Year: 2020

The phased plan for reopening the economy was presented by the Government to the social partners this Wednesday, the 29th April. The measures presented by the Prime Minister to social consultation and political parties are part of a basic document prepared by the Government and an indicator of the calendar and strategy.

But it is natural that in the Council of Ministers there are fine-tuning and changes, even as a result of the several meetings that took place this Wednesday.

During the meeting, António Costa stressed that this is a forecast plan, which will be adjusted if Covid-19 spreads faster than anticipated by health authorities.

May 4^th

The first stores to open will be the smallest, up to 200 square meters, already on Monday, May 4. At the same time, services such as hairdressers, barbers or beauticians (with only half capacity and by appointment) will open, as well as individual sports spaces, such as tennis courts, as long as changing rooms remain closed. As for the reopening of gyms, a date has not yet been set.

Also from Monday, public services such as finance offices will be open to the public, but not citizen’s bureaus, to avoid the risk of big gatherings.

May 18^th

As for cafes and restaurants, the plan drawn up by the Government indicates that it will be possible to have a coffee or have a meal, at the table, from 18 May. There will be limits on the number of people who can do this, at any given moment, and the Hotel and Restaurant Association is developing a framework of good practices to stop the spread of Covid-19.

Also on the 18th of May day care centers will open for part of the children. A maximum number is not defined, since the decision will be up to the parents: at least during the first phase of this opening, parents can choose to stay at home receiving family aid (entitled to 66% of the remuneration). Such support will be cut from June 1, the day when day care centers will be available to everyone, as pre-school education also reopens, if the pandemic allows it. On May 18, occupational activity centers for people with disabilities will open, several sources confirmed to PÚBLICO.

Still on the 18th of May, stores of up to 400 square meters open their doors. The last step will be shopping centers, on June 1st.

The reopening of trade will have limits on the number of people allowed to be inside an enclosed space. It is expected to be the same as what is already imposed on bakeries, of four people per 100 square meters. That is, as of Monday, there cannot be more than eight people in the same store at the same time.

Also among the protection measures for workers and customers will be the mandatory use of a mask and the provision of hand sanitizer at the entrance. The most sensitive point will be the changing rooms of clothing stores: they will either be closed or will have to be disinfected after each use. The clothes themselves will have to be disinfected after they are tried on.

The prime minister is meeting with the President of the Republic today after receiving the parliamentary parties in São Bento, to analyse the new framework of measures to contain the covid-19 pandemic after the end of the state of emergency.

A source from the Presidency of the Republic confirmed to the Lusa agency that this meeting was taking place, stating that this is the usual weekly meeting, but in the form of a dinner.

António Costa’s dinner with Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa takes place after the President of the Republic has already announced on Tuesday that he will not extend the state of emergency, which ends on the 2nd of May.

On Thursday, April 30, after the Council of Ministers, the Government announces the new legal framework following the end of the state of emergency, being likely to resort to the declaration of a state of calamity due to the covid-19 pandemic.

According to the Basic Law for Civil Protection, the Council of Ministers resolution that decrees the situation of calamity may establish “limits or constraints on the movement or permanence of people, other living beings or vehicles”, as well as “sanitary and safety fences”.

After the Council of Ministers, on Thursday, António Costa will meet with the President of the Republic.

Regarding the timetable for the return to economic activity, the Prime Minister said that this Thursday it will be known which commercial sectors will resume their activity with safety standards on the 4th and 18th of May and 1st of June. According to António Costa, “the confinement release rules will come into force every 15 days, the first on 4 May, the second on 18 May and the other on 1 June”, although they do not yet include all sectors of activity.

“Therefore, after the Council of Ministers, we will announce the activities that the 4, the 18 or the 1 of June might resume – and always with restrictions on capacity and in terms of protection of individual equipment, whether for those who are attending, or in some cases for customers”, he stressed.

António Costa added that the executive’s objective, with this phased reopening calendar, “is to measure the impacts of the previous measure every 15 days, seeing if it is possible or not to take another step” in terms of lifting restrictions.

Infarmed warned covid-19 patients today that they should be aware of any adverse effects to the medications they take for the symptoms of the disease, remembering that many of the reactions that may occur are still unknown.

