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Lisbon, 19 March 2021 (Lusa) – Rapid antigen tests for the detection of SARS-CoV-2 can only be sold to people over the age of 18 and all results must be communicated to health authorities, determines a circular published today .

The rules are contained in a joint circular from the Directorate-General for Health (DGS), the National Authority for Medicines and Health Products (Infarmed) and the National Health Institute Doctor Ricardo Jorge (INSA) that defines the inclusion criteria, operationalization of the use and reporting of results of covid-19 self-tests.

According to the rules now established, these screening tests can only be made available in the health system units, in pharmacies and in places of sale of non-prescription drugs and can only be “dispensed to individuals aged 18 or over years old”.

In addition, self-tests, including the necessary test, cannot be carried out in the places where they are dispensed.

Bearing in mind that these rapid tests “constitute an additional instrument for the early detection of cases of infection, thus contributing to the control of transmission chains, the results obtained must be reported to the health authorities”, also determines the circular, which defines the procedures to be adopted by those who carry them out.

Therefore, people who are symptomatic or who are in contact with a confirmed case of covid-19 should contact the SNS24 Contact Center (808 24 24 24), regardless of the test result.

When the test is carried out on its own initiative, a positive or inconclusive result must be communicated directly by telephone to the SNS24 Contact Center or by filling in an electronic form that will be created.

In the context of use in specific contexts, the communication of this result can be made to the attending physician or occupational health or occupational medicine, advances the circular of the health authorities.

According to the document, regardless of the context in which the test is carried out, the report of obtaining a positive result should be accompanied whenever possible with information regarding the commercial identification of the self-test (brand), manufacturer and identification code of the batch used.

In addition, the communication of the result triggers the prescription for confirmation test with PCR test, if there has been no laboratory test report with a positive result for the person in question in the last 90 days.

The Contact Center SNS24 shall transmit indications for the isolation of the person with a rapid positive result, including the issuance of the Provisional Prophylactic Isolation Statement, until the confirmation of the PCR confirmation test result.

“One of the limitations to consider for any rapid test is the possibility of a false negative or false positive result”, also advance the health authorities, warning that a negative result does not eliminate the possibility of infection by SARS ‑ CoV ‑ 2 .

Although it is a less frequent event, there is also the possibility of a false positive result, particularly when the prevalence of infection in the population is low.

“For these reasons, the result obtained by the SARS-CoV-2 self-test does not dispense with the adoption of infection prevention and control measures established at national level in the context of COVID-19, nor the guidance of a health professional whenever necessary ”, stresses the circular.

The realization of self-tests, established in an exceptional and temporary regime and framed in the National Test Strategy for SARS-CoV-2, assumes “particular relevance for the control of transmission chains, namely in the context of the gradual and sustained reopening of certain sectors activity, establishments and services “, explains the document.

In order to be included in this exceptional regime, rapid antigen tests must have, among other characteristics, the CE marking, which shows compliance with the requirements legally provided for in the European Union.

In addition, they must present performance data for nasal samples, and the test must have at least a sensitivity equal to or greater than 80% and a specificity equal to or greater than 97%, according to the manufacturer’s information.

It must also contain instructions for use in Portuguese and adapted to the self-test, with an illustration of the test collection and execution process, including the following information: method of waste disposal, information on actions to be taken in view of the result obtained and procedure of communication of results.

The covid-19 pandemic caused at least 2,692,313 deaths worldwide, resulting from more than 121.7 million cases of infection, according to a report made by the French agency AFP.

In Portugal, 16,754 people died from 816,623 confirmed cases of infection, according to the most recent bulletin from the Directorate-General for Health.

Ourém, Santarém, 19 March 2021 (Lusa) – All Holy Week and Easter celebrations at the Sanctuary of Fátima will be transmitted ‘online’, due to the impossibility of many pilgrims to travel to Cova da Iria due to the limitations resulting from the covid pandemic -19, was announced today.

“The Sanctuary of Fátima will transmit ‘all the celebrations of the Easter Triduum’ online, for the first time”, informs the institution, explaining that the initiative aims to “mitigate the impossibility that many pilgrims will live to travel to Fátima due to the prohibition of circulation between municipalities, in the period between March 26 and April 5 ”.

