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Prime Minister António Costa said that “European recovery must be based on the drivers of climate and digital transitions”, during the presentation of the priorities of the Portuguese presidency of the Council of the European Union.

In Brussels, at the plenary session of the European Parliament, António Costa underlined the three priorities for the semester to be led by Portugal: economic and social recovery in Europe, development of the social pillar and strengthening of strategic autonomy.

The Prime Minister pointed out that the success of the vaccination process is “the first condition for economic recovery”, but added that it is necessary to implement in parallel the various instruments of economic and social recovery, such as the Next Generation EU and the programs of the new Quaro Multiannual Financial (Horizonte Europa, EU4Health and Erasmus +).

António Costa also stressed that “the European Ecological Pact is urgent” and added that “combating climate change must be a transversal objective of all Union policies”, assuming the approval of the new Climate Law as one of the “main objectives politicians”.

“This is also the decade of Digital Europe. A day without betting on digital is yet another day of delay in this demanding competition on a global scale in which Europe must be at the forefront”, he assumed, referring that the Portuguese presidency will“ pay particular attention to the new Digital Services Package”. This package will be “fundamental for the protection of individual rights and democratic sovereignty, and to bring greater competition to the digital market, stimulating entrepreneurship and creativity”.

The Prime Minister reiterated that the “recovery cannot be limited to responding to the needs of the present with stimulus of the conjuncture, but with investments and reforms” that allow a more resilient, greener and more digital European Union.

Implementation of the European Union’s Social Pillar

António Costa said that the realization of the social pillar has three fundamental axes: reinforcing the qualifications so that citizens are actors and not victims of climate and digital transitions; investing more in innovation to strengthen the competitiveness of companies; and strengthening social protection to ensure that no one is left behind.

The organization of a Social Summit in Porto, in May, will aim to «give a strong political impulse to the Action Plan that the Commission will present in March and which materializes the ambition expressed by citizens to put into practice the 20 general principles proclaimed in Gothenburg”.

“The development of the social pillar is fundamental to give Europeans confidence that the changes we are experiencing are not a threat, but, on the contrary, an opportunity”, he added, stressing that “materializing the social pillar is the best vaccine against inequalities, fear and populism”.

Strategic autonomy of a European Union open to the world

The third priority of the Portuguese presidency of the Council of the European Union has the objective of reducing dependence on the supply of essential goods by third parties and of reducing value chains that have a high risk of interruption, without thereby becoming too protectionist.

“The strengthening of strategic autonomy means a Europe that is a global player, valuing the social and environmental standards that distinguish and make us proud”, he said, underlining the objectives of strengthening “neighbuorhood partnerships, East and South, and partnership with the African continent, and relations with the United Kingdom, the United States and Latin America ”.

The Prime Minister also stressed the intention to “promote a closer and strategic partnership” with India and highlighted the summit scheduled for May, in Porto, which will be “centered on cooperation in the field of digital, trade and investment, pharmaceuticals, science and space ».

António Costa also stressed the importance of “continuing to work on the new Pact for Migration and Asylum, trying to find the right balance between its internal and external dimensions, without forgetting also legal migration”.

At the press conference after the plenary session, attended by the President of the European Parliament, David Sassoli, and the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, António Costa welcomed the “great consensus found on the main priorities of the presidency Portuguese ».

“I leave here with the confidence that, in the face of all difficulties, there is very strong political support given the priorities of this presidency,” he added.

The fight against the Covid-19 pandemic “is yet to last for many long months, because, until we reach the collective immunization of society, we will not overcome the pandemic”, said Prime Minister António Costa, adding that this immunization “only it will be reached when 60 to 70% of the population is immunized, or because, unfortunately, it has been infected, or because it has been vaccinated”.

The Prime Minister, who answered questions from deputies in the Assembly of the Republic, said that, at present, “we are living in a most sad moment, of greatest pain and suffering”.

António Costa reiterated that the fight against the pandemic “is a marathon and a very hard marathon”, despite the hope created by the vaccine. “For many months that the vaccination process takes, there is a way to reach the end of the tunnel”. There are “thousands of health professionals who have already taken their second dose and are already definitely vaccinated”, he said.

Capacity is not unlimited

At the same time, it is necessary to “continue to increase the response capacity of the National Health Service”, which “has been able to respond to the moments of greatest need in a progressive way”, pointing out that “in mid-October, 1424 beds were affected by Covid at the end of November it had been extended to 3545 beds, today we have 5795 beds occupied with Covid patients and we still have the capacity for extension ».

The Prime Minister pointed to the case of hundreds of people who were abandoned in hospitals because they had nowhere to go, for whom “it was possible to find decent accommodation”, which “made us have these beds available today”.

Another example is the entry, “tomorrow, in operation of the field hospital of the Estádio Universitário de Lisboa” and of the Casa dos Atletas “to serve as a backup for care that does not require hospitalization”. Third example, is the «38 signed conventions, with beds made available by the social sector and also by the private sector».

“But we all know that the extension capacity is not unlimited”, because beds or fans are not enough – “which we almost doubled since March” -, “human resources are needed”, he said.

