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Translation by Safe Communities volunteer Eliana Tavares

António Costa spoke to the country this Saturday at 15h00 and announced the measures decided in the Council of Ministers for the forthcoming festive period. At Christmas, travel between municipalities will be allowed, but in the New Year this restriction remains in place.

The Prime Minister began by saying that measures to circulation on public roads would remain in force for the next 15 days from 13h00 on Saturday and Sunday in municipalities at extreme and very high risk.

For the Christmas and New Year period, however, exceptions will be adopted, subject to evaluation on 18 December to confirm that the trend of improvement in the pandemic situation is confirmed and that it will not be necessary to “pull the emergency brake,” announced the head of government.

The main exception for Christmas will be the permission to travel between municipalities on 23, 24, 25 and 26 December. In addition, on Christmas Eve and on Christmas Day you can circulate on public roads until 02h00. The Government advises that at Christmas families should avoid meeting many people, avoid spending too much time without a mask and prefer open and ventilated spaces.

Another exception for Christmas will be the restaurant opening hours. On the nights of 24th and 25th December they can be open until 01h00 and on the 26th they can serve lunch until 15h30.

In the New Year the exceptions will not be as comprehensive. Movement between municipalities is prohibited between 00h00 on 31 December and 05h00 on 4 January.

The only relaxation will be on New Year’s Eve, when movement on the public road is now allowed until 02h00. On January 1st, however, it will be changed to 23h00.

No public parties or open to the public will be allowed on New Year’s Eve, nor gatherings on the public road with more than six people.

Restaurants can be open on the evening of 31 December until 01h00 and on the first day of 2021 they can serve until 15h30.

The prime minister explained that the government’s strategy was to extend the restriction measures until Christmas, and then to reduce them on 24, 25 December and 1 January, returning to the level of restrictions.

At the press conference after the meeting of the Council of Ministers in which the measures to implement the new state of emergency were announced, António Costa called on families to “avoid fraternisation with many people”, long periods without masks and “in closed spaces, small or not very ventilated”.

“It must be a sharing Christmas”, he said, but “it must not be a time of involuntary transmission of the virus”. “May we all be effectively safe as a family,” the Prime Minister said. “Let us not share the virus. That cannot be our Christmas gift”. António Costa explained that it was vital to maintain the effort so that “the goal of reaching Christmas with as few infected people as possible” could be achieved since “the less infected people are, the lower the risk of transmission”.

By November, the executive had already divided the continent’s 278 municipalities into four groups, depending on the level of risk of transmission: moderate, high, very high and extremely high.

According to António Costa, there are 27 municipalities at very high or high risk which, due to a “frankly positive development in the last fortnight”, have changed to moderate, while another 12 come out of the extremely high level and two come out of the very high level.

They are: Abrantes, Albufeira, Barquinha, Batalha, Benavente, Cadaval, Campo Maior, Constância, Coruche, Estremoz, Idanha-a-Nova, Mangualde, Mora, Nazaré, Monforte, Oliveira de Frades, Paredes de Coura, Ponte de Sor, Porto de Mós, Proença-a-Nova, Redondo, Ribeira de Pena, Salvaterra de Magos, São João da Pesqueira, Tondela, Viana do Alentejo and Vila Nova da Vila Viçosa.

António Costa stressed the need to maintain the measures that have been applied in these territories for the next 15 days.

Source: RTP

In sum:

Following the renewal of the State of Emergency decreed by the President of the Republic, the Council of Ministers approved the decree regulating the measures to be adopted, throughout the continental territory, in the period between 00h00 on 9 December 2020 and 23h59 on 23 December, as well as the measures applicable considering the possible renewal of the State of Emergency.

The decree essentially maintains the current rules and establishes special measures for the Christmas and New Year periods. The government has therefore decided:

• To maintain the rules currently in force, as well as the staggering of their application according to the risk of transmission of Covid-19 in each municipality – moderate, high, very high and extreme. It should be noted that the ban on circulating on public roads will continue to apply on the weekends of 12-13 and 19-20 December from 13h00 in municipalities at very high and extreme risk.
• Update the list of at-risk municipalities and their distribution over the different levels.
• On 18 December, review the risk map and re-evaluate the epidemiological situation in each county, if necessary worsening the measures.

For the Christmas period:

• Circulation between municipalities:
• Circulation on public roads:
  • Night from 23 to 24: allowed only for those who are travelling;
  • Days 24 and 25: allowed until 02h00 the following day;
  • Day 26: permitted until 23h00.
• Opening hours:
  • On the nights of 24 and 25, restaurants are allowed to operate until 01h00.
  • On the 26th, restaurants are allowed to operate until 15h30 in very high and extreme risk municipalities.
  • On the 24th and 25th the closing times do not apply to cultural establishments.