In an information made available on its website, the sanctuary, in the district of Santarém, adds that, “although all celebrations are open to the participation of all the faithful, in particular the residents of the municipality of Ourém, Cova da Iria connected to the whole world to allow everyone who wants to be able to be united to Fatima in what is the most important and symbolic time of the Christian experience”.

The celebrations transmitted online, from the Basilica of the Holy Trinity, will be interpreted in Portuguese Sign Language, namely “the Mass at 11:00 am on Palm Sunday, the Mass at the Lord’s Supper, on Holy Thursday at 6 pm : 00, the Passion, on Good Friday, at 3:00 pm, the Easter Vigil, on Holy Saturday, at 10:00 pm, and the Easter Mass, on Sunday at 11:00 am, ”says the same information.

The sanctuary emphasizes that “the rites foreseen in all these celebrations will be adapted to the sanitary moment that the country is going through and, therefore, in the Mass of Palm Sunday, each pilgrim should bring their own branch for the blessing, without the usual distribution in the sanctuary”.

In the “Mass of the Lord’s Supper, the gesture of the washing of the feet will be omitted, replacing it with an evocative gesture, and on Good Friday the worship of the Cross will also be done in a different way from the usual”, clarifies the Temple.

“Contrary to what is customary in the sanctuary, the Easter Mass will take place in the Basilica of the Most Holy Trinity, a place where most of the celebrations of the summer program, which will take effect from Monday, April 5th, will be held” , he says, adding that all celebrations will be broadcast live on www.fatima.pt, Youtube and Facebook.

Due to the covid-19 pandemic, Last year, the Sanctuary of Fátima, for the first time in its history, held Holy Week celebrations without pilgrims, behind closed doors, which are transmitted by the media and digital media.

In a message about the celebration of Easter, also available on the website of the Marian temple, the rector of the sanctuary, Father Carlos Cabecinhas, emphasizes that this year you can participate in the celebrations, with the exception that you cannot do it as before.

“We have to be very careful to ensure everyone’s safety. (…) Our spaces are prepared to welcome you, with all the security measures, but we also ask for your responsibility. Safety depends on the contribution of each one and the care of each one”, highlights the rector.

For Carlos Cabecinhas, the celebration of Easter “reinforces” hope and confidence “in these troubled times”.

The PSP and GNR arrested 911 people, 303 for contempt of compulsory confinement, and closed 3,882 stores from the beginning of the pandemic, in March 2020, according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MAI).

The data were sent to the Lusa agency when it marks a year in which the country entered a state of emergency to combat the covid-19 pandemic.

According to MAI, the 911 arrests by PSP and GNR were made between March 19, 2020 and March 15 this year.

MAI data also reveals that the Republican National Guard and the Public Security Police applied, between June 27, 2020 and March 15 this year, 38,825 administrative offenses, 32,662 (about 84%) of which were since January 15, when the country entered the second confinement.

The case records have been registered since June 27 last year because it was when the decree-law that established the regime of administrative offenses to deal with the pandemic came into force.

According to the MAI, most of the offenses are related to non-compliance with the general duty of home collection (20,362) and limitation of movement between municipalities (4,984).

The security forces also accounted for 3,402 offenses for alcohol consumption on the street, 2,841 for not wearing a mask on the street and public spaces, 1,123 for non-compliance with opening hours and 1,020 for non-compliance with the mandatory use of a mask in concert halls or public establishments.

Records were also drawn up for non-compliance with the mandatory use of masks in public transport (785), the rules of occupation, permanence and physical distance in places open to the public (687), the holding of celebrations and other events (509), the rules selling alcoholic beverages (460) and operating rules for restaurants and the like (552).

There are also records of 56 fines for refusing to perform the SARS-CoV-2 test.

In addition to having closed 3,882 establishments between March 19, 2020 and March 15 this year, these two security forces suspended 243 activities.

Since the pandemic began in Portugal in March 2020, 13 states of emergency have been decreed, and between May and November 2020, three situations of calamity, three of contingency and two of alert, some of which in only a few regions.

News coverage served to guide the behaviour of citizens in order to protect themselves and listened to more sources, advances a joint study of three Portuguese universities and a research centre.