It is also necessary “to increase the prevention effort, which means: more tests, more screening, less delay in the identification and breaking of contagion chains”. If “it is important to increase the number of beds, it is more important to increase the number of crawlers that will allow us to speed up epidemiological investigations and testing”.

Keep the rules

However, “if everyone is not careful to protect their health and that of those around them, we will not be able to stop the pandemic”, he said, stressing that, in the previous waves, “the Portuguese have already demonstrated that they can”.

António Costa recalled that «the Portuguese were extraordinary in March, after the summer, when it was necessary to break the second wave and we managed to do it until Christmas. And these are the same Portuguese, despite the accumulated tiredness, the added difficulties, because there are more people who have lost jobs and income, who, I am sure, will mobilize to catch the third wave”.

Affirming that the Government fought, “with great national consensus, so that, at all costs, we avoid a new general confinement, because we are all aware of what the cost is”, reiterated that he will “always take the measures that in each moment justify themselves, with common sense and balance, doing everything necessary, but nothing more than necessary ».

So, for example, what the Council of Ministers did yesterday “was because of what we were seeing happening” – because when the takeaway was authorized, the appearance of improvised terraces was not authorized – “and that demanded an immediate response” .

Systematic testing in schools

António Costa announced that, starting with the extreme risk municipality, «tomorrow, we will start a systematic campaign of rapid tests, in all schools, to reinforce security».

The Government decided to “keep schools open because it knows the enormous social cost of closing them”, since “there is no distance learning, however good it is, that ensures the quality of classroom teaching”.

The Prime Minister said that the objective is “not to disturb, for the second consecutive school year, the education of new generations. Today we know with certainty that the closure of public schools, that the absence of face-to-face education aggravates inequalities and irreversibly impairs learning ».

“The easiest thing was to close the schools, because the cost of this decision is not immediate, unlike the cost of closing the trade, but it will be paid 10 or 20 years from now. We have 5400 public schools and only 13 are closed by outbreaks – and whenever there is an outbreak, the health authority will shut them down” he said, adding that “we have 1.14 million students in schools and we have 39,000 students confined”

Preserving yields

It is also necessary to “fight the battle for the preservation of income, preventing poverty from increasing, inequalities from worsening, protecting jobs and businesses, and the unemployed, so that everyone feels that, however difficult this moment may be, they don’t we will leave no one behind, ”said António Costa.

The Prime Minister said that “the country will have lost, last year, about 15 billion euros of national wealth. Support for employment, business and the economy as a whole was 22 billion euros. Of course, it is not enough – when we are supporting 20% ​​of billing losses, 80% is still missing – but it means an extraordinary mobilization of national resources to support as much as possible ».

The Portuguese should not have “illusions that we will leave the pandemic without wounds and scars”. But they must concentrate “that we are really going to get out of the pandemic, we are going to heal the wounds and assimilate the scars. This takes time, but we will make it, ”he said.

Prime Minister António Costa has just announced the new confinement measures, which follow an extraordinary Council of Ministers meeting this Monday.

The date of entry into force of the new rules is not yet clear. The government is finalising the decree, which it then sends to the President.

Costa said that three days of confinement was a short period, but data on mobility showed a 30% reduction in movements. “It is not acceptable to maintain this level of movement at the weekend,” he said, thanking the population that followed the rules.

“The moment we are living is the most serious moment of this pandemic. Even today another 167 people have died.”, he said.

“Every day we beat the record number of infected, hospitalized and, above all, dead. And there is no life that can be recovered, that is not an evil that we should cause anyone. And that depends on each one of us,” said Costa, who called for a “civic awakening” to fight the pandemic.

This time, the following measures are added:

• A ban on weekend travel between municipalities is reinstated;
• All establishments of all types must close at 20h00 during the week and 13h00 on weekends. The exception is food retailing which on weekends can operate until 17h00;
• The sale at the door on any non-food establishment, such as clothing shops, will be prohibited;
• The sale at the door of any kind of beverage, even coffee, is prohibited;
• The presence and consumption of food outside or in the vicinity of establishments is prohibited;
• All restaurants in shopping centres are closed, even if they are take-away;
• Sales and discounts promoting the movement of people are forbidden;
• It is forbidden for people to stay in public spaces such as gardens. They can be frequented, but they cannot be places to spend time at;
• Municipalities are asked to limit access to areas that invite concentration of people, such as river margins (“marginais”, “ribeiras”), including spaces to play tennis or “pádel”;
• Senior universities, day centres and community centres are closed;
• Travel for on-site work will require a written declaration from the employer;
• In the next 48 hours companies with more than 250 employees must send the Authority for Working Conditions (ACT) the nominal list of all employees whose in-person work they consider indispensable.

António Costa also announced that the Government had decided to strengthen the supervision of the Authority for Working Conditions (ACT) and the security forces. The Government asks for “greater visibility” of the presence on public roads of the Public Security Police (PSP), particularly near schools, in order to act as a deterrent.

