Prime Minister Addresses the National Following Council of Ministers Meeting
April 29, António Costa revealed to the country the decisions taken at the Council of Ministers meeting, where the fourth and final phase of de- confinement was discussed.
Recalling that the President of the Republic did not renew the state of emergency, António Costa says that Portugal will enter a Situation of Calamity which will be in effect as of 00h00 on May 1st.
“Today, making the evaluation of the pandemic, we were able to take the decision to take the step forward to the next stage of deconfinement,” António Costa announced. Contrary to initial plans, the country will enter the last phase of deconfinement as early as Saturday, May 1.
This is how the last phase of the deconfinement will be, in a nutshell:
- Restaurants, cafes and pastry shops open until 22h30
- Weddings and christenings with 50% of the venue capacity
- Cinemas, theatre, shows until 22h30
- Land borders open
- All shops and shopping centers open until 21h00 during the week and 19h00 at the weekend and holidays.
The deconfinement measures are advancing in the vast majority of the municipalities on the mainland, togheter with Rio Maior and Moura, as well as Alandroal, Albufeira, Figueira da Foz and Penela.
There is a list of municipalities on alert and there are three municipalities that will continue in the third phase of deconfinement: Miranda do Douro, Paredes and Valongo.
The municipalities at risk are:
- Alijó
- Alpiarça
- Arganil
- Batalha
- Beja
- Boticas
- Cabeceiras de Baixo
- Castelo de Paiva
- Celorico de Basto
- Cinfães
- Coruche
- Fafe
- Figueiró dos Vinhos
- Lagos
- Lamego
- Melgaço
- Oliveira do Hospital
- Paços de Ferreira
- Penafiel
- Peniche
- Peso da Régua
- Ponte da Barca
- Póvoa de Lanhoso
- Tábua
- Tabuaço
- Vidigueira
- Vila Real de Santo António
There are still two municipalities that are going back to the first phase: Aljezur and Resende and Carregal do Sal and Portimão remain on the first phase.
In Odemira, two parishes are under sanitary fence. “Odemira is the largest municipality in mainland Portugal, larger than some districts. All public health surveys identify that the main focus of the infection is concentrated in two of these parishes and clearly associated with the migrant population that works in the agricultural sector. We decided to immediately decree a sanitary fence to the parishes of São Teotónio and Longueira/Almograve”, said António Costa, adding that there will be facilities to put the positive cases in prophylactic isolation. All the other parishes of Odemira will move forward to phase 4.
As it was foreseen, gyms will be able to hold group classes again. According to the prime-minister, physical activity can also be resumed without restrictions.
The evaluation of the incidence of the municipalities is no longer be fortnightly, the Prime Minister revealed. “We have moved to a weekly assessment. We are now in a framework where there is no state of emergency and there are fewer restrictive measures. We need to act as quickly as possible when we are in situations of rapid growth, in order to avoid excessive growth. Or, on the other hand, to allow a faster reopening of activities and people freedom of movements as soon as possible,” he detailed.
Alcoholic beverages will be allowed to be sold until 21h00, but the restriction of prohibition of consumption on public roads will remain in effect, confirmed António Costa.
Regarding the beach rules, now that some municipalities will be opening the beach season, the same regime that existed for the 2020 bathing season will be in force, with limited capacity defined by the Directorate General of Health (DGS).
People arriving from Brazil, South Africa, India and European countries with a high incidence rate will have to go through quarantine to enter Portugal.
Safe Communities Portugal has prepared a full translation into English of the Government PowerPoint in Portuguese released about an hour ago as well as the official Communique in English These can be downloaded: