated, so that workers are not all in their workplaces at the same time and repeats that this is a training of what will have to be a new lifestyle until vaccines

Representatives of various religious denominations met today at the Ministry of Justice to discuss, together with the Director-General for Health, “the general principles” to be applied in the gradual resumption of religious activity scheduled for 31 of May.

The Minister of Justice, Francisca Van Dunem, clarified that the meeting “aimed essentially to establish with the religious communities (Evangelical, Muslim, Jewish, Ismaili, Buddhist and Hindu) the general principles of a technical nature that the gradual restart of the activity must obey. “of the various religious confessions in the period of illness of the covid-19.

At the end of the meeting, which was also attended by the Minister of Health, Marta Temido, and the Assistant Secretary of State to the Prime Minister, Tiago Antunes, the Minister of Justice said that there is “a set of general rules, such as distance and the use of protective materials “that will have to be respected, as some religious rituals involve hugging and shaking hands, which contracts the distancing rule”.

Francisca Van Dunem said that the Directorate-General for Health (DGD) will distribute a document with the protection measures to be followed and the various religious denominations “will adapt the rules to the respective ceremonies and services”, after which this strategy will pass through permanent contact between the DGS and the different rites.

The minister did not dwell on the possibility of resuming ceremonies such as weddings and baptisms, saying only that this will depend on the DGS and that this first phase (the restart of religious activity) will be gradual and progressive.

He reiterated that today “generic ideas” were discussed and that next steps will be taken in articulation between the DGS and the religious confessions that are part of the Religious Liberty Commission, which functions in its ministry, since the Minister of Justice is a member of the responsible government for religious freedom issues.

Regarding the lifting of confinement measures in the period of covid-19, the minister recalled that, in late April, the government decided to carry out the gradual de-termination, a strategy that covered religious communities of public dimension that had been affected in religious practice due to restrictions rights, freedoms and guarantees imposed by the state of emergency.

As noted by a note from the Ministry of Justice, “the confinement measures adopted to ensure non-contamination and the treatment of covid-19 involved the restriction of rights and freedoms, but the State’s religious impartiality does not allow the expression to be deprived for much longer. public space, nor can the State ignore religious practice and culture as an integral part of the personality of many, in their primordial dignity “.

Portugal accounts for 1,190 deaths associated with covid-19 in 28,583 confirmed cases of infection, according to the latest daily bulletin from DGS on the pandemic.

Portugal entered on May 3 in a calamity situation due to the pandemic, after three consecutive periods in a state of emergency since March 19.

This new phase of combating covid-19 provides for mandatory confinement for sick people and under active surveillance, the general duty of home collection and the mandatory use of masks or visors in public transport, public attendance services, schools and commercial establishments.

“The return to school will be done safely”, said Prime Minister António Costa, at the end of a visit to Dom Pedro V Secondary School, in Lisbon. “On the 18th we will continue the learning process of this school year, until the end of the third term, now also with classroom teaching in some of the subjects of the 11th and 12th years”, he added.