Category: Uncategorized

A national study on dating violence in a university context revealed that psychological aggression is the most frequent, followed by acts of social, physical and sexual violence.

The data collected between April 2017 and January 2020 had 3,256 participants and made known not only the percentage of situations of violence but also issues related to beliefs about social gender relations.

Respondents’ responses gave, for example, the indication that 3.6% of women and 15.4% of men agree that jealousy is a proof of love while 2.3% of women and 3.1% of men disagree that men and women should have equal rights and duties.

Of the total participants in the study that aims to characterize this social scourge from the perspective of university students, 53.9% reported that they had already been subjected to at least one act of dating violence and 35% had already practiced it.

Although dating violence is suffered and practiced by both sexes, it is men who practice violence the most.

Regarding the type of violence, psychological is highlighted as the most prevalent in dating relationships, followed by social violence, physical violence and, finally, sexual violence.

Of the total respondents, 23.4% of women and 19.6% of men have already been criticized, insulted, defamed and accused without reason and 20.7% of women and 11.1% of men have already been controlled in the way of dressing , in hairstyle or image, in places frequented, in friendships or companies.

The study also reveals that 16.4% of women and 9.4% of men have already been threatened verbally or through behaviors that cause fear, such as screaming, breaking objects or tearing clothes.

Also according to the data collected, 14.1% of women and 9.7% of men have already been prevented from contacting family, friends and or neighbors and 13.9% of women and 10.3% of men have been prevented from work, study or go out alone.

Another aspect revealed by the study is that 10% of women and 7.9% of men have already been physically hurt, pushed, kicked or slapped and 9.5% of women and 5.2% of men have already been forced to have sexual behaviors unwanted.

Of the total respondents, 6.9% of women and 5.5% of men have already suffered death threats, attacks on life or injuries that forced them to receive medical treatment.

Those who practiced and those who suffered violence during dating have more conservative beliefs about gender social relations than those who have neither practiced nor suffered violence.

Men are those who have more conservative beliefs about social gender relations.

The work reveals that 12.2% of women and 27.4% of men agree that some situations of domestic violence are caused by women and 5.9% of women and 11.8% of men agree that women who remain in violent love relationships are masochistic.

The National Study of Dating Violence in a University Context: Beliefs and Practices is an initiative of the Plano i Association under the UNi + Program, funded by the State Secretariat for Citizenship and Equality (1st and 2nd editions) and by the European Social Fund under Portugal 2020 Social Inclusion and Employment Operational Program (POISE) (3rd edition).

The Azores archipelago should have a working weather radar on Terceira island, starting in August, the Portuguese Institute of the Sea and Atmosphere (IPMA) revealed today.

“It is expected that the meteorological radar system of Terceira / Santa Bárbara will start its exploration, on an experimental basis, during August 2020”, IPMA said in a press release.

According to the institute, “a project is underway that aims to install a Band C Doppler meteorological radar system, with double polarization technology, in the central group of the Azores, in Santa Bárbara (Terceira island)”.

This equipment, according to the institute, will be “particularly relevant in severe weather situations, with a direct impact on safeguarding lives and property and on the development of various socio-economic activities”, as well as “for aeronautical and maritime navigation”.

The US Air Force held the only weather radar in the Azores, located in the Santa Bárbara mountain range, on Terceira island, but decided to deactivate it in 2016, following a military reduction process at the Lajes base, located in same island.

At the end of 2017, the US Air Force ceded the radar tower to IPMA and the Regional Government of the Azores leased a land to the institute, where the new radar was expected to be installed, in the Santa Bárbara mountain range, the highest point on the island. , during 2018.

In June 2019, IPMA President Jorge Miranda said he hoped the radar on Terceira Island would be installed by the end of that year, revealing that the intervention had already been awarded for 1.9 million euros.

However, the IPMA only obtained the visa of the Court of Auditors this year to proceed with the installation.

“After completing the tender procedure, the Court of Auditors decided to grant the visa to the contract for the ‘Supply, Installation and Putting into Service of a Dual Polarized Doppler Weather Radar – Santa Bárbara, Terceira Island, Azores’, thus starting the execution of the respective contract ”, revealed the institute today.

According to the Portuguese Institute of the Sea and the Atmosphere, this radar will fill “an observational gap in the region”.

“It is worth mentioning the decisive contribution that this radar will make, in addition to the network of surface stations and other remote observation equipment, in the fields of short-term weather forecasting (up to three hours) for general purposes and surveillance permanent weather forecast ”, reads the statement.

The installation of a second weather radar is planned on the island of São Miguel, but the IPMA president has already defended the need for a third on the island of Flores.