Journalism reinforced its importance in the context of the pandemic and constituted an “effective weapon” in the fight against covid-19, concluded a research team from three Portuguese universities and a research center that analyzed about three thousand news published during the vacancies in the pandemics that have plagued Portugal.

“In the first wave, the epidemiological situation was not as serious as we thought, but the news coverage was very intense and anticipated the worsening of the health situation, contributing to guide the behaviour of citizens in order to protect themselves”, begins by explaining Felisbela Lopes, researcher at the University of Minho and work coordinator.

However, news coverage eased during the second wave and was slow to start with the same strength as it did in March 2020, when the epidemiological picture started to worsen in January 2021. According to this study, the number of news about covid-19 published in the first wave was three times greater than in the third wave, in an equivalent period.

“These fluctuations can have consequences. It is important to recognize the role of journalism and make it a partner in situations of health crisis”, stresses Rita Araújo, researcher at the Center for Studies in Communication and Society at the University of Minho.

According to the study, in the first wave the news mainly focused, in addition to the epidemiological portraits, on themes of a social nature (21%), namely around work and education. However, in the second phase, social issues lost strength (7%) and national politics gained prominence (20%).

“It would have been important to refocus attention on other topics, because politicians have gained more visibility, but that visibility has not always been the result of real actions,” says the study’s coordinator.

The second wave was also richer in news about medical-scientific research, mainly because of the expectations surrounding the clinical trials of vaccines (9%). The third wave, on the other hand, was marked by a particularly negative news, which focused on the situation portraits (23%), namely with regard to the counting of deaths by covid-19. Within social issues (17%), education once again gained news space, which is explained by the closure of schools.

The analysis of the researchers says that it is the government that focuses communication on the management of the pandemic in periods of greatest tension (12.3%). However, there are differences between the rulers. The prime minister occupies the place of greatest evidence (2.7%). Next are the ministers of Health, the Presidency and Labor, Solidarity and Social Security. Only then do the Ministers of Education and Economy appear.

The President of the Republic, despite the communications addressed to the country at key moments, such as the prolongations of the state of emergency, takes on a discreet place (1.2%), which may be related to the prophylactic isolations to which he was subjected in the first and third vacancies and with the option to remain “more distant from the media space” during the pre-election campaign related to the presidential elections in January of this year.

The space left open by Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa may have been used by the government, namely António Costa, who, according to the researchers, were well from the communicative point of view in the first wave, but who promoted zigzagging communication in the second wave.

“The success of the government’s communication in this third wave can only be gauged after seeing how the deflation will be communicated”, explains the investigation team.

More diverse sources

During the periods under study, journalism also listened to more sources, extending the siege to voices that usually have fewer opportunities to make themselves heard. Among the sources that have gained ground are professionals from different areas and specialists. Official sources are the most heard when it comes to covid-19 (with results ranging from 22% to 29%), but professionals from different areas and specialists have gained a new strength and almost rival the first (with rates between 20 and 25%, if only those who hold positions are taken into account).

“It is important to know how to keep these sources in the media after we leave the pandemic. They contribute to the quality of journalism and have shown answers that have helped to sustain the political decision-making process”, defends Olga Magalhães, researcher at Cintesis – Center for Research in Technologies and Health Services.

The study, which focuses on more than 3000 news texts and about 6000 sources of information from two daily newspapers (Público and Jornal de Notícias), integrates a broader research project, which aims to analyze the health communication about covid-19 in Portugal.

In addition to Felisbela Lopes (CECS / Universidade do Minho), Rita Araújo (CECS / Universidade do Minho) and Olga Magalhães (Cintesis), are part of the research team Clara Almeida Santos and Ana Teresa Peixinho (University of Coimbra) and Catarina Duff Burnay ( CECC-FCH, Universidade Católica Portuguesa). DP

The National Authority for Emergency and Civil Protection (ANEPC) and the Portuguese Institute for the Sea and the Atmosphere (IPMA) will carry out the NEAMWAVE’21 exercise tomorrow, March 10, between 8:30 am and 2:00 pm.

NEAMWAVE’21 aims to test the effectiveness and readiness of the Tsunami alert system implemented in the Northeast Atlantic, Mediterranean and Connected Seas (NEAMTWS).

