Year: 2020

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We are continuously working on the website to make it as “easy to find” as possible. In the same time we get new information every day. During the next days you will se some improvement.

Today we got really good guides from IOM Un Migration. You find the guides on links below. They are also very useful for printed information. Maybe you have a neighbour or friend without internet?

English

General information of COVID-19

Emergency information

Psychosocial well being during COVID-19

Spanish

Informatión General COVID-19

Informatión Emergency

Bienestar psikosocial

Portuguese

Informação geral

Informação de emergência

Bem estar psicossocial

French

Information general

Information Emergency

Bien être psychosocial

Bengali

কোভিড-১৯

অভিবাসীদের-জন্য-পর্তুগালের-জরুরী-অবস্থাকালীণ-বিষয়ক-তথ্য

বিচ্ছিন্ন (আইসোলেশন) থাকাকালীন মনো-সামাজিক সুস্থতা

 

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The President of Tourism of the Algarve, Joao Fernandez, sent to Safe Communities a letter addressed to all us  “Algarvians”, who are living, working or studying in the Algarve region. It is our pleasure to share this in different languages, which you can find below”.

It´s a pleasure for SCP to have such a productive cooperation with RTA. Even if the tourism sector for the moment suffer in a struggling time, the Algarve will come to life again. Do not loose hope, keep you faith in yourself, your business and we will together have the strength to once again welcome the world to our own paradise.

Picture:

Caravel Good Hope

The first caravels of the Discoveries epic left the Algarve and it was here that Infante D. Henrique invented the boats used by the Portuguese to explore the oceans. The Latin caravel, also known as the caravel of Infante or dos Descobrimentos, was the ship of Moorish origin chosen by D. Henrique for his maritime adventures.

About RTA

The history of this regional tourism organization follows the evolution of the sector itself in the country and can be told through the dates, people and facts that have marked the Algarve in recent decades. With almost 50 years at the service of the Algarve and a region that is considered several times the «Best Beach Destination in Europe», RTA (Algarve Tourism Region) maintains the objective of enhancing the tourist value of the Algarve in the national and cross-border territory with Spain.

LETTER IN ENGLISH

LETTER IN SPANISH

LETTER IN PORTUGUESE

LETTER IN FRENCH

LETTER IN RUSSIAN

LETTER IN GERMAN

LETTER IN DUTCH

LETTER IN ITALIAN

 

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This message was sent by KISS FM Solid Gold Sunday 5th April

Message to Community

“Good morning everyone

There is little doubt that people are becoming more accustomed to a change of life that has affected us all, as a result of the new Coronavirus.

These changes will be with us for some time but, how long this takes is up to us. It is in our hands. If we stay at home, except for essential trips, it will be over much quicker. If we stay home, the risk of us and our families being infected, is much reduced. And  –  if we stay home, we will greatly help the nurses, doctors and emergency services, upon whom, we all depend.

The coronavirus pandemic increasing affects Portugal, albeit at a slower rate than some countries. The Government has been swift to introduce further measures to help mitigate the situation here – these appear to be working but it will take time.

The main one, was on second of April, extending the State of Emergency law until 17th April. A decision will then be taken as to where or not to extend it further. Such as a decision will be based the information and advice of health experts.

Apart from this law, there are many other measures in place, including those to help protect businesses and individuals, who have been disadvantaged by this crisis. As we know, such laws can be complicated to understand. At Safe Communities we are making every effort to explain some these, especially those concerning the emergency law itself.

People are naturally and rightly concerned about the possibility of people from the big cities, moving southwards, to enjoy their holidays in the Algarve. I share this concern The Government has therefore, rightly in my opinion, restricted movement between municipalities for the Easter period 9th to 13th April.

There are some exceptions to this, such as for “health reasons or urgency, or due to work obligation expressly stated in the law”. We have received considerable feedback from within the foreign community regarding these and other measures.

There is, without doubt, a general sense of responsibility, civic mindedness and determination to overcome this and get back to a normal way of life. We all understand that this is a collective battle that requires everyone’s contribution. The work undertaken by charities and other volunteers throughout Portugal is highly commendable: from making donations to providing support to those in need. Please support them.

Our volunteer team of professionals, at Safe Communities Portugal, has been there since day one. We will continue to try and provide the best service to the foreign community in Portugal, as far as resources allow. We work 7 days a week to ensure there is no lapse of services at the weekend. Our information and services are available to everyone, so please feel free to use them. It is essential that everyone follows the Facts not hearsay and supposition.

We are continuing to work closely with government and of course the British Embassy Consular team who do tremendous work. Official information can be found on the Gov.UK travel advice website Portugal page, which is essential reading if you are travelling. This, and other useful information is regularly updated. Please visit the Brits in Portugal Facebook page which contains important information.

