The Algarve Situation Report Tuesday 28th June 2022
Good Morning and we start this report with some good news for expectant mothers. The Maternity block at Hospital de Portimão resumed normal operations on Monday, after being closed over the weekend, the president of the Centro Hospitalar do Algarve told Lusa .
“The birthing block reopened today at 08:00 and is operating normally, without constraints,” the chairman of the board of directors of the Centro Hospitalar Universitário do Algarve (CHUA) told the Lusa agency.
The service at the Portimão hospital closed at the end of the day on Friday, and pregnant women from 22 weeks of gestation or who needed special care were referred to Faro Hospital.
A plan was set up in conjunction with the Civil Protection, the National Institute of Medical Emergency (INEM) and the Centre for Guidance for Urgent Patients (CODU) for referral to the hospital in Faro. According to Ana Varges Gomes, due to the closure of the service during the weekend in Portimão, “a total of four pregnant women” were transferred to Faro Hospital.
However, there are still some fears that the closure may not be a “one off” event. The official admitted that the service “may close again, due to the difficulty in ensuring the Paediatrics scales, which may also affect the functioning of the emergency department of Gynaecology and Obstetrics. “The urgency depends on the medical service providers and whenever they are absent or are not available to work, we will have constraints”, he pointed out.
However, he added, CHUA has “a plan made to be put into practice whenever the need arises”. In recent weeks, emergency services of various specialties and delivery blocks of several hospitals in the country had to close for certain periods or operated with limitations, due to the difficulty of hospitals in completing the service rosters of specialist doctors.
Two Men Arrested for Gun Crime In Albufeira
The Judiciary Police ( PJ ) detained two suspects on suspicion of involvement in robberies with firearms in the Albufeira area, it was announced this Tuesday.
According to a statement from the security force, in the context of the fight against violent crime, a group of people suspected of the practice of coercion with a firearm and possession of a prohibited weapon in the municipality of Albufeira was identified at the end of December 2021. The “strong indictment” of these men allowed the competent judicial authorities to proceed with the issuance of arrest warrants for the two suspects, aged 23 and 29.
“The police operation carried out successfully in locating and detaining two of the suspects, in the city of Albufeira”, according to the PJ statement. The detainees will now be present for a first judicial interrogation, in Albufeira, for the application of coercive measures. The PJ states that it will continue to investigate this case with the aim of identifying and locating the remaining suspected members of this group.
The security force is also investigating the relationship between this group and other “recent events” in the Loulé area, “of offences of physical violence motivated by settling accounts between individuals with police and criminal records, for the same type of crimes and theft. ”.
Portugal Must get used to using less Water says Minister
Whilst the Minister of the Environment spoke of the nation having to get used to using less water at a conference in Lisbon, the focus of using treated water for irrigation in the Algarve was raised by a specialist at the University of the Algarve.
The doubling of the use of treated wastewater for irrigation by the end of the year in the Algarve implies investing and building infrastructure to transport it from source to destination and that work remains to be done, warned a specialist from the University of Algarve .
The director of the Faculty of Science and Technology of the University of Algarve (UAlg) warned that it is first necessary to understand where the Wastewater Treatment Stations (WWTP) are and who are the recipients of this non-potable water that can be used to irrigate crops. or golf courses and then define the type of investment needed to transport that water to its destination. Carlos Guerrero thus commented on the objective defined by the Permanent Commission for the Prevention, Monitoring and Monitoring of the Effects of Drought to “extend the use of reused water for purposes that do not require drinking water, namely in the irrigation of permanent crops and in the support of ecosystems”.
According to the Commission, “at the moment, in the Algarve, a cubic hectometer of reused water is already used, and this value is expected to double by the end of the year”, but the university professor considered that there are other measures that can also help to save water and increase the reserves of this good to allow its use in agriculture and for human supply.
“The problem of doubling [treated wastewater for irrigation] involves promoting and installing the necessary infrastructure to get water where it is needed. I am talking about the water resulting from the Wastewater Treatment Stations, which cannot be moved and are not mobile, they are well fixed”, said the university professor.
The same source said that the Algarve “has a set of WWTPs that cost millions” and have “state-of-the-art technology from the point of view of water treatment”, but underlined that, “then this treated water has to be taken to the sites”. where it is needed”, such as green spaces in cities, golf courses, or some tree crops”.
“I think it is necessary to create these infrastructures and, before that, to know who will pay for them. It is necessary to base the installation projects and know the needs, not only of pipes, but also of pumping stations and all the infrastructure necessary to move the water”, he exemplified. Carlos Guerrero stressed “that it remains to be explained and defined who pays for these structures”, whether “it is who produces the water, who is going to use it or the common citizen”, and none of these issues is already defined, he added.
Carlos Guerrero considered that the reduction in water availability due to the effects of drought and climate change is a reality that can also be “mitigated” with other “complementary” measures, such as the installation of technologies to support irrigation management in agriculture, raising people’s awareness of savings or combating losses in the supply network, which, he assured, could “water the 40 golf courses in the Algarve”. Another of the measures recommended by the Commission was the reactivation of underground abstractions, which Carla Antunes, also a professor at the University of Algarve, said was one of the “easiest and fastest” to implement.
“Although groundwater resources are considered to be a strategic reserve and as a last alternative, perhaps, immediately, if we continue with this drought, we will even have to resort to groundwater”, said Carla Ventura, stressing that “there is no solution great” and it will be with “small solutions” that we will “be able to overcome this drought”.
ALBUFEIRA: MAN ARRESTED BEFORE SETTING HIS MOTHER-IN-LAW ON FIRE
The GNR have arrested a 40 year old Ukrainian man for domestic violence after they caught him in the act, showering his mother-in-law with gasoline and preparing to set her on fire.
In a statement, the GNR explains that the man was arrested after “an occurrence involving an alleged situation of domestic violence, in which the suspect threatened his 34 year old companion and her mother. The man was found to have two gasoline jerry cans in his possession.” A source from the GNR, explained that the individual was arrested in the act, at the moment he showered his mother-in-law with gasoline and was preparing to set her on fire, which luckily did not happen due to the timely intervention of the police. The GNR also clarified that the detainee’s companion managed to flee the house to safety in time too. Two gasoline jerrycans, a lighter and an air pressure gun were seized from the scene.
MINOR EARTHQUAKE 20KM SOUTH OF LAGOS
The Portuguese Institute of the Sea and the Atmosphere (IPMA) say that an earthquake of magnitude 2.8 on the Richter scale was registered at 18:50 yesterday evening, with the epicentre about 20 km south-southeast from Lagos.
According to the IPMA, no information was received confirming that this earthquake was felt by anyone.
Latest SEF Stats Show over 150 nationalities are resident in the Algarve
Finally to end this report we bring you the latest figures of immigrant population in the Algarve according to the latest SEF statistics. The Algarve is a very cosmopolitan region with over 150 different nationalities resident in the region.
The Algarve has a total of 105,142 immigrants living across the region. The largest number are in Loule, 18,707 followed by Albufeira, 16,433. Next is Portimao, 12,014 and then Lagos, 11,651.
In terms of the different nationalities, immigrants from the UK are the largest percentage of the total with 19.76%, followed by Brazil with 16.64%, Romania with 6.52%, France with 6.02% and Italy with 5.23%. Ukraine, India, Germany, The Netherlands and Nepal make up the top ten countries for immigrants in the Algarve.
Have a great day.
MUrder Suspect is held in Prison pending his trial.
The Portimão Court decided to apply the coercive measure of preventive detention to a man indicted for committing a crime of murder, in Lagos, following a drug-related argument.
The decision was taken by the Portimão Criminal Investigation Court at the end of the first judicial interrogation of the detainee, a 46-year-old man, suspected of killing a 43-year-old man, the Public Ministry (MP) released in a statement.
The court agreed with the measure proposed by the Public Ministry, and the investigation is now in the hands of the Portimão department of the Southern Directorate of the Judiciary Police ( PJ ), the note reads.
This security force detained a man last Tuesday in the Lagos area on “strong suspicions” of committing a crime of qualified murder.