The president of the Agency for the Integrated Management of Rural Fires (AGIF) today highlighted that each region of the country will have its own program depending on the specificity of the territory under the new fire prevention plan.

One day after being presented in parliament, AGIF today takes stock of the public consultation of the National Plan for Integrated Management of Rural Fires (PNGIFR) in Santarém, which lasted two months and ended on February 5th.

This plan, whose main objective is to reduce the burnt area by half by 2030, will allow each region to have its own action plan, since the forest and vegetation are not the same, Lusa Tiago Oliveira told the agency.

The same official outlined as a “strategic objective” the need to have a forest “more socially valued”, with the owner now receiving money to manage it and, with this, being able to “take care of the forest and invest”, taking into account that 95% of the area is private.

“In this plan, the novelty is to pose the problem, highlight it and go looking for solutions to solve the problems in co-responsibility with landowners and local entities,” he said.

With a time horizon of a decade, the National Plan for Integrated Management of Rural Fires provides that in 2030 1.2 million hectares of forest have been cleared, corresponding to “20% of the six million hectares that exist in the territory with risk of fire”.

The goals to be achieved also foresee that within 10 years the burnt areas with more than 500 hectares will be fully managed and with recovery plans implemented, and that there will be less than 80% of ignitions on fire risk days.

The plan foresees a total expenditure of more than six billion euros, with an expected investment of 60% to be directed to prevention and 40% to combat.

Tiago Oliveira also explained that, during the public discussion, more than 75 sessions were held across the country, in which about two thousand people participated, and AGIF has received, so far, approximately 115 contributions.

Within the scope of the public consultation, several entities pointed out criticisms of the Plan, namely the League of Portuguese Firefighters, the Independent Technical Observatory on fires created by the parliament and environmental association Quercus.

One of the criticisms was that the role of firefighters and other Civil Protection agents, such as forest sappers, was not defined.

Tiago Oliveira underlined that the Plan “does not highlight the role of any particular actor”, but assured that the role of the fireman is foreseen, being even reinforced in the sphere of planning and in the involvement with the population in raising awareness.

The same official said that AGIF will now integrate the contributions received during the public consultation and make the adjustments it deems necessary so that the Government can then approve the plan by the end of March this year.

After PNGIFR is approved by the Council of Ministers, AGIF will also prepare national and regional action programs, which are expected to be completed in the third quarter of this year.

According to Tiago Oliveira, the PNGIFR that was in public consultation “is a strategic document”.

The closing seminar of the public discussion process of the National Plan for Integrated Management of Rural Fires will be attended by the Prime Minister, António Costa, and the Ministers of Internal Administration and the Environment and Climate Action, Eduardo Cabrita and João Matos Fernandes respectively.

CMP // ZO

The Fundada fire assessment report, which took place in July 2019 in Vila de Rei (Castelo Branco) and Mação (Santarém), considers that, in the most critical phase of combat, there was  a  lack of air resources.

The Independent Technical Observatory’s report, released today, focused on what was the largest of all fires that occurred in 2019, with an estimated burnt area of ​​9,249 hectares (about 22% of the total burnt area last year, which was close to 42,000 hectares), and also what stood out for the relevance of the impacts on the forest stands affected and on agriculture.

In fighting fire, technicians conclude that “the mobilization of aerial means ended up not corresponding to the phase of greatest need”, estimating that “in the first 16 hours of the fire, the affected area was about 65% of the total burnt area of this fire, which lasted three days to be subdued and five days until it was extinguished ”.

“In the most critical phase, the lack of availability of these means was frankly noticed”, he stresses.

The fire fighting that started on the afternoon of July 20, 2019 in the municipality of Vila de Rei and then extended to those in Mação and Sertã involved a total of 1,946 operational and 703 means (air and land), but “the allocation of aerial means to this fire may have compromised the achievement of more favorable results ”, which was justified by“ some simultaneity in occurrences of this typology ”.

On the first day, five aerial means were involved, four of the same typology (medium amphibious type Fire Boss planes) and a medium helicopter, on the second day 11 aerial means were deployed, obeying the practice of “muscular mobilization of aerial means”, a strategy that, however, “it did not have the desired result” given the similar typologies and autonomies, which contributed to “its equally simultaneous demobilization, providing long periods when there were no aerial means available to engage in the theater of operations”.

As an example, the report points to the fact that at 15:55 on the 21st, when there was a “reactivation burning with intensity in the Sesmarias area towards the São João do Peso Reception Center”, no means were working air.

On the other hand, the report states that the use of tactical fire and counter-fire in this fire “has been greatly reduced”, recommending “a better consideration of the possibility of using these techniques in a safer and more professional manner”.