We thank everyone who has shared our work throughout the country, by Facebook and for visiting our site. We also thank the media and KissFM for promoting this as well.

For those who do not have internet or do not use social media, we are also sending this information by email through our newsletter. If you would like to volunteer your services in the area of communication, then please contact David Thomas at info@safecommunitiesportugal.com

Lastly we all owe a considerable gratitude of debt to the fantastic work being undertaken by the health authorities, doctors, nurses, ambulance crews, civil protection and police personnel to keep us all safe  – WELL DONE.

For official information and advice please visit the SNS and Civil Protection websites and to help you in English the Safe Communities home page

https://www.safecommunitiesportugal.com/ Click red box Coronavirus Covid 19.

David Thomas

President Safe Communities Portugal

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1 – Citizens cannot travel outside the municipality of habitual residence in the period between 00:00h on 9 April and 24:00h on 13 April, except for health reasons or other reasons of imperative urgency.

2 – The restriction provided for in the preceding paragraph does not apply to citizens covered by paragraph 4 of article 4, provided that they are in the performance of duties, as well as in the performance of professional activities admitted by this decree.

3 – In the period referred to in paragraph 1, workers mentioned in the final part of the previous number must circulate with a declaration from their employer that attests that they are in the performance of their respective professional activities.

4 – The restriction provided for in paragraph 1 does not prevent movement between the portions of the municipalities where there is a territorial discontinuity.

5 – During the period referred to in paragraph 1, commercial passenger flights to and from national airports are not permitted, with the exceptions of emergency landings, humanitarian flights or for the purpose of repatriation.

Article 4

4 – The restriction provided for in paragraph 2 does not apply, in the exercise of functions:

  1. a) To health professionals and other workers of health and social support institutions, as well as civil protection agents;
  2. b) The security, military and civilian forces and services of the Armed Forces and inspectors of the Food and Economic Security Authority;
  3. c) Holders of political offices, magistrates and leaders of the social partners.

 

 

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The Minister of Health said today that the fight against the outbreak of covid-19 “is a long marathon” and considered that it is necessary to continue to apply “the measures of containment and mitigation”.

“This fight, facing this outbreak, is not a 100-meter run, it is a long marathon and we have to dose our energies, our expectations and our efforts very well,” Marta Temido told reporters at the press conference held daily at the Directorate-General for Health (DGS).

Taking stock of the first week of the mitigation phase of the new coronavirus, which causes the covid-19 disease, the minister highlighted the “great responsibility” of the Portuguese who stayed at home and who “conformed to their routines with what are the recommendations national health authorities “.

Marta Temido also praised “the great responsibility” of health professionals, elements of the security forces and services and those who ensure essential items.

This responsibility, however, “has to be renewed every day because there is no light at the end of the tunnel”, but only “a hope”, he maintained.

“We need to continue to apply containment and mitigation measures. We need to continue to inform correctly about what the recommended rules are and we really need to continue to support those who need support ”, he said, referring to the elderly who live in homes and are those who feel“ more fragile ”.

Shortly before the press conference, the update bulletin of the Directorate-General for Health was released, reporting 266 deaths, 20 more than the day before (+ 8.1%), and 10,524 confirmed cases of infection, which represents an increase of 638 (+ 6.5%), compared to Thursday.

Portugal has been in a state of emergency since 18 March and this week was extended until 17 April

The new coronavirus, responsible for the covid-19 pandemic, has already infected an additional 1.2 million people worldwide, of whom nearly 60,000 died.

After appearing in China in December, the outbreak spread worldwide, prompting the World Health Organization (WHO) to declare a pandemic situation.

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Press conference by Minister of State for internal Administration 3rd April
The Minister of Internal Administration, Eduardo Cabrita, affirmed that “only an even more determined effort will consolidate the positive evolution” of the Covid-19 pandemic in Portugal, bringing the country closer “to a time when one can look beyond this crisis” .
At the press conference after the fifth meeting of the State of Emergency Monitoring Structure, the Minister saluted the Portuguese “for the sense of responsibility, civic and determination” with which they understand that this is a collective battle that requires everyone’s contribution.
Eduardo Cabrita also praised “the way in which the supply chains for food and other essential products have managed to adjust, with a response capacity that never questioned supply to citizens, and how they understood the rules on access to supermarkets, and how others food support establishments have managed to change »to a format compatible with meeting the needs of the population and ensuring essential security».
The Minister reiterated the call for scrupulous respect for the rules of the state of emergency to guarantee the mitigation of the pandemic and contribute to the security of all and to the feeling of collective security.
Eduardo Cabrita warned of the set of very significant restrictions on circulation between 9 and 13 April and underlined that citizens will only be able to move out of their municipality of residence for “imperative reasons of health or urgency, or due to work obligation expressly documented ».
«I appeal to employers to prepare forms of information that allow, whoever has to work on those days and who has to travel for that reason, to be able to prove in a simple way in which activity he works and because, depending on the essential nature of that activity, he will have to move out of his area of ​​residence ”, he added.
Arrests, repatriations and border control

The Minister of Internal Administration also made a situation report of the first period of the state of emergency, noting that there were a total of 108 arrests by the Security Forces, with emphasis on 29 violations of the confinement obligations and 10 attempts to breach the sanitary fence of Ovar, in addition to the most common breaches of obligations to close commercial establishments.
Eduardo Cabrita affirmed that the Security Forces have been doing an active job and fulfilled this task “centered almost entirely on the effort to raise awareness, pedagogy and recommendation”.
The Minister also pointed out that around 75% of the 4000 Portuguese who sought support from the State on their return to the country have already returned, and several steps are still in place – national, through the European Civil Protection Mechanism or in articulation with other countries – which will allow return of the approximately 1000 national citizens still abroad.
The balance of the restoration of land border controls was another fact underlined by Eduardo Cabrita, who said that during these two weeks 132 thousand citizens were checked, with 1126 refusals of border crossing.
“It was possible to guarantee the security and movement of goods, through the principle of the green route for movement of goods and cross-border work”, he added.
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Here you find most of the answers you will need to understand what you can and what you can´t do. For the moment we DO NOT have any more details so please, if you don´t find the answer in the actual law or in this Q and R, you need to hold on for more information to come. It will not be productive to ask SCP:-) Thank you.

CLICK HERE FOR Q AND A

CLICK HERE FOR RENEWED LAW

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The National Data Protection Commission warns that municipalities and private security companies are prohibited from carrying out video surveillance in public places, in the context of the covid-19 pandemic, which is “exclusively attributed” to public security forces.

The use of video surveillance and alarm systems, during the state of emergency, “is exclusively assigned” to the public security forces and services, warns the commission.

“The decreed state of emergency did not change public powers and powers, so the functions of controlling entry and displacement in the national territory remain centralized in the State, with the Local Public Administration and private entities being prohibited from using means of capture of images and sound in the public space for this purpose ”, explains the National Data Protection Commission (CNPD).

Explaining that, following the covid-19 pandemic, “several doubts” have been addressed to CNPD, the commission clarifies that the use of video surveillance and alarm systems, by private security entities, is defined in the law that regulates that activity “And does not cover public places of common use”, whose control is exclusively assigned to public security forces and services.

Private security companies are prohibited from carrying out activities corresponding to the exclusive powers of the judicial or police authorities,” recalls the commission.

And he adds that, thus, the functions of border control and the prevention and repression of crimes in the public space “fall exclusively” on the security forces and services dependent on the Ministry of Internal Administration.

On Thursday, the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MAI) announced that the PSP will use 20 portable video surveillance cameras, 18 of which on ‘drones’, during the state of emergency.

The Deputy Secretary of State and Internal Administration, Antero Luís, issued an order authorizing the use of portable cameras and their installation in unmanned aerial vehicles (‘drones’) of the PSP.

The use of this means was proposed by the national director of the PSP for “protecting the safety of people and property, public or private, and preventing the practice of crimes in places where there is a reasonable risk of their occurrence”.

The MAI, in the statement issued, that the use of mobile cameras covers, in the area of ​​responsibility of the PSP, places of great concentration and movement of people, namely access to road and rail terminals, sports facilities, parks and public gardens and fences or sanitary cords.

But, in the same document, it says that the authorization given, through the order, will comply with the recommendation in Wednesday’s opinion, issued by CNPD on the use of video surveillance cameras, namely the advance warning about the area to be controlled by the cameras portables, and the data controller.

According to the law, the use of ‘drones’ must be previously communicated by the security forces to the office of the Assistant Secretary of State and Internal Administration, which, on behalf of the minister, will validate it.

The MAI, in that note, further clarifies that “when using cameras coupled to unmanned aerial vehicles, the light that identifies the presence of the aircraft must be activated in order to reinforce the informational dimension”.

And also that “it must be ensured that the capture of images safeguards the privacy of those who are in their respective homes or other buildings intended to be used with reservation”.

 

 

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The President of the Republic spoke to the country regarding the renewal of the state of emergency for another 15 days. From the Palace of Belém, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa announced that the measures that will now enter into force will continue until the 17th of April, when the state of emergency may or may not be renewed once more.

“This will perhaps be our biggest challenge in the last 45 years”, warns Marcelo.

The covid-19 pandemic “brutally aggravates poverty and inequality”, notes the President of the Republic. Also for this reason, “its economic and social effects will be more profound and lasting than the longest crises we have ever lived”, anticipates the head of state.

“We cannot cheapen the consolidation of the first phase”, warns the President of the Republic, after congratulating the Portuguese people for their efforts throughout the State of Emergency.

Highlighting the countless sectors in Portugal that have not rested, the President described four phases in the fight against Covid-19.

The first is characterised by exponential growths of the pandemic, the second by the deceleration of the outbreak and treating patients with mild symptoms at home. In the third phase, the most serious cases caused by the pandemic will have to be faced, and in the fourth phase progressive stabilization is expected of Portuguese collective life.

Marcelo de Sousa emphasized the need to focus on five fundamental objectives, as follow:

  • Protecting at-risk groups, wherever they live, whether at home, in our home, or on the street;
  • Use common sense to open the state of emergency to prevent situations of rupture in prison establishments, particularly among the population at greatest risk;
  • To ensure that despite the many reasons – which there are – for tiredness and anxiety, this Easter we shall not exchange a few years in the life and health of everyone for a few days of vacation or extended family reunion of some;
  • To ask that our compatriots who want to come from abroad comply with the strict recommendations that we will adopt for Easter and rethink to postpone their plans;
  • Defining the scenarios for the academic year, taking into account the evolution of the pandemic for April.

During this second phase, the President said that “we must win the second phase and conquer April”, and warned that “we will only conquer April if we don’t let our guard down”. Additionally, he reminded us that other situations have shown that previous journeys to home towns have prolonged the pandemic for an added 30 days.

The President warns that the number of infected will reach the tens of thousands, but the next weeks will be the most decisive and there will also be tens of thousands of lives saved.

 

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In a briefing with reporters following the Council of Ministers meeting, Prime Minister António Costa relayed a set of main measures contained in the decree.

Firstly, the PM affirmed that a set of rules for clarification of previous provisions will be established. For instance, there should be no gathering of more than 5 people, except of course people with family ties and large families.

Two very important measures concern the extension of the deadline for owners to clean the forests to 30th April, not forgetting the enormous risk of forest fire in the country. Additionally, there is a clarification of the exemption from user fees for covid-19 patients, whether during a diagnosis or a treatment phase.

Easter constitutes a particularly critical moment and one when it is essential to restrict circulation in the national territory.

Between 00h on Thursday 9th and 24h on Monday 13th, any travel outside the municipality of habitual residence will be prohibited, except naturally for those who have to travel for the exercise of professional activities that are allowed, or in the 3 municipalities which have territorial discontinuity ( such as Vila Real de Santo António, Montijo and Oliveira de Azeméis).

Workers who need to move to another concelho during the five days when the restriction on circulation will be tighter,  must have a declaration from the employer to prove their work address, says the prime minister.

In the same period, all national airports will be closed for passenger traffic. Cargo flights, humanitarian nature, Portuguese repatriation flights or State flights and military nature are maintained.

Other restrictive measures: The Minister of Health and the Minister of Internal Administration, taking into account WHO recommendations, will define countries / territories from which travel will require a medical consultation, in view of preventing infections from occurring.

Air transport will have a limitation of capacity set to only one third, in order to ensure the greatest possible social distance. This is a measure that has already taken place with public transportation, which will continue in effect.

In addition, measures will be taken in regard to strengthening the authorities’ competences for working conditions. Unfortunately, the Prime Minister says, in this period and despite the measures that have been adopted to support the sustainability of companies, there have been abuses. Therefore, inspectors may be required to reinforce the framework for labour inspections.

António Costa stressed that “no one has the right to take advantage of this circumstance to abuse and exploit workers or consumers”.

Finally, a law proposal will be submitted to the AR, in line with appeals launched by the United Nations High Commissioner and the Ombudsman that aim to prevent the pandemic in prisons.

The process by which the President of the Republic can grant a release of prisoners for humanitarian reasons will be streamlined (for instance, people at risk due to old age and underlying illnesses).

A partial pardon of prison sentences may be given to those serving sentences of up to 2 years or the last 2 years of their sentences, excluding those who have committed particularly heinous crimes such as murder, rape, abuse of minors, domestic violence,  or those with special responsibilities including security, armed forces or political office holders.

The partial forgiveness of sentences is subject to a condition of respect for house confinement and the absence of any type of criminal act. If this condition is broken, the release will be reversed.