According to the Public Prosecutor’s Office at the time, in the late afternoon of June 14, 2022, “inside a vacant house in Lagos, following a drug-related argument, the detainee armed with a glass hit the victim’s neck, after which, he grabbed a stick with nails on the end and struck her on the head, causing her death”.
New Train Link to Lisbon from VRSA announced
A new link to Lisbon by connecting the railway line with the University and the Airport on the Olhão-Faro-Loulé axis was announced this week..
The president of CCDR/Algarve, José Apolinário, considered earlier this week that the requalification and electrification of the Algarve Railway Line (in progress) and the implementation of the Intercidades Vila Real de Santo António – Tavira – Olhão – Faro to Lisbon in 2024 are two of the main priorities of the Algarve 2030 Strategy.
Speaking at a seminar on mobility promoted by AMAL, in what he considered to be contributions to the region’s political position on the matter, the president of the CCDR also added that the modernization of rolling stock on the Algarve Line, the renovation of the southern railway line between Tunis and Torre Vã and the replacement of the concurrence on the railway line in Tunis.
He also mentioned the implementation of a feasibility study for the Algarve Andalusia Connection (Faro Airport/Seville Airport), which already has a public declaration of support from AMAL, NERA and Andalusia. He stressed that the review of PROTAL should provide for and safeguard that rail corridor.
With regard to the highway, it prioritised the conclusion of the renegotiation process of the Algarve Litoral sub-concession.
In this regard, he recalled that in 2021, Infraestruturas de Portugal was ordered to make provisional payments to the sub-concessionaire of around 30 million euros and a monthly amount of 1.2 million euros to the concessionaire Rotas do Algarve Litoral, SA.
The decision of the main arbitration action is awaited, following the review that took place initially during the intervention of the Troika and then in the amendment to the contract with a visa refused by the Court of Auditors in 2018. 48.9 million euros have already been paid and the amount requested is 445 million.
Praia da Rocha will have video surveillance and more patrols this summer.
From June 21st, on the first day of summer 2022, Portimão City Council announces that security measures in Praia da Rocha will be reinforced.
Also during this week, the contract will be signed for the installation of video surveillance in the municipality of Portimão, in particular in Praia da Rocha, where it is planned to install 32 cameras in various areas of this seaside resort, namely along Avenida Tomás Cabreira.
After this Tuesday’s contacts with the Minister of Internal Administration, President Isilda Gomes was immediately assured that the PSP Intervention Corps will remain in Praia da Rocha, a fact that the municipality welcomes.
The municipality also appeals to entrepreneurs in that area, namely those in bars and nightlife establishments, to “maintain scrupulous compliance with opening hours, thus preventing them from having to be reduced. It is also called for the conduct and rules for the sale of alcohol to be strictly complied with”, says the municipality in a statement.
“The Portimão City Council is closely following the evolution of this situation, and will not hesitate to take more drastic measures and positions if justified”, concludes the note.
Algarve will have a unique intermodal pass.
The Algarve regional and municipal transport authorities and five public transport companies in the region signed a memorandum of understanding this Monday to work on the creation of a single intermodal pass, said the president of the Algarve Intermunicipal Community.
The expectation is that the single intermodal pass “will be a reality in the first half of next year”, with the Algarve being the third region in the country, after Lisbon and Porto, to work to create a single pass for all transport operators. regional audiences, said António Pina.
The president of the Algarve Intermunicipal Community ( AMAL ) was speaking on the sidelines of the signing of the document, within the scope of the seminar “The challenges of mobility”, held today at the Escola Superior de Hotelaria e Turismo, in Faro .
According to that official, the objective “is to standardise the purchase of a pass” and, for that, the entities that sign the memorandum undertake “to work and provide information” so that there is “only one pass for the various public transport that operate in the region”.
The memorandum includes AMAL, as the Regional Transport Authority, CP, which operates the railway, and then the other seven municipal transport entities in Albufeira, Faro, Lagos, Loulé, Olhão, Portimão and Tavira.