This is a communications exercise during which the various national and international players will exchange technical-operational notifications with each other related to the eventuality of an earthquake responsible for the generation of a tsunami with an impact on the Portuguese coast.

Portugal participates in the different phases of the exercise through ANEPC, IPMA, the Directorate-General of the Maritime Authority (DGAM), the Maritime Search and Rescue Service of the Navy (MRCC – Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre), the Regional Civil Protection Service and Firefighters from the Azores, the Regional Civil Protection Service of Madeira, the Municipal Civil Protection Services and Fire Departments of the coastal and estuarine counties of mainland Portugal, as well as through a set of entities responsible for the management of vital infrastructures of the energy networks , water supply, communications and road and rail.

The ANEPC involves the exercise of the various levels of the structure of the national civil protection system, namely the National Emergency and Civil Protection Command, the Regional Emergency and Civil Protection Commands and the District Relief Operations Commands, in close articulation with the levels autonomous municipal and regional authority, and ensuring coordination with other participating agents and entities.

The IPMA intervenes in the exercise as a Tsunami Alert Centre responsible for monitoring, detecting and disseminating tsunami alerts to national coordinating entities, as well as to the emergency management entities of several countries in the Northeast Atlantic, such as Morocco, Spain, the United Kingdom -United, Denmark, France, Germany and Ireland, among others.

NEAMTWS is the designation of the alert and warning system for the North East Atlantic, Mediterranean and Related Seas (Tsunami Early Warning and Mitigation System for the North-eastern Atlantic, Mediterranean and Connected Seas), implemented and coordinated by the UNESCO Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission after the Indian Ocean Tsunami on December 26, 2004.

The NEAMTWS warning and warning system focuses its action on three main areas:

1. Tsunami risk assessment;
2. Preparing and sensitizing the population;
3. Implementation of alert and warning systems in case of emergency.

Five Tsunami Alert Centers are currently operational in this region of the globe: CENALT (France), INGV (Italy), KOERI (Turkey), NOA (Greece) and IPMA (Portugal), which provide the alert to the authorities of the NEAM Member States in the event of the eventuality or occurrence of a tsunami.

Extracts from his speech here

Lisbon, 09 March 2021 (Lusa) – The President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, said today that it is the Portuguese and, above all, “those who need it most”, the reason for the solemn commitment he assured.

“The Portuguese are therefore all of them, the only raison d’être of the solemn commitment that I have just made, starting with those who need it most: the homeless, the homeless but with no adequate housing, those my age or older who live in homes or at home in solitude or guarded by formal or informal caregivers”, said the head of state, at the start of his inauguration speech for a second term, before the Assembly of the Republic.

Marcelo also dedicated the beginning of his speech to the “retired or poor pensioners”, to the “unemployed or on lay off”, to the “precarious workers and entrepreneurs” and to the children, youth, families, teachers and non-teachers “run over in two school years” , as well as health professionals and those who have lost loved ones in these pandemic times.

“A homeland is, above all, people and in it each person counts, diverse, different, unrepeatable”, he said.

The President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, said today that he is the same as he was five years ago, with independence, a spirit of commitment and stability, and that it will be so with any Government and parliamentary majority.

The President of the Republic promised today to defend a “better democracy”, with tolerance and respect for all, rejecting the “myth of pure Portuguese”, with convergence in the regime and alternative governance, and “stability without swamp “.

In his speech before the Assembly of the Republic, at the ceremony in which he took office for a second term, the head of state stated that ensuring these objectives will be his “first priority” for the next five years.

Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa stressed that “for the first time in democracy a President of the Republic takes office in a state of emergency” and that during the covid-19 pandemic parliament “never stopped working for the Portuguese”, and thanked the deputies ” the example of dedication to democracy, never accepting to silence it, never accepting to suspend it, never accepting to take it hostage “.

“May this be the first lesson of today: we live in democracy, we want to continue to live in democracy, and in democracy to fight the most serious pandemics. We prefer freedom to oppression, dialogue to monologue, pluralism to censorship, and we have demonstrated him holding two elections in a pandemic, one of which resulted in the rise of opposition to the Government “, he said, referring to the regional elections in the Azores, and observing:” This is democracy “.