In a note published on its website, the National Authority for Medicines and Health Products warns patients with suspected or confirmed covid-19, who must warn the authorities of adverse effects that occur with taking not only the medicines for the symptoms of the disease as of others that they habitually use for other pre-existing chronic diseases.

Recalls that currently there are no authorized medicines to treat covid-19 and that, in the context of the pandemic, several authorized medicines are being used for other diseases.

Infarmed explains that “the knowledge about the new virus is still incomplete, and unknown drug interactions that may be occurring with the therapy of these patients are unknown”.

By reporting any suspected adverse effects related to drugs used in the context of covid-19, patients and healthcare professionals “can help to gather valuable evidence for making informed decisions about the safe and effective use of drugs as they the pandemic is evolving ”, he stresses.

The information provided by patients and health professionals “will contribute to increase the knowledge generated by clinical trials and other studies, which reinforces the importance of being directly notified of any suspicion directly to the National Pharmacovigilance System”, he adds.

This notification can also be made to the marketing authorization holder of the associated drugs, following the instructions in the respective information leaflet, or even directly to the doctors, nurses or pharmacists who follow the patient, who will forward the information to Infarmed.

The National Medicines Authority also reminds that, when reporting any adverse effect, the patient or health professional “must provide accurate and complete information”, namely the description of the reactions, if the information by covid-19 is confirmed through tests or if is based on clinical symptoms, the name of the drug suspected of causing the reaction, the dose and duration of treatment, the batch number and the names of all other drugs the patient is taking, including those without a prescription, herbal or contraceptive products.

The latest data from the authorities indicate that Portugal registers 948 deaths associated with covid-19 and 24,322 cases of infection.

The new coronavirus, responsible for the covid-19 pandemic, has already claimed more than 215,000 deaths and infected more than three million people worldwide. More than 840,000 patients were considered cured by health authorities.

Crime has halved since the covid-19 pandemic began, with pickpocketing theft being one of the crimes that fell the most, while the fraud with bank fraud that grew the most, according to a report from the government.

The report of the second period of the state of emergency and delivered to the Assembly of the Republic indicates that the PSP recorded 7,852 crimes between March 13 and April 17, 50% less than in the same period of 2019, when 17,458 occurred.

The data also shows that arrests made by the Public Security Police dropped 60.4% in the same period, from 2,780 in 2019 to 1,104 this year.

The period from March 13 to April 17 corresponds to the date on which the alert situation was declared due to covid-19 until the end of the second period of the state of emergency.

The report, signed by the Minister of Internal Affairs, states that the crimes that fell the most during that period, according to the PSP, were pickpocketing theft (-91.9%), driving for excess alcohol (-82.9%) , offenses to simple voluntary physical integrity (-67.2%), theft in a motor vehicle (-58%) and theft of opportunity (-82.5%).

In turn, the crimes that rose the most in the area of ​​PSP, which operates in urban centers, were disobedience (94.3%), fraud with bank fraud (67.6%), other thefts (114.3%) and resistance and coercion on employees (12.8%).

In the report, in which the Government gives a detailed account of the measures adopted during the state of emergency, the PSP mentions that “there is an increased interest in the monitoring of certain specific crimes”, namely domestic violence and fraud.

According to the PSP, between March 13 and April 17, 1,105 crimes of domestic violence were registered, 34.7% less than in the same period last year, when 1,692 complaints were made.

The number of detainees for domestic violence also dropped, with 27 fewer, from 88 to 61.

The PSP states that in crimes against property in general, which includes fraud, there is a decrease of 16%, noting that there was a “substantial increase in fraud with bank fraud” and a slight increase in the number of complaints of computer fraud and communications.

In the report, GNR says that during the emergency period there was an increase in scams, thefts and thefts, but it does not specify.

During the meetings of the State of Emergency Monitoring Structure, the GNR drew attention to the difficulties in communicating the lists made available by the health authorities of people subject to mandatory home confinement, stating that “not all lists were received”.

The PSP also indicates that “44.5% of the identifications in the listings are incomplete, thus inhibiting the continuation of active surveillance measures”.

It is up to the PSP and the GNR to inspect people who are in mandatory home confinement, resorting to a crime of disobedience if they go out on the street.

The report on the application of the second period of the state of emergency, between 03 and 17 April, due to the covid-19 pandemic, will be discussed in the Assembly of the Republic on Thursday.

Portugal accounts for 948 deaths associated with covid-19 in 24,322 confirmed cases of infection, according to the daily bulletin of the Directorate-General for Health (DGS) on the pandemic released today.

President of the Republic: “It is hoped that it will not be necessary to resort to a state of emergency in the future”

The President of the Republic said that the state of emergency will no longer be renewed on 2 May. “It is hoped that it will not be necessary to resort to a state of emergency in the future, if it will be considered,” said Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, at the end of the meeting with public health specialists.

“After the second phase, which corresponds to the month of April, which runs until the end of the state of emergency, ends, the third phase, which is to control the situation, cannot be seen as normal,” he said, adding that there will be “resumption” or “reopening by small steps”, a phase that “is no longer closing” but the use of “other instruments” to control the outbreak. “And so the state of emergency will cease to be in force on the 2nd midnight, “he declared.

Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa stressed that in the new phase, the combination of “restraint is still important” as well as “control of the situation” and that is why his “constant evaluation” is also important. “This is the key to the success of the third phase,” he said.

In the fourth phase, he said, it is expected that there will be “the end of the outbreak as it was born”.

“The end of the state of emergency is not the end of the outbreak or the need for control,” he said, rejecting any “facilism”. “That is why each small step will be evaluated by experts and politicians,” he added.

Asked about the legal framework for the next phase, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa considered it “premature” to talk about this subject.

 

In a message to the country, António Costa announced that the São Bento Palace will open its doors to the Portuguese, not physically, but online. Through the work “Now that we cannot be together”, the Portuguese will be able to celebrate April 25 from home.

“Usually, on the 25th of April, we open these doors so that they can visit the official residence, its gardens”, António Costa started by announcing. “This year is, as we know, special.A year in which we have to be together (as a community, in spirit) but apart (physically)        to be able to face and overcome this pandemic so that we can be together again as we always have been, celebrating in the streets, in the gardens, what is the 25 of April, always “, added the Prime Minister

Not being able to be here physically, we want to let them be here via this online route. So we are going to remember what the other 25 of April  were like, where we were able to have our doors open and this house full”, he added.

António Costa invited the artistic directors of the National Theaters of São Carlos, São João and D. Maria II, and also of the National Ballet Company, to think, therefore, of an innovative celebration proposal for online platforms in which the Portuguese can watch from home.

The four curators invited the Portuguese theater company Hotel Europa and thus was born “Now that we cannot be together”, a work that António Costa calls “unique”. “A dance and music play that will celebrate the 25 of April differently today,” added the prime minister.

The work, filmed mostly in the gardens of the prime minister’s official residence, recalls the day when democracy was established through the testimonies of people who fought the dictatorship.

“And what I want to invite you here for is to make this visit online today, but one day, I hope next year, if not the following year, you will come here, physically, personally”, concluded António Costa.

The President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, defended today that “the 25th of April is essential and had to be evoked”, as will be the 10th of June, the 5th of October and the 1st of December.

“In exceptional times of pain, suffering, mourning, separation and confinement, it is even more important to evoke the motherland, independence, the Republic, freedom and democracy”, emphasized the head of state in the solemn session evocative of the Carnation Revolution in the Assembly of the Republic.

The President of the Republic defended that the solemn session of the 25th of April is “a good and not a bad example” and that it would be “civically shameful” for the parliament to resign now from exercising all its powers.

“What would be truly incomprehensible and civically shameful was having an entire country living through this time of sacrifice and surrender, and the Assembly of the Republic resigned from exercising all its powers in a situation where they were and are more than ever essential. And also in this session, which has always been and will be an essential moment of critical and plural control in freedom and democracy – because these are the values ​​of April “, he said.

At the end of the solemn commemorative session of the 46th anniversary of the 25th of April, in the Assembly of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa focused his speech in defense of this commemoration of the Carnation Revolution, seeking to answer the “doubts of some Portuguese”.