The same source considered that this memorandum will “mobilise efforts for concentration between the different public transport services” and expressed the wish that AMAL, in the future, “will also become the railway transport authority”, in order to be able to define forms of interconnection with road transport.
“Public transport is now increasingly on the agenda of every family. If until some time ago, the issue of public transport was seen from the point of view of climate action and the reduction of pollution by the [less] individual use of each one’s cars, now it has another dimension”, he noted.
According to the mayor of Olhão, the current price of fuel “leads families to realise that public transport is perhaps the only way to relieve the family budget in terms of mobility”.
This new reality places, according to António Pina, “mobility in the priorities of municipal management and government management”.
Stressing that it is still too early to talk about a final cost for this intermodal pass, which will begin to be defined when the work carried out by all the actors evolves, António Pina considered that “the union of the different modules is the only one that can bring some efficiency to the system. ”.
“All [operators] provide public service and what is intended is to gain efficiency in this public service and effectiveness”, he said, adding that “the passenger is the same, the user is the same” and it is necessary to “make your life easier, providing reliable information, making the most effective connections possible and with the convenience of using the same pass for everything”.
In addition to these entities, the road transport companies Vizur, EVA Transportes, PXM – Transportes Rodoviários Urbanos de Faro, Translagos and Sandbus also participated in the signing of the memorandum.
GNR detains 26 people over a long weekend
During this period, the GNR detained 12 people for driving with excessive alcohol, eight for drug trafficking, four for not having a legal licence to drive, three for possession of a prohibited weapon, one for domestic violence and one for theft.
The GNR detained 26 people in the Algarve region during the mini-vacation period provided by the holiday last Thursday, most of them for driving with excessive alcohol and drug trafficking, it was announced today.
In a statement, the GNR added that, between Wednesday and Sunday, it launched an operation “especially focused on the flow of people that took place this past weekend”, reinforcing its patrol on the main roads, bathing and entertainment areas. night.
Thus, during this period, the GNR detained 12 people for driving with excessive alcohol, eight for drug trafficking, four for not having a legal licence to drive, three for possession of a prohibited weapon, one for domestic violence and one for theft.
According to the GNR, 1,182 doses of cannabis and 285 doses of cocaine were also seized.
Covid 19- Algarve registers 4,523 cases and 11 deaths between June 7th and 13th
According to the DGS weekly epidemiological bulletin, compared to the previous week, there were 43,534 fewer cases of infection.
In the region, there were 4,523 infections by SARS-CoV-2 (minus 1,013) and 11 deaths (minus five) between the 7th and 13th of June, according to data released this Friday by the Directorate-General for Health ( DGS ).
Portugal recorded, between the same period, 114,410 infections with the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, 256 deaths associated with covid-19 and a decrease in hospitalizations in wards and intensive care.
According to the DGS weekly epidemiological bulletin, compared to the previous week, there were 43,534 fewer cases of infection, with a reduction of 41 deaths in the comparison between the two periods.
As for hospital occupancy in mainland Portugal due to covid-19, the DGS started to release data on hospitalizations for the Monday before the report was published on Fridays.
Based on this criterion, the bulletin indicates that, last Monday, 1,896 people were hospitalised, 95 less than on the same day of the previous week, with 98 patients in intensive care units, less 10.
According to the DGS bulletin, the seven-day incidence was, on Monday, at 1,111 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, having registered a decrease of 28% compared to the previous week.
By region, Lisbon and Vale do Tejo recorded 50,786 cases between June 7 and 13, 18,368 less than in the previous period, and 79 deaths, 19 less.
The Central region accounted for 15,773 cases (minus 6,336) and 63 deaths (minus four) and the North totaled 30,295 cases of infection (minus 15,227) and 75 deaths (minus eight).
In Alentejo, 4,341 positive cases were recorded (2,379 less) and 17 deaths (five less).
As for the autonomous regions, the Azores had 4,571 new infections between 7 and 13 June (153 more) and three deaths (four less), while Madeira recorded 4,121 cases in those seven days (364 less) and eight deaths (four more), according to DGS data.