“Its use during night periods, with lower wind and high relative humidity, was apparently reduced, not taking advantage of the opportunity window of the most favorable conditions in that period”, he adds.

The report also supports the discrepancy in the information systems used in Vila de Rei and Mação, which caused information to be lost with the change of command and the change of support vehicle.

In the “lessons learned”, contained at the end of the document, the Observatory states that “it cannot fail to draw attention to the problems of a different approach between neighboring municipalities or districts”, a difference that was “observed in the elaboration of hazard maps, in adoption of preventive measures and also in the area of ​​combat ”.

“It is not acceptable that failures in the transmission of information and strategy can occur when the fire travels different territories because different systems are used”, he stresses.

Therefore, it “strongly” recommends that the National Emergency and Civil Protection Authority “ensure that there is only one single system operating at the national level that can, and should, incorporate all good system developments produced at other levels, such as’ MacFire ‘”(Developed in Mação).

The Observatory recognizes that in the municipality of Mação there has been, since 1990, “an effort that can be considered exemplary at national level, in the sense of general prevention of the territory”.

As previously pointed out, the report considers “the probability of an intentional cause” to be very likely, noting that “material evidence of the ignition medium used” has been collected and that the investigation by the Judicial Police is ongoing.

Regarding the post-fire recovery phase, the Observatory stresses that the Institute for the Conservation of Nature and Forests “has completed the first stages of the process in a relatively short time”, but “the following phases are yet to be completed”, namely the mapping of priority areas for intervention and the survey of the affected infrastructures, “so that the execution projects for intervention can be elaborated under the PDR [Rural Development Program] 2020”.

Away from all the major updates and statistics, this personal account by Jiang Ting, a nurse with Guangdong Second Provincial General Hospital, reflects what it is like for perhaps hundreds of thousands of frontline medical staff battling this virus throughout China.

It’s 4 am on Monday when my colleague, Yi Bingkun, and I finished the night shift. It’s the 50th hour since we arrived in Wuhan to help fight against the novel coronavirus. The situation here is far more grievous than what we imagined, with more suspected cases and an acute shortage of medical staff. We are here to bring them hope, but it seems that we assume more responsibilities.

The ward was almost overloaded during our first night shift and we continued to receive more patients. My colleague and I plunged into work without delay after wearing protective suits.

However, an emergency occurred when a patient went into sudden cardiac arrest when we had just changed shifts. Kun (my colleague Yi Bingkun’s nickname) rushed to give chest compressions to the patient and I called a doctor for help.

The patient, unfortunately, died of severe illness after all rescue measures failed. The patient’s family, however, sent their gratitude to us. Their every single “Thank you” makes me feel warm and that the efforts we’ve made are worthwhile.

But Kun brought me more warmth because of his bravery and spirit.

I once asked him whether he felt afraid about the possibility of becoming infected when saving the patient. He told me that, “Yes, I was really scared at the time because I do have my family and my kid. But I was more afraid that the life might disappear in front of me.”

I’m really proud to have Kun as my team member.

Our night shift should have been finished at midnight, but it ended at 3 am that night. We found our clothes were drenched after we took off our protective suits. I remember that it was 5 am when we finished washing.

What is impressive is that my colleagues messaged us, worrying why Kun and I didn’t come back with the clock pointing to 1 am, 2 am or even 3 am. They urged us to let them know we were okay as soon as we came back. The tiredness soon lifted.

Kun and I were in a hurry to sum up our work last night at 8 am. Kun even drew a rough sketch of the ward to our colleagues, Xiong Minlong and Jiangjie, who cheered each other on at the time.

Wang Yan, associate chief physician of our hospital’s respiratory department, gave us lectures and advice during breakfast. Sun Liang and Zhong Lina also joined us for logistical management and preparation work.

The weather is really cold but we feel warm from the bottom of our hearts.

Come on, Wuhan! Come on, all my colleagues!

 

RISK ASSESSMENT ISSUED BY THE EUROPEAN CENTRE FOR DISEASE PREVENTION AND CONTROL (EDEC) 26^TH JANUARY

The following risk assessment has been issued by the EDEC cautioning that “there are considerable uncertainties in assessing the risk of this event, due to lack of detailed epidemiological analyses”.

