Year: 2020

Road accidents fall by more than 70% in the first 30 days of the state of emergency, with 7,719 fewer accidents, a trend that was repeated in the number of injured and fatalities on Portuguese roads.

In a statement, the Ministry of Internal Administration (MAI) highlights the sharp drop in the number of road accidents between March 19 and April 17, compared with the same periods in the last four years, from 10,918 to 3,199 registered accidents .

This trend is also confirmed in the data on fatalities, serious injuries and minor injuries (24 hours).

According to MAI, in the first case, the nine deaths recorded in the period under analysis represent a decrease of 72% compared to the same period in 2019, in which 32 fatalities had been recorded.

With regard to the seriously injured, the 51 recorded in the first 30 days of the state of emergency decreed in relation to the covid-19 represent a drop of 62% compared to the same period in 2019 (134).

The 799 minor injuries recorded between March 19 and April 17 of this year, mean a 76% decrease compared to the same period in 2019, in which 3,362 had been recorded.

The downward trend is also reflected in the comparative data between this year’s extended Easter weekend (April 9th ​​to 13th) and the same 2019 weekend (April 18th to 22nd), with a decrease in all indicators.

The authorities recorded 1,107 fewer accidents this year (-73%), resulting in seven fewer deaths (-78%), 32 serious injuries (-86%) and 408 minor injuries (-81%).

Although these numbers are associated with the state of emergency and the considerable decrease in the flow of road traffic resulting from this reality, the MAI underlines that the data reflect “in an exemplary way” how the Portuguese have contributed to contain the covid-19 outbreak in Portugal.

The country is in a state of emergency until May 2 because of the covid-19 pandemic, the disease caused by the new coronavirus.

The latest official data indicate that Portugal registers 785 deaths associated with covid-19 and 21,982 cases of infection.

Lisbon, 22^nd April 2020 (Lusa) – The national beaches will have (a limited) maximum capacity of bathers during the bathing season, following the pandemic, which will be calculated according to the “load capacity” of each beach, said the Program Co-ordinator for Blue Flag today.

“The beaches, being public spaces, will also have to have follow the procedures and rules  implemented for the safety of all, obviously highlighting social distancing issues”, to prevent the spread of the disease pandemic caused by the new coronavirus”, explained the National Co-ordinator of the Blue Flag program, from the Blue Flag Association of Europe (ABAE), Catarina Gonçalves.

The official said that a “manual of procedures concerning access to beaches” in Portugal is being prepared, in a collaboration between several organizations, including the Portuguese Navy, the Portuguese Environment Agency (APA), the Relief Institute for Castaways (ISN) and the Directorate-General for Health (DGS).

This guide should be ready “in the first week of May”, stressed Catarina Gonçalves, and will include the recommended load capacity of each beach.

“We will have to assess the means to calculate the load capacity of the beaches, that is, the beaches will have an occupation limit. The concession area of ​​a beach is already physically limited in that it has a dimension of extension and width, according to the high tide”, he continued.

The ABAE Co-ordinator explained that the maximum capacity of the beaches will take into account “the recommendations” of the DGS, namely, “what is the safe space between shades and umbrellas” and the required physical distance between people.

“More practical questions have to be addressed regarding the cleaning of spaces, the use of masks, the actual use of terraces and bars – whether it is permissible and if so under what conditions – the walkways, the showers, slides, deckchairs and even seagulls; all of these will be subject to much tighter hygiene procedures,” he stressed.

However, Catarina Gonçalves said that on the beaches it is “much more complicated” to implement these measures, since “you cannot put a yellow ribbon” to define the space used by bathers.

For this reason, the inspection “will have to be approached differently” and the responsible person should expect that “common sense” will be applied by bathers to comply with the rules and guidelines that will be established.

“We are very concerned with urban areas, as they do not have an entrance and an exit from the beach. The entire promenade, for example, is a beach entrance, which makes imposing restrictions very difficult.