Then, the President of the Republic defended that “better democracy is needed, where freedom is not emptied by poverty, ignorance, dependence or corruption, where inclusion, tolerance, respect for all Portuguese, in addition to the gender, creed, skin color, personal, political and social convictions should not be sacrificed to the myth of pure Portuguese, the enlightened caste, the privileged old and new “.

“We want a democracy that is republican ethics in the limitation of mandates, convergence in the regime and a clear alternative in governance, stability without swamp, justice with security, renewal that prevents rupture, anticipation that prevents decay, proximity that prevents dazzle, arrogance, abuse of power Ensuring it is the first priority for the President of the Republic for these five years “, he added.

Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa left this message at the end of his speech before the Assembly of the Republic, at the ceremony in which he took office for a second term as head of state.

“Portuguese, it remains to remember the obvious. I am the same as I was five years ago, I am the same as yesterday, in the exact same terms elected and re-elected to be President of all of you, with independence, a spirit of commitment and stability, proximity, affection, preference. for the excluded, honesty, convergence in the essential, alternative between two strong, sustainable and credible areas, rejection of presidential messianisms, in the exercise of power or in the anticipated nostalgia for the end of that exercise, in respect for difference and pluralism, in the construction of social justice , proud to be Portugal, to be Portuguese “, he said.

The head of state promised that “it was like this, it will be like this, with any parliamentary majority, with any government, before and after the municipal elections, before and after the parliamentary elections, before and after the European elections, before and after the 50 years of the April 25th in 2024 “.

“May the next five years be more a reason for hope than disappointment, it is our dream and it is our purpose, a year that has passed through so much mourning, so much sacrifice, so much loneliness,” he added.

Source Lousa

Lisbon, 09 March 2021 (Lusa) – Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa takes office today for a second term as President of the Republic, at 10:30 am, before parliament, with reduced assistance due to the covid-19, and in the afternoon he will be in Porto.

Reelected in the presidential elections of January 24 with 60.67% of the votes cast, the retired professor of law, 72, former constituent deputy, will take the oath on the original of the Constitution of the Portuguese Republic.

Under the terms of the Constitution, the elected President of the Republic takes office before the parliament, making the following declaration of commitment: “I swear on my honor to faithfully perform the functions in which I am invested and to defend, comply and enforce the Constitution of the Portuguese Republic”.

The inauguration and oath ceremony in the Assembly of the Republic will have an assistance in the Sala das Sessions reduced to less than one hundred people, with 50 of the 230 deputies, six members of the Government and the guests limited to the highest precedence of the Protocol of the Portuguese State.

After reading and signing the inauguration document, the President of the Assembly of the Republic, Eduardo Ferro Rodrigues, will speak to greet the head of State, and then Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa will make the first speech of his second term.

From São Bento, the President of the Republic will proceed to the Jerónimos Monastery, in Lisbon, where he will deposit wreaths of flowers on the tombs of Luís de Camões and Vasco da Gama.

Arrival at the Palace of Belém, with an honor guard at the main gate, is scheduled for 12:15 pm. In the Sala das Bicas, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa will receive the band of the three orders, symbol of the President of the Republic and grand master of the Portuguese honorary orders.

During the afternoon, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa will be in Porto, where he will have a meeting with the Mayor of the City, Rui Moreira, at 2:30 pm, before presiding over an ecumenical ceremony with representatives of various religious denominations present in Portugal, in the Hall Noble of the Town Hall, at 15:30.

Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa will also visit the Islamic Cultural Center of Porto, at 16:30, before returning to Lisbon.

When he took office as President of the Republic five years ago, on March 9, 2016, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa arrived on foot at the Assembly of the Republic, breaking the protocol.

The program of his inauguration had an original format, which lasted throughout the day, including an ecumenical meeting at the Lisbon Mosque and a concert at Praça do Município – and at the time it also extended to Porto, but two days later, with visits to the City Hall, the Cerco neighborhood and an exhibition.

Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa announced his re-election to the post of President of the Republic on December 7 of last year, alone, in a pastry shop next to the Palace of Belém, in Lisbon, space where his campaign headquarters was held in the 2016 presidential elections.