On vaccination, Costa said that there are conditions for “better management of the stock” of vaccines, accelerating vaccination in nursing homes. The first dose in all nursing homes should be completed next week, he said.

There is no reason today to be less afraid of the virus than the fear we had in March last year,” said Costa, who showed confidence in health professionals and security forces, which will strengthen surveillance. The government and the President of the Republic will not hesitate to take the necessary measures in the fight against the pandemic, he said, adding, however, that “each one of us” has a decisive role in the fight against the pandemic.

“This is not the time for birthday parties, for dinners of friends or family. This is not the time to take advantage of the loopholes in the law, to find the exception,” he said.

“Nobody can be imprudent to think that the virus only affects others,” he said.

Costa, however, expressed some hope when he recalled that already in previous moments it was possible to lower the numbers with the measures applied.

In his answers to journalists, Costa did not want to comment on criticisms from the other political parties because this was not the time. Asked about schools, the leader of the executive insisted that he will not hesitate to reinforce the measures but that he will always try to affect people’s lives as little as possible.

“We cannot always be waiting for the other. We can’t always wait for the other person, for the police to fine us, for the government to forbid us”. “We have to count on ourselves,” he said.

Costa said that after-school recreation centres (ATLs), like support centres for families (CAFs), remain in operation.

Concerning borders, he stated that coordination is being done at European level.

The Prime Minister said that the early vote “went well,” and said that there were “municipalities where there was bad organisation,” although there were others where the organisation went well.

Costa also said that the law on the state of emergency prohibited restrictions on political activity. Neither the President’s decree nor the Government’s law could introduce any limitation on political activity. It will be up to each candidate and candidate to organise their campaign in the way best suited to the circumstances of the pandemic. And the Portuguese will judge”.

António Costa leaves the door open for the civil health requisition. “It will be used if and when necessary,” said the government leader, pointing out that the law already allows this, even outside the state of emergency. However, he noted that the government has always preferred agreement rather than imposition and stressed that the private sector and the social sector have collaborated. “We have not had any situation where there was no alternative to the requisition”.

He also said that on election day it will be allowed to circulate between municipalities to vote, admitting, however, that there will be few cases of people.

Lisbon, January 17, 2021 (Lusa) – The president of the National Association of Public Health Doctors, Ricardo Mexia, considered this Saturday “absolutely unsustainable” the situation currently experienced in Portugal in the provision of health care in the context of the pandemic of the covid-19 .

“What is happening in the provision of care is absolutely unsustainable, it is a dramatic situation. I think that is the possible description “, said the doctor in statements to the Lusa agency..

On the day that Portugal registered two new daily records related to the covid-19 pandemic – 166 deaths and 10,947 new cases of infection with the new coronavirus, in 24 hours – some hospitals warned that they were breaking.

The Garcia de Orta Hospital (HGO), in Almada, today had a total of 169 patients with covid-19, of whom 18 were in intensive care, with the hospital unit admitting a “pre-catastrophe scenario”, if the situation remains.

The director of the Centro Hospitalar Universitário Lisboa Norte (CHULN), Daniel Ferro, said that the Santa Maria hospital is “under strain” and that adapting to the peak of care “has limits”, working beyond the installed capacity.

For the president of the National Association of Public Health Doctors, “it is not surprising that there is de facto pressure”.

“What happens is that we are reaching an unsustainable level and that has a lot to do with what has been happening,” he said.

Although the country is at the beginning of a new confinement, “the reality is that in practice, looking at the street and seeing what is going on, there is indeed a great mobilization of people on the street, etc.” and “it ends up being difficult to fight the pandemic with this situation”, he considered.

“I hope that despite that there may be a reduction [in numbers], but it will take time for this to happen, as we know that these infections that are emerging now are infections that happened maybe a week ago,” he said. .

For Ricardo Mexia, this “huge pressure on health services” “has to do with that volume of new cases that occurred at the beginning of the year” and this pressure will continue for a few days.

“I fear that mortality will worsen even more,” he also said.

The doctor warns that “everyone warned that it was important not to create a feeling here that everything was resolved, and therefore, people ended up having a lot more contacts at Christmas and New Year’s Eve”.

In addition, “it was important to have reinforced the means in time for when they needed to be able to work, so it was important to have planned this response”.

“And now, here we are running after the loss, only that it is a high loss and very difficult to contain it, it is an avoidable situation and now we will have to quickly push these numbers down”, he considered.

The doctor considers that “even more than the restrictive questions, which may have their role, the reinforcement of the means, the improvement in communication and the clarity with which things are said, this can certainly improve”.

“It should have improved before, but we still have time to correct it, so that we can be more assertive and clearer, to try to push this situation downwards, in order to achieve greater sustainability in what is our answer. , but in fact it will be difficult weeks, ”he said.

In Portugal, 8,543 people died from 528,469 confirmed cases of SARS-CoV-2 infection, according to the most recent bulletin from the Directorate-General for Health.

The rules of the new confinement, which started this Friday, have many similarities to what was enacted in March, but there are at least 12 differences to take into account. Expresso has listed these.

1 – SCHOOLS

The big difference. Students of all levels of education will continue to attend classes, escaping the distance learning regime applied in March. Day care centres also continue to function.

2 – SHOPPING CENTERS

They do not close all stores, as they did last year. It is, therefore, possible to go to spaces such as opticians, cosmetic products establishments, medical and orthopaedic products establishments, natural and diet products stores, stationery and tobacconists, flower sales, washing and dry cleaning of clothes.

3 – SUPERMARKETS

This time, no time limit was imposed, contrary to what happened in the first confinement, when these spaces were forced to close their doors earlier. Besides, they are part of the exceptions, as in March.

4 – MARKETS AND FAIRS

These workers can keep their stalls functioning, as long as they sell goods considered essential. Marketers were forced to close in March, but are now allowed to continue the business within this scope. The markets were, however, allowed to operate in the last confinement: in fact, some even adopt the home delivery service, as happened with the Benfica market in Lisbon.

5 – SHOPS IN TAKEAWAY

Forced to close, clothing stores and other goods considered non-essential can sell their products in a takeaway regime, such as restaurants. In this case, customers can pick up orders at the door, but they cannot enter stores.

6 – MASSES

The differences that occur between the two confinements in relation to religious celebrations do not arise from differences in the measures decreed by the Government, but from the decision of the Church itself. In other words, in March, it was the Portuguese Episcopal Conference that decided to suspend masses and other celebrations, since the Government left this decision in its hands. Now, the executive of António Costa repeated the decision and the Church decided to keep the celebration of masses and suspend baptisms and weddings.

7 – FUNERALS

In the case of funerals, the rules are not very different, since the obligation to set a limit on people remains to be defined – to be defined by the municipality. However, there is a new indication that was not considered in March: the limit of gifts cannot preclude the presence of “the spouse or de facto partner, ascendants, descendants, relatives or the like”.

8 – MEDICAL OFFICES

Dental medicine was one of the sectors that suffered a strong impact with the measures of the first confinement, but dental clinics may, starting this Friday continue. Also now included in the list of exceptions are medical services offices or other health and social support services and veterinary medical care centres.

9 – COURTS

During the first confinement, only urgent cases were processed and, in more than three months, more than nine thousand trials were postponed and less than three thousand trials were carried out. Now, the scenario will be different, with the courts with open doors to judge all cases. The Ministry of Justice wants to ensure that, this time, there are no procedural delays and, therefore, urgent and non-urgent cases will be tried. Face-to-face service in the courts will continue to be provided, as long as previously scheduled.

10 – SPORTS

The gyms and all physical exercise spaces are closed, similar to what happened in March, but it is now possible to play tennis or paddle tennis, as long as it is on an outdoor field. The practice of these sports on indoor fields is prohibited, except for high performance athletes.

11 – BORDERS

The border with Spain will not be closed, as happened between March and July last year.

12 – FINES

These are double. The new regime leaves behind fines between 100 and 500 euros and comes up with values ​​that can reach 1,000 euros for those who do not wear a mask on the street and in mandatory places.

Source Expresso. Original article here

“The Council of Ministers has decided that from 00h01 on the 15th (Meaning all day 15^th) the duty to remain at home will return to Portugal in general”, announced António Costa.

“The exceptions that already existed in March and April will remain,” he noted.

We are living in a “more dangerous” moment, but also one of “greater hope”: this is how António Costa began his speech announcing the measures for the new confinement that will begin this Thursday. Recalling the high number of deaths in recent days, Costa warned of the relaxation that accompanied the arrival of the vaccine.

António Costa said that the new measures are limited to the duty to “stay at home”. “There is no tiredness that allows us to take on this collective pain of continuing to have over 100 deaths a day, it is not acceptable and we have to stop this. The key message of the decisions we take is to return to the duty of home collection, as we did in March and April when we successfully stopped the first wave. Let us not focus on the exception, but on the rule. The rule is simple: each of us must stay at home”.

The Prime Minister said that we must “stop the growth of the pandemic, save lives, crush the curve, protect the NHS, support health professionals and that the Portuguese help each other”.

António Costa said that the Portuguese will still be able to go to the grocery store or work when they need to, but the golden rule is “stay at home”. “It’s up to each one of us to collect ourselves in order to protect others and ourselves. Only then will we succeed in fighting the pandemic,” he said.

António Costa stressed the need to “not sacrifice the current generation of students” again in this new confinement. That is why all educational establishments continue to operate.

“We cannot repeat the same rule again this year and therefore, with the precautions that have made the school safe, we will keep schools functioning. This is truly the only new and relevant exception”, António Costa said.

Teleworking will be compulsory wherever possible. Fines for those who do not follow the rules will be doubled

António Costa said that there had been no compliance with the rules on compulsory teleworking whenever it was possible and that the measures now announced would be accompanied by two important changes. “Teleworking is imposed without the need for an agreement between employers and workers, and without the agreement of either. It is compulsory wherever possible. And to ensure compliance with this obligation, we consider as very serious the fine arising from the violation of the obligation to telework”, he said.

“To signal to everyone that individual responsibility has to be combined with collective solidarity, all the fines that are foreseen for violation of any of the norms for containment of the pandemic, such as the use of the mask on public roads, will be doubled so that there is a clear signal that it is fundamental to make an increased effort to contain the pandemic at a time when we are facing a more dangerous moment,” the Prime Minister announced.

“I would like to remind you that when in April I announced the programme of deconfinement that we were going to start progressively in May I told the Portuguese that I would not be ashamed to go back if and when it was necessary. And here I am, showing my face, not ashamed to go back to where we were last April”, said António Costa, assuring that he understands the weight that these measures will have on those who fear losing their jobs and on business owners who are fighting for their companies’ livelihoods.

For them, the Prime Minister revealed that “the set of economic measures will be extended and renewed,” reiterating that all “closed activities will have automatic access to the simplified layoff.

Asked about possible restrictions on flights to the Autonomous Regions, António Costa said that these had never been introduced and would never be introduced now as “the principle of territorial continuity has to be ensured” and there will never be any restrictions on flights to and from the Açores and Madeira.

As for monitoring the new measures, and questioning whether there will be a reinforcement of operational means, Costa said that the police forces will act with “the diligence that we are used to”.

The restrictions that are in place for border control and that were recently renewed will remain in place, the Prime Minister said.

“When I said at Christmas that I would not hesitate to pull the handbrake if necessary, we pull the handbrake right after New Year’s Eve,” the Prime Minister recalled.

“We are all well aware that a general lockdown has huge economic costs,” he said. “But there is something we also know: the cost of human life is priceless.

“We have reached a point where we cannot hesitate about what needs to be done, so we really need to take a step back and adopt the containment measures”.

António Costa assured, however, that the 2021 State Budget can help to protect families and businesses from this confinement.

António Costa recalls the “difficult balance” of recent months between the vitality of the economy and the control of covid-19. The Prime Minister makes it clear, however, that the priority now is to reduce the number of cases and deaths, not contesting the adverse economic effects that this new confinement will cause.

“Each time the pandemic forces us to limit activities, the economy suffers severely. Each time the pandemic allows us to ease the restrictions, the economy naturally develops more positively. So we all look forward to not having to adopt more restrictive measures. We have been looking over these months for measures to concentrate on the weekend and not on essential activities. We cannot hesitate when it comes to the growth of the pandemic as we are experiencing it. The measures have to be adopted and the stronger they are, the quicker they take effect. If you ask me, will it have a negative impact on the economy? It certainly will”.

What will be closed or prohibited in the new lockdown – and the exceptions

– Trade, services will be closed, except for authorised establishments such as grocery shops, super and hypermarkets and others;

– All educational establishments will continue to operate;

– The Courts will also function;

– Restaurants and cafés will only be allowed to operate via take-away or home delivery.

– Public services available by appointment;

– All events are prohibited except for election campaigns and religious celebrations.

– Cultural facilities will be closed.

– It will be possible to exercise in the open air. Gyms and other sports venues will be closed.

– The matches of the national teams and the 1st senior division will not be open to the public.

Experts and government officials meet at Infarmed for a new meeting to assess the epidemiological situation in Portugal

The Minister of Health opened the meeting at 1030 hrs, which will have nine presentations, more than usual.

Agenda

Marta Temido has already started her speech, making a presentation of the agenda, which will last until 1 pm. The planned presentations are  are:

Epidemiological situation in the country

André Peralta Santos – Directorate-General for Health

Epidemiological situation in ARS Norte

Óscar Felgueiras – Faculty of Sciences, University of Porto (Videoconference)

Epidemiological situation in ARS LVT

Duarte Tavares from the Public Health Department of ARSLVT

Evolution of incidence and transmissibility

Baltazar Nunes – National Institute of Health Dr. Ricardo Jorge

Surveillance of genetic variants of the new coronavirus in Portugal

João Paulo Gomes – Dr. Ricardo Jorge National Health Institute

Short-term projections for the epidemic

Manuel do Carmo Gomes – Faculty of Sciences, University of Lisbon

Covid-19: Risk, long-term prognosis and expectations

Henrique de Barros – Institute of Public Health, University of Porto (Videoconference

Social perceptions about Covid-19

Carla Nunes – National School of Public Health at Universidade Nova de Lisboa

State of play of the vaccination plan against covid-19

Francisco Ramos – Coordinator of the Task Force for the Vaccination Plan against covid-19 in Portugal

STATISTICS AND TRENDS

According to data presented by André Peralta Santos, responsible for the statistics department of the Directorate-General for Health, Portugal now has 871 new cases per 100 thousand inhabitants in 14 days.

It is a “historic maximum” since the beginning of the covid-19 epidemic in the country, already above the 765 new cases per 100 thousand inhabitants registered around 25 November, at the peak of the second wave.

After the decrease in the incidence of cases that began in late November in the North, Christmas marked the beginning of a new upward curve of contagions, describes the mathematician from the University of Porto, Óscar Felgueiras. “Until the 26th of December, only 9% of the population in the northern region was in municipalities with the highest incidence. In the last week, this incidence of new cases suddenly jumped to 40% in 14 days.”

