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LISBON – ELEVADOR DA GLÓRIA DERAILMENT RESULTS IN 15 DEATHS

FIRST news about nationalities:

“Portuguese authorities have just informed us that two Spanish citizens are among the injured,” diplomatic sources in Madrid said.

The Spanish Consulate in Lisbon is in constant contact with Portuguese authorities, and, for now, the possibility of any Spanish citizen having died has been ruled out, the same sources said.”

“The Portuguese authorities have already informed us that one of our compatriots was among those injured in the accident. Our consul general is visiting her and remains in constant contact with the Portuguese authorities in case other nationals are affected.” said the french authorities

One of the deaths is the driver, portuguese nationality.

Update – number of injured rises to 23.

CASUALTIES

In a local operations assessment conducted at 20:30, the National Institute of Emergency Medicine (INEM) confirmed 15 deaths in the accident. Another 23 people were injured, five of whom were seriously injured and transported to various hospitals in Lisbon. The PSP (Public Security Police) has also confirmed 15 deaths and 23 injuries, five in serious condition.

Santa Maria Hospital received a total of eight injured people, one of them in critical condition. Earlier it was reported that three seriously injured people were transported to Santa Maria Hospital, the largest in Lisbon.

Among the slightly injured is a three-year-old child. He is in stable condition and will be transferred with his father to Dona Estefânia Hospital. The mother, pregnant and with minor injuries, was transferred to the Alfredo da Costa Maternity Hospital (MAC).

All passengers have been removed from the vehicle, which was completely destroyed after crashing into a building.

OVERALL

“The Elevador da Glória, the iconic funicular that connects Restauradores to Príncipe Real, derailed late Wednesday afternoon on Calçada da Glória in Lisbon . The mayor of Lisbon, who canceled Thursday’s event, is on site, as is the Minister of Infrastructure. The government assures that it has been monitoring the situation “from the very beginning.”

MOURNING

“The Mayor stated Lisbon is in mourning; this is a tragic time for our city, ” he stressed. He stated that firefighters received the alarm at 18:11 and thanked them for their “readiness.”

Unfortunately, it’s extremely serious. It’s an accident that shouldn’t have happened, but we’ll be here to answer all your questions in due course ,” he continued, without giving many details “out of respect for the families” of the victims.

The President of the Republic has already responded, expressing “deep regret” over the accident involving the Glória funicular in Lisbon, and “in particular the fatalities and serious injuries, as well as several minor injuries”, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa also hopes that “the accident will be quickly clarified by the competent authorities.”

Government declares national mourning after accident at Elevador da Glória

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen expressed her condolences in Portuguese to the families of the victims of the accident that occurred on the iconic Lisbon funicular.

LOCAL RESTRICTIONS

The Elevador da Glória, Lisbon’s iconic funicular connects Restauradores to Príncipe Real in Lisbon.

Avenida da Liberdade is closed to traffic from the intersection with Rua da Alegria to Rossio Square, following the accident with the Glória elevator.

The PSP (Public Security Police) is making several appeals to the public. In a statement, it asks that people not go to the accident area to ” not hinder ongoing operations” and that they respect the authorities’ instructions.

We also ask that you use alternative routes and avoid driving in the area until further notice.

RESOURCES DEPLOYED

In Praça dos Restauradores, where one end of Calçada da Glória, the street where the Glória funicular runs, ends, there’s dozens of vehicles from INEM, firefighters and police.

A total of 59 operatives and 21 vehicles are at the scene at 2100 hrs

Carris, the operator of the Glória funicular in Lisbon, assured that it has already “activated all resources” and is on site with its teams.

In a response sent to the Lusa news agency, the company said that it “immediately contacted the emergency and security forces.”

“The priority is to monitor the situation and everyone involved,” he stressed.

OUR CONDOLENCES

A very tragic accident and our deepest condolences go to the families of all those who have died. RIP

Meeting at Infarmed concerning evolution of Covid-19 -Live updates – 23 /03/ 2021

Today, another meeting is taking place at Infarmed, in which the Government and political figures meet with experts to analyze the epidemiological situation in Portugal.

At Infarmed, in Lisbon, from 10 am, as has been happening since February, only the Minister of Health, Marta Temido, and most epidemiologists will be present.

The remaining participants, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, António Costa and Ferro Rodrigues, party representatives, members of the Council of State and social partners, will follow the meeting by videoconference.

This week the Assembly of the Republic is expected to debate and vote on the draft presidential decree for the renewal of the state of emergency for a new period of 15 days, with effect from April 1 and which will cover the Easter period.

The session begins with a presentation by André Peralta Santos, from the Directorate-General for Health, on the epidemiological situation , following the perspective of the evolution of the incidence and transmissibility of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, in charge of Baltazar Nunes and Ricardo Mexia, from the National Institute of Health Doutor Ricardo Jorge (INSA) .

João Paulo Gomes, also from INSA, will update the virus variants in the country, with Henrique de Barros, from the Public Health Institute of the University of Porto, giving a presentation on a year of learning from covid-19 in Portugal .

The meeting continues with the presentation of the social perceptions of the pandemic in the country, in charge of Carla Nunes, from the National School of Public Health of the Universidade Nova de Lisboa, and with the status of vaccination by the coordinator of the vice-admiral task force Henrique Gouveia e Melo .

The meeting starts 10.08 hrs

André Santos Peralta, the DGS, says there was a “downward trend of maintaining” the incidence of the virus, with an average of 79 cases per 100,000 inhabitants. However, in Greater Lisbon, “there are already some municipalities” with a growing trend. The active population became the population with the highest incidence, but there was a “very expressive” decrease in hospitalizations in the infirmary and ICU.

The active population became the population with the highest incidence, but there was a “very expressive” decrease in hospitalizations in the infirmary and ICU. “in a scenario of great incidence, only the population from 40 to 60 is enough to exceed the indicator of 245 beds of hospitalizations in ICU”. That is, “To be completely safe, the age group to be vaccinated will have to go up to these ages”.

Lisbon and Tagus Valley has the highest incidence (more cases per 100 thousand inhabitants every 14 days).

Regarding hospitalizations, there is a maintenance of the decline in the +60 group. In the ICUs, there is a “very significant drop” in the group of 50, 60 and 70 years old.

As for the variants, that of the United Kingdom increased, reaching 73% in Lisbon and Vale do Tejo and above 60% in the North.

The testing rate is “quite considerable” and the 4% positive ceiling is only found “in some municipalities”. There has been a greater speed in laboratory notification, revealed the expert.

English variant already represents more than 70% of the cases in the Lisbon and Tagus Valley region. “There has been an increase”

A new fact about lethality: “In the week of March 1st to 7th, there was a decrease in lethality in the more than 80 years,” he says.

Regarding the virus variants, especially in the United Kingdom, there was an increase, with a prevalence of new variants in the order of 73.3% in the Lisbon region, and 60% / 65% in the North and Center, and in the rest of the country the estimate is more uncertain but it will be around 30% in the Alentejo and 70% in the Algarve.

People who leave home are the most difficult to avoid visiting family and friends

LILIANA VALENTE

There are some measures that are easier to take, such as wearing a mask, but others that are more difficult, such as keeping your distance or teleworking. However, there were “critical indicators” that were analyzed such as “avoiding visiting family or friends” and “staying at home”
In these two indicators, there were 36.9% of people who admitted that it was difficult or very difficult not to visit family or friends and 35.2% to stay at home.
In a finer analysis, Carla Nunes says that “it is the people who naturally leave home, the ones who most report having more difficulty in avoiding visiting family members with friends”
Carla Nunes, from the National School of Public Health, presents the barometer data on the various public health indicators and notes that there are “slight” changes both in behaviour and in the perception of the global health status.
“46.3% of people saying they had reasonable, bad or very bad or overall health status” and “1 in 5 of people – felt agitated, anxious or sad” in the past few days.
In addition, says the professor at the National School of Public Health, there was a “slight increase in worse behaviors”.
Vaccinations

The coordinator of the vaccination plan against covid-19, Henrique Gouveia e Melo, revealed that, in April, “about 1.8 million vaccines” will arrive in Portugal. The 70% vaccinees are still expected “by the end of the summer” and, in the second quarter, the number of inoculations will reach between 95 thousand and 100 thousand per day.
1.8 million vaccines have already arrived in the country, 95,000 of which went to the archipelagos. Until Saturday 1.3 million vaccines had been administered and, this week, another 177 thousand will be administered.

LISBON – ELEVADOR DA GLÓRIA DERAILMENT RESULTS IN 15 DEATHS

People who leave home are the most difficult to avoid visiting family and friends

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