In the current pandemic situation of covid-19, and with the country in a state of emergency, he declared that he would never leave in the middle of this “demanding and painful journey” and that he was “exactly the same as he advanced five years ago”, committed to stabilize and unite the Portuguese to overcome the current crisis.

His re-application was formally supported by PSD and CDS-PP, while the PS in the Government chose not to support any candidate, but approved a motion with a “positive assessment” of his first term.

During the campaign for the January 24 presidential election, the former PSD president said in an interview with TVI that he expected a “more difficult” second term, identifying “more dispersion” in the party system, both on the left and on the right.

In his victory speech on the electoral night, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa affirmed “having the notion that the Portuguese, when reinforcing their vote, want more and better” in proximity, stability, demand, adding: “I understood this sign and I will remove it the appropriate lessons “.

Óscar Felgueiras, from ARS Norte and Faculty of Sciences of the University of Porto, presented a proposal for indicators to be used in a de-confinement plan, suggesting new levels of risk at national level:

Level 5 – high – above 240 new cases per 100 thousand inhabitants in 14 days

Level 4 – high – above 120

Level 3 – medium – above 60

Level 2 – low – above 30

Level 1 – very low – up to 30

In addition, he proposes an additional indicator: percentage growth at 14 days. If the incidence is at a high level but is growing by 30%, then the situation enters the maximum risk level (level 5 instead of 4). If the growth is 60% and there are more than 60, it goes from level 3 to 5.

As for the local risk levels he proposed that the risk level of each municipality should take into account the situation of the surrounding municipalities. In other words, the level of each municipality would not only depend on its specific situation, but also on the severity of the surrounding municipalities.

For example, in October last year, applying this logic, the situation of maximum risk would be much wider in the territory than the one we have seen.

The proposed decontrol plan, evaluated every two weeks

The plan presented by Raquel Duarte, from ARS Norte and former Secretary of State for Health, was based on an evaluation of activities taking into account, for example, the risk of disrespect for the rules, the age groups involved and the potential for agglomeration. The various sectors must open at what they designated as level 4 and only two weeks later, after a new analysis, the restrictions can be reduced to level 3. Some examples:

Schools

Planning done at national level with general rules such as distance, mandatory use of a mask. Start with pre-school and children and only two weeks later, dropping to level 3, opening 1st cycle, 2nd cycle and “so on”.

Work

Keep telework whenever possible, lagged times and increased testing. Start with work without contact with the public and only two weeks later if go down to level 3 by opening workplaces with contact with the public but without physical contact. Only two weeks later reassess to open work with individual physical contact.

Public transport

Open with 25% of total occupancy

Taxis and TVDEs

Open with two-thirds capacity and front seats only used by the driver

Business

Open at level 4 only with sale to the window. If it is possible to go down to level 3, two weeks later, they will be able to open but with a limited number of people.

Restaurants/Cafes

Maintain the current situation with takeaway sales. Two weeks later, evaluate the possibility of opening a terrace service, with a maximum of 4 people per table

Family life

Continue with limitation to the household (level 4) and two weeks later evaluate the descent to level 3 that would allow the association of the household with six other people in the same socio-family ‘bubble’

De-confinement suggested by technicians will not have precise dates

The health minister also recalls that the technicians did not propose a de-confinement with specific dates, but with compliance with indicators. “No presentation pointed to precise dates, but to specific levels of action in the light of the situation,” she said.

As Expresso had advanced in the weekend edition, the de-confinement plan on the table of the Council of Ministers does not have a defined timetable, it will depend on the fulfilment of the criteria.

This Monday morning’s Infarmed meeting marks the start of the deflation plan.

In today’s program, politicians hear from experts about the country’s epidemiological situation, but also proposals for how the situation should be managed in the future.

From 10:30, the session begins.