On the basis of the information currently available, ECDC considers that:

• “the potential impact of 2019-nCoV outbreaks is HIGH;
• further global spread is LIKELY;
• there is currently a MODERATE likelihood of infection for EU/EEA citizens residing in or visiting Wuhan, Hubei province, China;
• there is a HIGH likelihood of further case importation into countries with the greatest volume of people who have travelled from Wuhan, Hubei Province (i.e. countries in Asia);
• there is a MODERATE likelihood of further case importation into EU/EEA countries;
• adherence to appropriate infection prevention and control practices, particularly in healthcare settings in EU/EEA countries with direct links to Hubei, means that the likelihood of a case detected in the EU resulting in secondary cases within the EU/EEA is LOW;
• the impact of the late detection of an imported case in an EU/EEA country without the application of appropriate infection prevention and control measures would be HIGH, therefore in such a scenario the risk of secondary transmission in the community setting is estimated to be VERY HIGH”.

 

World Health Organisation standard recommendations for the general public to reduce exposure to and transmission of a range of illnesses are as follows, which include hand and respiratory hygiene, and safe food practices:

• Frequently clean hands by using alcohol-based hand rub or soap and water;
• When coughing and sneezing cover mouth and nose with flexed elbow or tissue – throw tissue away immediately and wash hands;
• Avoid close contact with anyone who has fever and cough;
• If you have fever, cough and difficulty breathing seek medical care early and share previous travel history with your health care provider;
• When visiting live markets in areas currently experiencing cases of novel coronavirus, avoid direct unprotected contact with live animals and surfaces in contact with animals;
• The consumption of raw or undercooked animal products should be avoided. Raw meat, milk or animal organs should be handled with care, to avoid cross-contamination with uncooked foods, as per good food safety practices.

SITUATION OVERALL

Overall number reported around the world climbed to about 2,744.

There are 80 deaths, in China from 2019-nCoV an increase from 56 reported yesterday.

95% of deaths and more than 50% of infections are in Hubei province.

769 of those newly confirmed in the 24 hours through midnight Sunday.

WHO’s assessment of the risk of this event has not changed since the last risk assessment conducted on 22 January: very high in China, high at the regional level and high at the global level.

SITUATION IN WUHAN

5 million residents left Wuhan before lockdown, mayor reveals, as 1,000 new confirmed cases expected in city

There were about 9 million people remaining in the city after the lockdown, Zhou told a press conference.

Of the 2,700 people currently under observation in the city, about 1,000 were likely to be confirmed cases.

PORTUGAL

The Portuguese Ministry of Foreign Affairs advised against “non-essential trips” to China today, due to the new coronavirus, justifying the alert due to possible health risks and the current limitations on circulation within the country.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MNE), has  recommended “permanent attention to the constant evolution of the situation ”, as well as information published on the portals of the Directorate-General for Health, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and the World Health Organization.

CHINA

Health commission says battling the epidemic is becoming more complicated as the Chinese State Council extends the Lunar New Year holiday to February 2

It added that the virus had adapted to humans and appeared to have become more transmissible.

“There are signs showing the virus is becoming more transmissible. These walking ‘contagious agents’ [hidden carriers] make controlling the outbreak a lot more difficult.”

The authorities had also not ruled out the possibility of the virus mutating in the future, he said, which meant it could spread to different age groups.

To date, most of the people infected are in the 40-60 age range, health officials said earlier.

Speaking to the press on Sunday, Gao Fu, head of the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, said the peak of the outbreak had yet to come.

ACTIONS BY OVERSEAS GOVERNMENTS

United States, France, Australia, Japan and Russia are all preparing to pull their citizens out of Wuhan, while others are ramping up measures to prevent people travelling from infected cities into their territories

The ABC reported that more than 100 Australian children were currently trapped in Wuhan.

The Foreign Office updated its guidance to “advise against all travel to Hubei province”.

560 Japanese citizens are confirmed in Hubei and chartered evacuation flights are being prepared to leave as soon as possible.

In the UK Both the home secretary, Priti Patel, and the foreign secretary, Dominic Raab have said ministers are considering an evacuation plan, but both stopped short of committing to one.

Facts

Massive increas in last 24 hrs 2000 infected infected in China, 31 confirmed overseas. 10 countries affected

17 cities have suspended public transport affecting 56 million,

56 dead including a doctor in Wuhan none overseas.

China is suspending all tour groups and the sale of flight and hotel packages for its citizens headed overseas, starting on Monday.

The Portuguese authorities are cooperating with other European countries to reinforce support to national citizens who are in Wuhan, admitting the possibility of removing them.

The US is beginning an operation to evacuate its citizens and diplomats from Wuhan,

67 hospitals have opened special emergency rooms for patients with fevers.

The World Health Organization’s decided on Thursday not to classify the virus as an “international emergency”, partly because of the low number of overseas cases; this has surprised some experts.

UK, 2,000 travellers who have arrived recently from Wuhan are being sought. Fourteen people tested negative for the virus. 31 tested all negative.