• For the New Year period:
  • Circulation between municipalities:
    • Prohibited between 00h00 on 31 December and 05h00 on 4 January.
  • Movement on public roads:
    • New Year’s Eve: allowed until 02h00;
    • 1 January: allowed until 23h00.
  • Opening hours:
    • On the evening of the 31st, operation of restaurants allowed until 01h00.
    • On the 1st January, restaurants are allowed to operate until 15h30 in very high and extreme risk municipalities.
  • Public parties or parties open to the public are forbidden.
  • No street gatherings with more than 6 people.

The Government also decided to recommend avoiding:

• Gathering a lot of people;
• Spending long periods without a mask on;
• Closed, small and not very ventilated spaces.

Source: https://covid19estamoson.gov.pt/

State of emergency renewed until 23 December. “Pressure in intensive care” and “high death toll” worry the President.

The decision to renew the state of emergency, despite the slowdown in cases, is due to “pressure in intensive care” and “high number of deaths”, the President of the Republic said this Friday at 20h00 in a statement to the country. Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa said that it was important to maintain efforts to relieve the pressure in hospitals. On vaccinations, he confirmed that the “arrival to all Portuguese” follows “extended timetables” and that “it will be a matter of weeks” rather than days. The President hopes that “this will be clear so as not to create excessive expectations and, therefore, immediate disappointments”.

The less intense regime on Christmas, if it comes to pass, will be designed for families to achieve the “desired and legitimate” encounter, but avoiding uncontrollability. The President of the Republic stressed the importance of these meetings being made with caution in order to avoid a possible “third wave” and lack of control in January. The aim, explains Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, is to live Christmas, “but without concentrating on a single moment and with increased respect for the rules that can prevent widespread family contagion”.

The President of the Republic also left a message of praise to the Portuguese, for, in general, having complied with the rules, quoting the State adviser and neuroscientist António Damásio, who, in an interview with PÚBLICO, said: “There is a great distribution of generosity, patience and calm in the Portuguese”.

The presidential decree to renew the state of emergency, despite having a maximum validity of 15 days, should be renewed in the same way during Christmas week, to be in force until 7 January. The decree provides for approximately the same restrictions of rights that were already in force, and it is now up to the government to define the specific rules for each period. On Saturday, the Council of Ministers will meet again to define the specific measures which will be in force during the same period, in particular the Christmas and New Year periods.

“This decree keeps unchanged the framework that allows to impose, between 9 and 23 December, the same rigour for the current period and underlies the same purpose for the following period, until January 7, with the possible exception that is expected to be well understood and well experienced at Christmas,” said the President. “It is obviously in everyone’s interest that January may represent a consolidation of the steps taken in December and not a new and frustrating rise that will eventually accentuate the dimension of a dreaded third wave,” he warned.

Meeting the constitutional deadlines, the renewal of the state of emergency will last 15 days, beginning at 00h00 on 9 December 2020 and ending at 23h59 on 23 December 2020. But renewal is already guaranteed on these terms, at least until 7 January 2021.

The current state of emergency started on 24 November and ends at 23h59 on Tuesday 8 December. This renewal takes effect from 00h00 on Wednesday 9 December.

According to the Constitution, this legal framework, which allows for the suspension of the exercise of certain rights, freedoms and guarantees, may not last more than 15 days, without prejudice to possible renewals with the same time limit.

This Saturday, António Costa will announce the measures for this period.

Source: PÚBLICO and RTP.

PORTUGAL COVID-19 VACCINATION PLAN ANNOUNCEMENT

AIMS, PRIORITY GROUPS AND HOW IT WILL BE ADMINISTERED

The Minister of Health, Marta Temido, considered that “today is an important day” for the country, since, despite the “uncertainties” that still exist around the vaccine, Portugal takes “one more step” in planning how this will be administered.

Marta Temido stressed that the vaccine will have a “universal and free character”, being made available “in several points” of the NHS and using “as much as possible” that network.

Francisco Ramos, vaccination plan coordinator, details objectives and priority groups

– reduce mortality and hospitalizations, especially in ICUs
– control outbreaks especially in the most vulnerable populations
– minimize the impact on the economy

Priority groups:

Vaccination plan will have three phases

Francisco Ramos, coordinator of the working group created to develop the vaccination plan, released the details:

In the first vaccination phase, which starts in January and should go on until March, as Francisco Ramos predicts, the vaccination points will be the usual ones in the country, that is, health centres. There are about 1200 of these points and will have the mission of vaccinating about 950 thousand people

The choice involves utilising experience, circuits and professionals already trained for the purpose, which, in this case, are nurses.