Currently, the entire northern region is experiencing high growth levels (over 30% in much of the territory) and at an accelerated rate.

Transmission speed of the virus was reversed at Christmas: R (t) is at 1.22. Before December 25th it was 0.98.

It is “a high value” that reflects the situation across the country, says Baltazar Nunes, from the National Institute of Health Dr. Ricardo Jorge. More about R (t) in Portugal here

The reduction of cases will be, stresses Baltazar Nunes, “naturally” smaller than if the educational institutions closed. The expert says that with confinement measures, keeping schools open, the covid’s transmission speed will decrease.

By measuring citizens’ mobility, Baltazar Nunes said, weekend containment measures reduced the incidence of cases and hospitalizations.

João Paulo Gomes, from the National Health Institute dr. Ricardo Jorge, said that the variant coming from the United Kingdom has “increased its frequency”.

Manuel Carmo Gomes estimates that if the 6.5% daily percentage increase registered on 8 January remains, “every 11 days we will double the cases”. In this scenario, on January 19, we will have 18600 cases and, on the 27th, these will rise to 37,200.

João Paulo Gomes, said that the variant coming from the United Kingdom has “increased its frequency”. It is more contagious, but “there is no evidence” that it affects young people more.

Between January 4 and 10, the percentage of new infected people who may have contracted the new variant was up to 8%. The expert said, however, that the weight of this strain in the country “is still modest”.

Without new restrictions, there would be an increase of 23% in the number of cases, 7% in the number of deaths and 20% in hospitalizations, says Henrique de Barros, from the Public Health Institute of the University of Porto. “This is the worst case scenario”, if we continued to “live like Christmas”

Since the period when they were considered cured, 60% of patients with covid have maintained health problems: depression, headache, dizziness, palpitations and loss of smell and taste, revealed the specialist from U. Porto.

And 30% of patients have symptoms beyond 9 months. “This makes covid a chronic disease.” And “there are practically no differences between who was admitted and who was not.” “It is necessary to keep these thousands of people under observation”, he adds.

The coordinator of the working group for the vaccination plan against covid-19, Francisco Ramos, revealed that, until this Monday, Portugal received about 160 thousand doses of the vaccine. There were 67,160 doses distributed and 74,099 people inoculated between December 26 and January 8.

Francisco Ramos highlighted the difference between inoculation and vaccination, pointing out that there is still no person vaccinated in Portugal because the vaccine only takes effect after the second dose.

Of the inoculated people, about 55 thousand are health professionals and 7500 are home users.

“At the end of February, we will be able to finish the vaccination of employees of homes and hospitalized in intensive care”, guaranteed Francisco Ramos.

“So far, the big problem is the lack of available vaccines,” said Francisco Ramos. The coordinator of the working group for the vaccination plan said that, between February and March, Portugal expects to receive around 1.4 million doses of vaccines, should the European Union approve the Astra / Zeneca vaccine.

However, it is “unlikely” that the country will be able to start vaccinating citizens of the second priority group before the end of the first quarter.

Carla Nunes, from the National School of Public Health at Universidade Nova de Lisboa, revealed that the segments of the population that have reported feeling worse in terms of global health status are women, older people and less educated citizens.

As for the perception of risk, those who showed the highest rates were men, young people and people with low education.

About 60% of respondents in the study prepared by the specialist admitted that they had not always used a mask the last time they were in contact with a group of 10 or more people. In November, this figure was 25%

Carla Nunes revealed that 64% of respondents in the study are little or not confident about the health services’ ability to respond to non-covid diseases.

Regarding the perception of the measures implemented by the Government, about 40% considered them to be little or not adequate – even better than at the end of November. With this opinion, men, young people and less educated citizens predominate.

The same study indicates that 65.8% of respondents intend to have a vaccine as soon as it is available. Only 3.2% say they do not want to be vaccinated, against about 10% in November.

In all, 15.9% of respondents are little or not at all confident about the safety and efficacy of vaccines.

The questioning of experts, which will be held in camera, began at 1230 hrs.

The National Health Institute Dr. Ricardo Jorge (INSA), from Universidade Nova de Lisboa, the official body that monitors the incidence and transmissibility of the disease, published on Friday a report on R (t) trend in Portugal. “From mid-November until December 25, the average value of R (t) – the number of effective reproduction – remained below 1”, but in six days it shot up to 1.19.

An indicator that, according to INSA, clearly reflects “a rapid change in the epidemiological situation” in the country. In other words, “it went from a phase of sustained downward trend to the current phase of marked growth in the number of new cases, which has been maintained since December 26th”.

In the technical document, the institute explains that the average value that was recorded since the middle of November and that it represented a phase of sustained decrease in the incidence of infection, much because of the restrictive measures taken at that time by the government, changed to an inverse situation right at day after Christmas. “There was a sharp increase in R (t) in a few days (six), from 0.98 (25.12) to 1.19 (30.12), that is, an increase of 0.21”, says INSA.

According to the institute’s analysis, as of December 26, all regions recorded high average R (t) values: “The following R (t) values ​​were estimated for the regions with the most cases – 1.15 in the region north, 1.23 in the central region, 1.21 in the LVT region, 1.21 in the Alentejo region, 1.29 in the Algarve region, 1.24 in the autonomous region of the Azores and 1.21 in the autonomous region of Madeir a “.

Average values ​​only comparable to those reached at the peak of the second wave, in November, and at the beginning of the pandemic, between February 21 and March 16, 2020. Here, the value of R (t) reached 2.2, but because the “population was susceptible and public health measures were residual”.

The report can also read that since the beginning of the epidemic, the R (t) estimate varied between 0.79 and 2.15, with a downward trend observed since March 12, 2020, when the closing of schools, which became more pronounced after March 16 when the closing occurred and on March 18 with the announcement of the state of emergency. The R (t) increased again from 28 April, exceeding the value of the first half of May. From July 11 onwards, it falls below 1 and remains so until August 5th. From then until mid-November it was above 1 for 107 days.

Dated 8 January, the document reflects an analysis that reports data obtained until 3 January 2021, which already indicated that we are facing “a growing trend of new cases at the national level, in all regions of the country”, with the Center and Alentejo region under great pressure.

Since then, the trend has always been towards a worsening, in such a way, that the estimates point to the possibility that the duplication of positive cases could occur in just 13 days. “The estimated time to double the incidence of SARS-CoV-2, based on the incidence of the last 15 days, was 13 days, with this value between 11 and 17 days with 95% confidence.” That is, that of the ten thousand cases the country can move to twenty thousand daily cases in just two weeks. It was this value that set off all the alarms, as well as the number of deaths, which this week reached 118.However, estimates for next week, according to the mathematical models used by INSA and the Faculty of Sciences, point to a number of daily cases of around 12 thousand and 120 deaths.

Such estimates draw the worst scenario for this month of January in terms of responding to covid-19. “It is a serious and worrying scenario”, they explained to the DN, but it is this data that will be taken by INSA technicians to Tuesday’s meeting with the government at Infarmed, and already with a safeguard: that the next report will bring a more reality serious, given the increase in the number of cases this week. Since Wednesday, after the announcement that the country had registered 10 027 cases in 24 hours, many are calling for general confinement. The government has listened to political parties and social consultation, and everything indicates that this will be enacted from 15 January.

This is, in fact, the solution most demanded by Health, with the argument that the hospital and primary care units have reached the red line of their capacity. For specialists in public health and intensive care medicine “there is no National Health Service that can handle an average of ten thousand cases”. Of these, about 10% will get to hospital wards and 3% to intensive care.

Source DN: Original in Portuguese here:

EXTENSION OF STATE OF EMERGENCY TO 15^th JANUARY 23.59 HRS2

At the end of the Council of Ministers meeting, António Costa announced that an extension of the existing rules for the next seven days had been approved.

At the end of the Council of Ministers meeting, António Costa announced that an extension of the existing rules for the next seven days had been approved. “As a precautionary measure at the weekend, the prohibition on movement between municipalities apply to the entire continental national territory between 11 pm on January 8 and 5 am on January 11, 2021, except for health, urgent or other reasons specifically provided for.

Extend to the municipalities at high risk (in addition to Very and Extreme municipalities) the ban on driving on public roads from 1 pm on the weekend of 9 and 10 January;

The Prime Minister specifies that only 25 municipalities have fewer than 240 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, so only those are not on the tightest restrictions list – but the scenario is set to change next week.

These are the municipalities that are on the list of those with less than 240 cases per 100,000 inhabitants: Alcoutim, Aljezur, Almeida, Arronches, Barrancos, Carrazeda de Ansiães, Castanheira de Pêra, Castelo de Vide, Coruche, Ferreira do Alentejo, Freixo de Espada à Cinta, Lagoa, Manteigas, Monchique, Odemira, Pampilhosa da Serra, Proença-a-Nova, Resende, Santiago do Cacém, Sardoal, Sernancelhe, Sines, Torre de Moncorvo, Vila de Rei and Vila do Bispo.

António Costa said that an emergency meeting had already been called for this Friday to assess “if necessary, the adoption of measures on the 12th that would correspond to a worsening of the situation.

A meeting with experts is scheduled for the 12th, which will assess the impact of the relaxation of Christmas measures on the daily numbers of new infections.

Asked by journalists what the most restrictive measures planned for next week would be if the pandemic developed negatively, António Costa stressed that he would also listen to the social partners and political parties.

About schools, he says, “there is a large consensus among technicians and experts that it is not justified to affect the functioning of the school year” as last year.

He acknowledges, however, that more restrictive measures for weekends could also be applied to weekdays. In other words, it does not exclude the possibility of adopting “more general containment measures” such as those adopted in March.

The prime minister stressed that hope “is the last thing to die” and that the possibility should be left open that yesterday’s and today’s figures may only be an adjustment of the last few weeks.

“I don’t want to anticipate measures. Hope is the last to die, we must have hope”, he stresses.