WHAT IS IT?

It is a member of the coronavirus family that has never been encountered before. Like other coronaviruses, it has come from animals, or possibly seafood. No know vaccine. More details about the Virus from Public Health England here     

SYMPTOMS

The virus causes pneumonia. Coughs, fever and breathing difficulties. As this is viral pneumonia, antibiotics are of no use. Antiviral drugs only lessen the severity of symptoms. Spread through inhalation person to person.

Precautions on how to protect yourself from the virus while travelling:

• Avoid contact with people who display symptoms similar to those of pneumonia or the common cold, like coughing or a runny nose.
• Don’t touch your eyes, nose, or mouth with unwashed hands.
• Wash your hands frequently with soap and water, and scrub for at least 20 seconds.
• Use alcohol-based hand sanitizer when possible.
• Avoid animals and animal markets.

PORTUGAL

Director Health Portugal said that “there are no suspicious cases in Portugal” of infections with the coronavirus, there is no alarm situation, but as a precaution she is “paying more attention” to cases exported outside China.

In Portugal, DGS activated protocols established for this type of situation reinforcing the National Health Service with the Health 24 line, through the number 800 242 424, and the medical support line, for screening..

“DGS, with their partners have contingency plans that are regularly tested, to detect, diagnose and treat

 

TRAVEL ADVICE

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) advise against all travel to Hubei Province. If you are in this area and able to leave, you should do so.

 

COMPARISON WITH SARS

The first case is thought to have been reported on Nov. 16, 2002.

Health officials didn’t know what it was, and SARS was categorized by its symptoms, which were similar to pneumonia.

Took 4 months for it to be reported to the WHO on Feb. 14, 2003, when there were already more than 300 cases. Chinese officials were not sure what caused the illness. In 5 weeks there were cases in 13 countries and 10 deaths. Overall 8442 infected at 916 deaths mortality over 10%

Looking back at SARS, the fatality rate for SARS varied by age, “less than 1 % aged 24 years or younger, 6 % in persons aged 25 to 44 years, 15 % aged 45 to 64 years, and greater than 50 %s aged 65 years and older,”

So far, the deaths from 2019-nCoV have mostly been in older people many with existing health conditions

PORTUGAL WAS ONE OF the few countries in Europe with NO cases.

The healthcare system and hospitals are far better prepared today, with improved surveillance systems, medication and equipment [including masks] stockpiles, and a state-of-the-art 330-bed facility in the National Centre for Infectious Diseases that was built precisely to avoid a repeat of the SARS debacle,” he said.

In the past 100 years we have had four major flu virus mutations that have given rise to major pandemics. The first, the Spanish flu, during the Great War, was the deadliest in history: at least 50 million people died. It was extremely aggressive, unlike what happened 90 years later with H1N1, in 2009. We still don’t know the mortality rate of this new virus, but in SARS it was extremely high: 10%. The flu we have every year is around 1%. Last winter we will have had more than a million people with the flu and around 3,000 died.

Toll reduction model will include interior and A22 and A28 motorways

The toll discount model, in addition to the interior territories, will be applied on the A22 motorways – Via do Infante, in the Algarve, and the A28, which connects Porto to Caminha, the minister of Territorial Cohesion announced yesterday.

“The idea is to work on a toll discount model for the interior and also for Via do Infante [A22] and A28”, said Ana Abrunhosa, in the final intervention of the parliamentary hearing on the State Budget proposal for 2020 (OE2020), which took place over five hours, in the Assembly of the Republic.

According to the person in charge of the Territorial Cohesion portfolio, the work for the implementation of discounts on motorway and expressway tolls “is advanced”, with the presentation of an ordinance “soon”.

“There is no question of abolishing tolls, it is a matter of reducing tolls”, reinforced the minister, explaining that the proposal to reduce tolls is under study, through a working group made up of members of the ministries of Territorial Cohesion, Infrastructure and Housing and Finance, which is working on “priorities” and “various scenarios for the gradual reduction of tolls”.

Recalling that this was a promise from the Government, Ana Abrunhosa assured that the working group responsible for the measure is giving “the highest priority to this matter” and working on a toll discount model “based on quantity discounts and discounts on rest days ”, correcting the initial information that it only covered weekends.

“We would very much like the discount to have some impact on rest days, which would benefit frequent users, as well as those who visit the territory,” said the minister, arguing that “the impacts of a small reduction are always significant”.

Thus, the Government intends to “give a political signal to these territories and make it feel in people’s pockets”.

“I cannot commit myself to dates, I cannot commit myself to percentages [of discount], because that will have to be announced jointly by the working group”, said the Minister of Territorial Cohesion.