Citizens with impaired hearing now have access to a video call service platform at the Contact Center of the National Health Service – SNS24. This line started operating on April 21, and has six Portuguese Sign Language interpreters who will provide assistance 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to ensure the clarification of these people.

Armed forces can disinfect the establishments and CEMGFA guarantees perfect coordination with the PSP and GNR in combating the pandemic.

The military will have an important role in the process of reopening high schools for the 11th and 12th years of compulsory schooling, the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces (CEMGFA), admiral Silva Ribeiro, revealed this Tuesday.

“Sixty teams from the Army and Navy will participate in security measures in schools, from the training of teachers and staff to raising students’ awareness,” said CEMGFA, in a hearing at the parliamentary defence committee.

The military chief said that this intervention will be carried out in 800 schools with the preparation of a manual, which in some cases will involve disinfection operations, and was coordinated between the ministries of Education, Health, Defence and the branches.

“This is not a security crisis in the country, the security forces have complied perfectly,” he repeated several times about the need for greater involvement of the Armed Forces in measures to prevent the coronavirus pandemic.

As for the mobilization of military personnel for border control, “If that becomes necessary… But in these circumstances, from what we have seen, there is no need,” he said.

“The articulation of the Armed Forces with the Security Forces has been perfect”, he reiterated, and revealed that during the covid-19 crisis he has already held two meetings with the Secretary-General of the Internal Security System (SSI), Helena Fazenda, one of which happened this Tuesday morning.

About the 7800 volunteers who responded favourably to CEMGFA’s appeal, mostly military personnel in the reserve or family members of military personnel, Admiral Silva Ribeiro explained his initiative. “It has nothing to do with a shortage of personnel, but with the spirit of solidarity and the sense of service of the military family,” he said.

In fact, he maintained that the military will be available for the diversity of actions required: from logistical support to civil protection to searches. At this point, the Air Force will deploy 12 drones for the next forest fire campaign.

Lisbon, April 20, 2020 (Lusa) – About 700 thousand individual protection equipment were sent today from the Military Laboratory, in Lisbon, where they were stored, to reinforce care homes across the country, being distributed by the district Social Security centers, announced the minister.

The Minister of Labour, Solidarity and Social Security, Ana Mendes Godinho, was today at the Military Laboratory of Chemical and Pharmaceutical Products, in Lisbon, together with the Minister of National Defence, João Gomes Cravinho, and with the Assistant Secretary of State and Health , Jamila Madeira, to watch the lifting of the equipment, which were in the custody of that institution.

“These trucks come to serve as support and reinforcement for care homes, for all professionals who work in care homes and residential homes where people with disabilities live”, explained Ana Mendes Godinho, adding that the goal is to reinforce care homes with personal protective equipment, which they include not only surgical masks but also full equipment to deal with people who have tested positive for covid-19.

According to the minister, “today, about 700 thousand individual protective equipment are part of this cargo”, having already had a first delivery two weeks ago with around 200 thousand, the goal being “to reach the whole country”.

“They will be distributed through the district social security centers, which will make the distribution by the institutions at the level of each district and that will happen today with this transport that is happening, with the three trucks that will be taken across the country”, she added.

According to Ana Mendes Godinho, “two more distributions are planned to be made due to this permanent articulation that has been taking place with Infarmed and the Social Security Institute and with associations representing the social sector”, which identified the needs in the different institutions.

In the perspective of the Minister of Labour, Solidarity and Social Security, “the Armed Forces have played a key role in supporting this entire population that is in homes”.

For his part, Jamila Madeira explained that it is material purchased “within the scope of the acquisitions that the Ministry of Health makes for the National Health Service and for the ministries and the State that provide essential services to the pandemic operation covid-19”.

“All the material is aggregated here and then distributed to different entities”, he explained.

“The National Health Service is our biggest consumer and our biggest concern because it is people who are in the first line of combat, but the Ministry of Labor, Solidarity and Social Security is also the one that deals with the group at greatest risk, the elderly, and to protect home professionals ”, he justified.