But if the data up to the 12th confirm a negative development, “it is clear that what needs to be done must be done”, he reiterates.

“We cannot put at risk the enormous effort that has been made so far”, he adds.

António Costa says that, at a time when vaccination is already underway, at a time “when we already know that this tunnel has an end, we cannot be wasting what we have conquered”.

Asked whether the presidential elections will continue in the face of the new measures, António Costa explains: “The law on the state of emergency does not allow any kind of restriction to political activity”.

“There are conditions for the electoral act to take place in complete safety, even if the state of emergency measures are in place”, the Prime Minister stressed.

“When we adopted the measures for this month, we immediately assumed that by lowering the level of restriction during Christmas, it was natural that afterwards there would be some increase in transmission, even if most families adopted, as I believe they did, the preventive measures,” explained António Costa.

“Yesterday’s and today’s numbers are very different from what we had at the beginning of the week, when we had about 4,500 cases. There was a doubling of the numbers in two days,” the Prime Minister noted.

“We have to see what is the effect of increased circulation, the effect of most people during the holiday season having tested less,” says Costa, stressing that 91 percent of the cases are tests carried out the day before yesterday and therefore “are very recent”.

António Costa considers, therefore, that there are “several factors” that can explain the increase in cases and prefers to wait for the 12th “to have reliable data”.

The Prime Minister acknowledged that the different levels of restrictions and the uncertainty about what the next decisions will be contribute to some confusion about the unpredictability of the measures, but added that it is “necessary” since the unpredictability results from the need to adopt measures that are proportional to each state of development of the pandemic, in order “to disrupt people’s lives and the economy as little as possible and to be as effective in containment as possible”.

SOURCE: RTP and PÚBLICO.

On December 23, records of tests carried out were broken. In the first period, 800 classes took distance classes. Six people were arrested for the crime of disobedience. These and other figures on the sixth state of exception that took effect from 9 December.

This Wednesday afternoon, Parliament is debating the new state of emergency declared by the President of the Republic and validated by the Government. It will be the eighth and will last less than the previous ones, effective only between the 8th and 15th of January, while there is no new data on the evolution of contagions.

The same plenary session in which deputies will evaluate and vote on Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa’s proposal will serve to present the report on the sixth state of emergency – from 9 to 23 December. There are at least ten numbers to retain in the document sent to Parliament:

0.93

The report on the state of emergency always starts by portraying the epidemiological situation and this is no exception. One of the revealed data is the R (t) – average number of infections caused by each infected person -, which was always above 1 (national average)  between 5 August and 23 November and which fell to 0.93 in the days before Christmas (21 to 25). There is still to be retained the decrease in hospitalizations (451 fewer cases), including four fewer people hospitalized in intensive care.

51.5%

It was in the northern region of the country that, in percentage, more new cases were registered in the period of validity of the sixth state of emergency: 51.5%. In the Lisbon and Vale do Tejo area, the percentage was 32.2 points and 11.2 in the center. The remaining regions were always below these figures: Alentejo represented 2.6% of new cases; Algarve 1.8%; Azores 0.4%; and Madeira 0.3%.

9000

In the work carried out by the National Subcommittee on Civil Protection, created within the scope of covid-19, the representative of the Ministry of Education reported the existence of more than 9000 positive cases in the school community , since the beginning of the academic year. In all, this means that 800 classes had teaching activity not in person. It was the first time that an assessment of the first school period was made.

58,686

As of 23 December 2020, the number of covid-19 tests carried out in the country amounted to almost 5.5 million, 567,042 of which were carried out during the sixth state of emergency (including 65,328 rapid antigen tests). But there is another fact to note: December 23 was the day when more tests were carried out since the beginning of the pandemic, more precisely 58,686.

379

Most of the 379 fines recorded in the 15 days of the sixth state of emergency concerned non-compliance with the rules of occupation, permanence and distance in places open to the public. The fines were distributed as follows: 77 in the municipalities of moderate risk; 169 in high-risk patients; and 133 in very high and extreme risk. Six people were also arrested for the crime of disobedience and 40 establishments were closed.

65%

Among the supervised transport companies, it was STCP that presented the highest levels of demand between 9 and 23 December, in comparison with the data for 2019: 65%. This is followed by Transtejo / Soflusa, with 62%, Metro do Porto (59%) and Metro de Lisboa (38 %).

50

Flights registered between the People’s Republic of China and Portugal between March and the end of November to transport medical supplies. Fifteen of these flights operated by TAP allowed the transport of 1181 fans from Beijing to Lisbon .

133,757

Number of passengers controlled at Portuguese air borders (69,950 of which at the entrance and 63,807 at the exit). As for mobile controls at land borders, 886 people, 503 light vehicles and 17 buses were called.

42

The positive cases recorded between 9 and 23 December in the prison system , including 29 workers (22 guards, a health professional, a social reintegration technician and five professionals from other categories) and 13 prisoners. There have already been 778 cases recovered.

129

Number of pages of the report which also confirms, as has been observed, that Friday continues to be a day of particular dynamism in economic terms. The least intense day is Sunday.