The exception is made for homes and for long-term care services, since in these two cases users will be vaccinated in their own places, sometimes by the nursing team itself, other times by a team that will go to the place for the purpose.

It will be up to the health centres to identify the Portuguese who, due to their characteristics, should get the vaccine in this first phase, find them and call them for their respective intake.

CENTRALISATION

Thus, the process will be centralized. “What we propose is a logic of command and control, not decentralized. We will maintain collaboration by all entities, but due to the timings and relevance of the process, also due to uncertainty, there should be a central command in the Ministry of Health, with DGS. With the support of the armed forces and security forces. We are outlining all operations in as much detail as possible, to find out what will happen up to the vaccine administration site. Raising security issues, we are ensuring the safety of everything. ”

Communication is also being prepared. “We want communication to be very broad, to generate confidence in the population, to guarantee the application of the vaccine.”

Thus, there will be a portal on the internet where all the relevant information is. “And telephone lines to support the general population and health professionals.”

PROCUREMENT PROCESS

The vaccine procurement process is coordinated by the European Union, says Rui Ivo, president of Infarmed, the National Medicines Authority, which has participated, on behalf of the Ministry of Health

After a brief introduction by Marta Temido, Rui Ivo, president of Infarmed, spoke to explain how the vaccine acquisition and evaluation process has been carried out. The process is the result of a coordinated strategy within the scope of the European Union, on which two pillars of action were created: guaranteeing the necessary quantity of vaccines, through several procurement judgments, and the adaptation of the evaluation rules.

Rui Ivo also said that there are six judgments concluded by the European Commission, noting that the first was made with Astrazeneca, on August 14, in which 6.9 million doses will be for Portugal. Note also for the 4.5 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine destined for Portugal, the 4.5 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine and the 1.8 million doses of the vaccine for Moderna.

Regarding the evaluation of vaccines, the president of Infarmed reveals that it was done in a different way than usual, the so-called scientific advice, in which there was interaction between the authorities – in this case, the European Medicines Agency – and the companies that are developing the vaccine. This was done with the aim of saving time, not waiting for the completion of the studies, but starting to receive interim data throughout the trials.

PRIME MINISTER

We really have a light at the end of the tunnel. But the tunnel is still very long and quite painful. The 22 million do not arrive on the first day, they arrive gradually throughout the year 2021. It is therefore very important that they are defined priority criteria. The ones that the commission puts forward are clear: first, homes, health care, essential services. Second, more vulnerable populations, due to age or mobility – it is a criterion that we all understand. ”

Then, Costa recalls that there are imponderables – and some that are not in the hands of the country. “” Trust requires that the Portuguese be aware that it is necessary to speak the truth. But we must know that there is a significant set of imponderables: production, licensing does not depend on us. If there is a delay there, we have to readjust the timetable. ”

MANAGING UNCERTAINTY

PRIME INISTER SUMMING UP

Prime Minister closes with some confidence (always with warnings):

“The difficulties start here. And they will be growing. The operation will be easier in the first weeks when we have few doses and limited recipients. They will be much more demanding when there are more doses and the universe to be vaccinated wider.

It is an immense effort, but it is not less than what the Portuguese have been doing depriving themselves of freedoms, which families have been doing with bearing losses of income, which companies have been doing in order to survive. These crises will only be overcome when we have reached a sufficient level of immunization.

It is good to know that there is a light, but we still have a very long way to go. Even after we reach collective immunization, we will still have several pains to treat. But we are at a better point today than last week, much better than six months ago. So there is confidence ”.

The meeting began shortly after 1000 hrs with an introduction by the Health Minister, Marta Temido and with the President of the Republic and the Prime Minister in attendance.

OVERALL AND GEOGRAPHICAL SITUATION

André Peralta Gomes, from DGS, pointed out that there is “good news” with regard to the country’s epidemiological situation: on November 25 there was a “consolidation of a peak” and there has been a “downward trend” of contagions, which is expected to be consolidated in the coming days.

There was a “relief in several municipalities, especially in the North”, although there, the incidences are still “very high”. In the Center and in Lisbon and Vale do Tejo it is also going down, but in Alentejo and the Azores it continues to go up.

Óscar Felgueiras, from the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Porto, said that in recent days there has been “an improvement” with regard to the situation in the North region. There was a “generalized decrease in almost all districts” in the region, except for the north of the Vila Real district. The areas of Porto, Maia and Matosinhos already have less than 960 infected per 100 thousand inhabitants.

The parishes of Paços de Ferreria, peaking on November 3, Lousada (November 6), Felgueiras (November 16), were the most critical municipalities. “When there are neighbouring counties, the peak occurs first in the counties with the highest incidence”, he defends. “The neighbourhood with a higher incidence should be considered a risk factor”, he says.

SOURCES OF INFECTION AND TRENDS

According to André Peralta Santos, the source of the infection (epidemiological link) is known in 13% of confirmed cases in the last week. “As the link is information filled in by doctors, it may be delayed,” said the person in charge of the statistics department at DGS. In these 13% where the source of contagion was identified, family contact had the greatest preponderance.

“In the older age groups, the peak will have been between 9 and 12 November, which prolongs the influx to hospitals”, says Felgueiras. The age group between 0 and 29 years old will have been the first to reach the peak.

TRANSMISSION FACTOR BELOW ONE

Baltazar Nunes, responsible for the Ricardo Jorge Institute’s epidemiological research unit, says that the RT indicator, which reflects the number of people infected with each positive case, continues to fall and is now at 0.99 nationwide. That is, an infected person does not get to infect another.

DEATHS TRENDS FORECAST

The total number of deaths accumulated in 2020 with covid-19 will be in the range of 6000 to 6500 deaths, the expert also projected.

The number of inpatients in intensive care units is expected to peak between 2 and 6 December, with an average seven days of 530.

PATIENTS WHO WENT TO INTENSIVE CARE MOST PROTECTED

Prime Minister António Costa, Ministers of State and Presidency, Mariana Vieira da Silva, National Defence João Gomes Cravinho, Internal Administration, Eduardo Cabrita and Health, Marta Temido, met with the specialists in charge of the vaccination plan against Covid-19, in Lisbon.

The Minister of Health, in a statement stated that on December 3 “there will be the first public presentation of the baseline scenario of the vaccination plan against Covid-19”, adding that “the national amount could reach 200 million euros and exceed 22 million doses’.

Marta Temido said that the working group “presented the four essential plans that will be made public tomorrow (3^rd December): which vaccines are available and, depending on their quantities, which are the target groups for vaccination, where will the vaccine be administered, where electronic registration will be made, as well as aspects related to logistics, security, and communication aspects ”.

The Minister underlined that everyone should “have the perception that the vaccination process will be long, over several months, so we will have to ensure that we keep the rules until we can guarantee the administration of the vaccines, which we estimate may be made available to beginning of 2021 ».

Marta Temido underlined that “there are still many uncertainties in this process”, highlighting four.

The first is that “the results of the last phase of clinical trials prior to the authorization of introducing medicines are not yet known, so the efficacy of vaccines is not yet assessed by the European Medicines Agency”, although dates are already set for two vaccines.

The second is that “there are uncertainties with published clinical trials that mostly cover people between 18 and 55 years old”.

The third is that “the duration of immunity from vaccination is not yet fully known”.

And the fourth, “that the available data do not recommend the vaccination of children and pregnant women”.

The Minister recalled that “Portugal has been following the process conducted by the European Union for the development, production and distribution of vaccines” since June, having participated in the monitoring committee, and that “in August the Council of Ministers authorized the first expenditure on the acquisition of vaccines in the context of joint European purchases, in the initial amount of 20 million euros”.

Officially, the 1st of December is a public holiday in the country, to commemorate the restoration of Portuguese independence.

Between the late 16th century until the mid-17th century, Portugal was under the Iberian Union with Spain. This led to Portugal being ruled by three generations of Spanish Kings, which are known in our history as the “Filipes” as all three Kings (Philip II, Philip III, Philip IV) who ruled Portugal, had the same first name. What set the stage for Spanish rule was a dynastical crisis brought on by the actions of the young Portuguese King, Sebastian I. At the tender age of 3, Sebastian became King of Portugal, inheriting a vast colonial empire from his grandfather, King John III.

At age of 21 king Sebastian made the fateful decision of invading Morocco on crusade a campaign that would end in a crushing defeat in the battle of Alcacér-Quibir. No one knows what became of Sebastian. He disappeared in battle, giving rise to legends over centuries that we would return on a misty day to save his Kingdom.

Read more here

The three main claimants to the throne were Catarina de Bragança, Don António Prior do Crato, and Philip II of Spain (a relative of Sebastião), an ambitious King who sought to add Portugal to his vast empire.

Philip II came to rule Portugal, through an astute combination of diplomacy and sheer brute force. The “Philippine era” would be initially positive for Portugal. However, during the first half of the 17th century the Spanish empire entered a period of decline. The Dutch and the English seized various Spanish and Portuguese colonial possessions and the Spanish Empire was struggling with the Dutch Revolt and the Thirty Years’ War. Discontent was brewing in Portugal.

The Portuguese nobility stood to lose considerable power and influence, so a group of nobles known as the Forty Conspirators organized a coup against the Spanish forces with the end goal of placing John, the 8th Duke of Braganza, on the Portuguese throne. The coup was carried out on the 1st of December 1640. The Forty Conspirators killed the Secretary of State, Miguel de Vasconcelos, and imprisoned Margaret of Savoy, cousin to the King himself and ruler of Portugal in his name. John of Braganza would be acclaimed by the people of Lisbon on the same day, and would subsequently reign as King John IV.

The timing of the execution was specifically chosen to coincide with Spanish campaigns in the Thirty Years’ War and efforts to quell a revolt in Catalonia, thus allowing the new King time to consolidate his rule and mount a defence before the Spanish could act against Portugal. The ensuing conflict would last 28 years, and would be marked by various border skirmishes and raids. However, there were five major battles during the War of Restoration, namely: the Battle of Montijo (1644), the Battle of Lines of Elvas (1659), the Battle of Ameixial (1663), Battle of Castelo Rodrigo (1664), and the last major engagement was the Battle of Montes Claros (1665).

All of these battles are commemorated in the Obelisk at the centre of Lisbon’s Restauradores Square. Portugal also relied on diplomatic and military aid from England, who wanted to undermine Spanish hegemony in continental Europe, and when an alliance with France was secured, the Spanish would be forced to sign the Treaty of Lisbon in February 1668, recognizing the house of Braganza as the Royal dynasty of Portugal and putting an end to a conflict between two neighbours.

The Minister of Internal Affairs today considered that greater control at the internal borders of the Schengen area, during the first months of the pandemic, was not effective in containing the new coronavirus.

“At the level of internal borders, Portugal considers that the increase in border controls was not effective in stopping the virus, still creating problems for the internal market”, said Eduardo Cabrita.

This assessment was made by the Portuguese government official during the 1st Schengen Forum, which today brought together by videoconferences ministers of the European Union (EU) Internal Administration, members of the European Parliament and members of the European Commission.

During his speech, Eduardo Cabrita considered that the response of the member states to the current health crisis should be coordinated and rejected unilateral measures against movement in the Schengen Area, defending instead the adoption of common criteria, in coordination with the ministries. Health and the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control.

“What we have seen happening all over Europe, with the imposition of quarantine on European citizens or with unilateral obligations to present PCR [diagnostic tests to covid-19] for entry into some countries, is not an effective way to fight against the disease, ”he said.

Speaking to Lusa, after the meeting, the minister explained that this is one of the factors that threatens to jeopardize the Schengen Area, which he classified as “one of the EU’s greatest achievements”, accompanied by other issues such as the prevention of terrorism and the management of irregular migratory flows at the external borders.

On this point, in his intervention at the forum, the minister considered that the controls there are “one of the main objectives to keep the Schengen Area functioning”.

“That is why it makes us happy that, during the Portuguese Presidency of the EU, we can start to see the European Border and Coast Guard working with more skills. And in our Presidency, we will give due importance to this new achievement of European policies”, he stressed.

Also for the management of external borders, the government defended common criteria, which must still be reinforced, in this case in the entry of citizens of third countries, through land, air and maritime borders.

Eduardo Cabrita assured that the country is committed to the development of the new Asylum and Migration Pact, adding, however, that migration cannot be seen only as a problem of border control.

“We must take a broader approach, including the external dimension of necessary cooperation with Europe’s neighbouring countries in promoting their development and preventing trafficking in human beings, but also in preventing transit between these neighbouring countries destined for Europe ”, he explained during the meeting.

The Schengen Forum will be repeated next year, in April, already during the Portuguese Presidency of the EU, to prepare the legislative proposals that the European Commission intends to present by May, namely the revision of the Schengen Area regulation and the common visa regulation.

At the next meeting, new assessments will also be made on the functioning of internal borders and on the progress of the common external border control process, Eduardo Cabrita told Lusa.

During the meeting, Eduardo Cabrita also underlined the importance of regular discussions on the functioning and strengthening of the Schengen Area, which he classified as “the crown jewel of European integration” also pointing to the strengthening of common values ​​in this context as one of the objectives of the Presidency Portuguese.