Here is the program:

1 – Epidemiological situation in the country – André Peralta Santos, from DGS

2 – Evolution of incidence and transmissibility – Baltazar Nunes, from the National Health Institute Dr Ricardo Jorge

3 – Update on the surveillance of genetic variants of the new coronavirus in Portugal – João Paulo Gomes, from the National Health Institute Dr Ricardo Jorge

In the second part, “proposals for the future”:

1 – Response to the pandemic, Path to decision – Henrique de Barros, from the Public Health Institute of the University of Porto

2 – Criteria for a controlled pandemic: Phases 2 and 3 – Baltazar Nunes, from the National Health Institute Dr Ricardo Jorge

3 – Plan to reduce restrictive measures – Óscar Felgueiras, from the Northern Regional Health Administration and Faculty of Sciences of the University of Porto and Raquel Duarte, from the Northern Regional Health Administration and the Public Health Institute of the University of Porto

1047 hrs

The Minister of Health, Marta Temido, opens the session. This is followed by the usual intervention by André Peralta Santos, from DGS.

André Peralta Santos, from DGS, revealed that there is a “maintenance of the downward trend” in the incidence of the virus, now with a national average of 141 cases per 100 thousand inhabitants. Lisbon and some municipalities in Alentejo have slightly higher numbers than in the rest of the country.

There are 354 hospitalized in intensive care units (ICU), a number “similar to the first week of November”, recalled the specialist. The age group with the highest number of cases in the ICU is the one between 60 and 69 years old.

There is also a “downward trend” in deaths; now with 56 dead per million inhabitants and “similar” to the third week of October.

The British variant has been growing: in Lisbon and Vale do Tejo it has a prevalence of 66%, while, in the North and in the Centre, it is “over 50%”.

Hospitalizations fall back to the values ​​of the first week of November, according to DGS

Hospitalizations in the infirmary and intensive care are also decreasing, falling back to the values ​​of the first week of November 2020, according to André Peralta Santos, responsible for the DGS statistics department.

Among hospital admissions in the ward, there are a greater number of people over 80 years old, while in intensive care “the age group with the largest number of cases is from 60 to 69 years old”.

According to Peralta Santos, this aspect is “particularly relevant, as we vaccinate the population over 80 years old”, as this protection has an impact on the decrease in mortality. In order to see these effects in younger age groups, it will be necessary to wait for vaccination “to spread and have great expression in groups over 50 years old”.

Rt levels – Baltazar Nunes, from the National School of Public Health:

Index Rt is 0.74 for the last five days and is below 1 across the continent. In the autonomous regions, it is above one.

The lowest value of this transmissibility index was reached around February 10, but the downward trend has been decelerating over time.

We have the lowest in Europe, with an incidence level of 120 per hundred thousand inhabitants. Central and eastern Europe is in counter- cycling with Portugal, Spain and Ireland, which have Rt below one.

Portugal remains the country with the most reduced mobility, but there is an increase.

He estimate that the 240 inpatients in the ICU will be reached in mid-March and the 120 beds occupied at the end of the month. Remember that experts have set a maximum occupancy of 242 beds in ICU for covid patients as a manageable number by the NHS.

João Paulo Gomes, from the Dr. Ricardo Jorge Institute, referred that there was a “more pronounced growth” of the United Kingdom variant over the last week, “of about 20%”.

He talks about the new variants of the new coronavirus in Portugal. It starts by framing Portugal in the world panorama in the face of the so-called British variant: England and Ireland have levels around 90%, Denmark almost 80% and Portugal and Switzerland present “growing trends” in relation to the British variant.

The experts’ projection shows that only yesterday we reached 65% presence of the British variant, a value that the experts estimated to have reached three weeks ago. “Although there has been a 10% growth stabilization per week, in the last week there has been a more marked growth of 20%” for the British variant.

In February, the South African variant had eight more cases registered, now totalling twelve since the beginning of the pandemic. The Brazilian variant, on the other hand, registered nine cases, amounting to a total of eleven. Despite the “concern” that these variants contain due to their high transmissibility, “everything is perfectly controlled”, guaranteed the expert.

João Paulo Gomes also said that, unlike PCR tests, rapid tests do not guarantee the monitoring of variants. However, he stated that health authorities are aware of this issue and are acting accordingly.

The expert also warned that in the future, variants “potentially as serious or even more serious” as the current ones should emerge. “This, of course, is worrisome,” he said, asking for “extra attention” in border control at the time of deflation, especially in the control of citizens from “slightly more sloppy” countries in the chapter on variants.