“In a time of confinement for so many Portuguese, as it was at Easter and now at Ramadan, are we standing before a bad example in a state of emergency, in terms of principles, as in compliance with health directives? No. The state of emergency implies an extraordinary reinforcement of the powers of the Government. And, because we live in freedom and democracy and it is with them that we want to overcome these crises, the greater the powers of the Government, the greater the powers of the Assembly of the Republic must be to control it “, he argued.

Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa stressed that “the Assembly of the Republic never stopped working, and discussed and voted the most important in plenary sessions” in the last few weeks, “respecting the health directives, as is obviously necessary”.

The President of the Republic added that “this session is an example of this, a good and not a bad example”, in which “dissenting voices were heard that spoke of April 2020, of successes and also of failures, past and present, and of dreams and fears present in a critical situation of national life “.

The law that changes the legal regime applicable to the prevention of domestic violence and the protection and assistance of victims was approved, following the recommendations of the Group of Experts to Combat Violence against Women and Domestic Violence of the Council of Europe (GREVIO).

Seeking to ensure the effective protection of victims of domestic violence, the present law proposal includes the following changes:

– it is determined that, within 72 hours, constructive measures should be taken to assess the risk of a victim’s situation concerning new acts of violence against the victim and other persons related to them, by the MP or the OPC, as well as in cases where the accused has been detained;

– civil courts are empowered to issue urgent provisional decisions to protect the victim, such as the provisional regulation of parental responsibilities, the provisional use of the family home and the keeping of pet animals, immediately communicated to the MP of the relevant court.

– the scope of the Violence against Women and Domestic Violence Database is broadened, in order to improve, harmonise and update official data relating to violence against women and domestic violence in progress, through the adapting and harmonising of data collection and information systems.

Portugal has surpassed the barrier of 300,000 tests carried out on the covid-19 disease, the Secretary of State for Health revealed today, stating that this number is higher than countries like Norway, Switzerland, Italy and Germany.

“Portugal has surpassed the barrier of 300 thousand tests carried out. Since March 1, about 302 thousand covid-19 diagnostic tests have been carried out in our country. We are talking about testing 27,925 people per million inhabitants, which to date today is superior to countries like Norway, Switzerland, Italy and Germany “, said António Lacerda Sales.

The official, who said he was speaking at the daily press conference to take stock of the covid-19 pandemic in the country, added that about 49% of the tests were carried out in public laboratories, 45% in private laboratories and 5% in other institutions, namely academic and military.

“There are also more and more users inserted in the Trace Covid platform. At the moment there are already more than 135 thousand in this tool that allows the follow-up through primary health care of patients or suspicious people”, said António Lacerda Sales.

According to the Secretary of State for Health, of this number related to Trace Covid, “more than 30 thousand are under clinical surveillance”.

“I would like to leave a word of acknowledgment to all the people who are sick, convalescing in their homes, respecting the compulsory isolation and thus guaranteeing, not only their individual recovery, but protecting our collective health”, said the Governor.

António Lacerda Sales also stated that “since March 9, approximately 2,300 patients have been transferred from hospitals in the National Health Service (SNS) to units in the national integrated continuous care network”.

And that, in the same period, 230 social responses were found, which allowed “to free crucial hospital beds at this time of greatest pressure from the system”.

“We remain committed to ensuring that the NHS continues to respond positively to the different phases of the epidemic and that everyone’s efforts continue to be as decisive today as they were yesterday,” he concluded.

Portugal today registers 820 deaths associated with covid-19, 35 more than on Wednesday, and 22,353 infected (more 371), indicates the epidemiological bulletin released today by the Directorate-General for Health (DGS).

Comparing with Wednesday’s data, which recorded 785 deaths, today there was a percentage increase of 4.5%.

Regarding the number of confirmed cases of infection with the new coronavirus, DGS data show that there are 371 more cases than on Tuesday, representing an increase of 1.7%.

The North region has the highest number of deaths (475), followed by the Central region (179), Lisbon and the Tagus Valley (146), the Algarve (11), the Azores (8) and the Alentejo, which registers one dead person, the epidemiological situation report says, with data updated until midnight on Wednesday.