According to the report, the age group between 40 and 49 years old was the one with the highest number of cases at seven days (19,147), followed by people between 50 and 59 years old (17,829), while children up to 9 years old were the group with the fewest infections (6,551) this week.
Of the total admissions, 768 were elderly over 80 years of age, followed by the age group from 70 to 79 years (459) and from 60 to 69 years (229).
The DGS also recorded 21 admissions in the age group of children up to 9 years old, 10 from 10 to 19 years old, 18 from 20 to 29 years old, 40 from 30 to 39 years old, 67 from 40 to 49 years old and 110 from 50 to 59 years old. .
The bulletin also mentions that, in these seven days, 186 people over 80 years old died, 56 people between 70 and 79 years old, 10 between 60 and 69 years old, three between 50 and 59 years old and one between 20 and 29 years old.
Regarding vaccination against covid-19, the bulletin states that 93% of the population has the complete vaccination, 64% of those eligible the first booster dose and 45% of the elderly aged 80 years or older the second dose to reinforce immunisation against the virus. SARS-CoV-2.
Yesterday it was reported that more than 2,000 police officers were involved in the security of the United Nations Ocean Conference, which took place last week in Lisbon, an operation that the secretary-general of the internal security system considered today “unprecedented” and “very complicated”.
According to the IPMA air temperatures will increase on the mainland starting from today. The forecasts are for temperatures of 35C to 40C but could be more in some places inland. Coastal areas will be a little cooler. IPMA warn that coupled with this the relative humidity will be low. Indeed yesterday the lowest was below 10%. With these extremes fires if they start may burn with great intensity and spread quickly. Our message is as always take considerable care in the countryside both against the heat and avoid any action that could cause a fire.
According to the most recent data from the Directorate-General for Health (DGS), released last Thursday, cases of Monkeypox in Portugal have exceeded 400, and cases have also been reported in Madeira.
The aircraft available for the connection will be the Airbus A320-NEO which, with its 180 seats, will be able to transport 1,800 passengers to Ponta Delgada in this seasonal summer operation.
For the next couple of days the maximum temperatures will be between 25 and 35 degrees, higher inland, and the minimum between 15 and 20 degrees, but from the end of the week we have a different situation. with an increase in temperature to values between 35 and 40, which may be higher in some places, mainly in the Tagus Valley, interior of Alentejo, Algarve and eastern Algarve”, said meteorologist Bruno Café, from Instituto Português do Mar e da Atmosfera (IPMA).
“The implementation of this project in the primary health care of ARS Algarve, through the use of a portable X-ray equipment [Portable X-Ray Unit FDR Xair] guarantees more comfort and convenience to users in carrying out radiology exams”, underlines the body supervised by the Ministry of Health. In order to respond to this, ARS has prepared a “team of Senior Technicians in Health, Diagnosis and Therapeutics in the area of Radiology” that will “go to the facilities of the entities that request their services” and guarantee “the appropriate safety and protection guidelines”. use of the new equipment”.
“The environmental and project justification decisions are now created to make the Port of Portimão, on the Arade River, one of the reference ports for cruise tourism”, highlighted José Apolinário, adding that it is “good news for tourism”. , for the sustainable use of the ocean and for the economy of the sea in the Algarve region”.
The whale had washed ashore at around 6:30 pm on Sunday and teams from the Maritime Police, the Municipal Civil Protection Service of Albufeira and the Institute for the Conservation of Nature and Forests (ICNF) were awaited to carry out analyzes and removal procedures began, but the device “did not arrive in time to prevent it from being swept out to sea by the tide”, justified the captain of the port of Portimão, which has jurisdiction in Albufeira and Silves, at the time.
The Portuguese coast presents, in some places of the coastal zone, a landscape that is characterized by its irregular nature resulting from erosion. The natural beauty sought after by users of these areas is, however, inseparable from the risk arising from the instability of the cliffs. On rocky coasts, there are cliffs that are permanently or periodically exposed to the action of the sea. This includes parts of the Algarve. It is important therefore that when you visit the beach to be on the lookout for these signs and keep well away from the foot of the cliffs concerned.
The “Ocean’s Promise”, launched at the Lisbon Ocean Conference, will be applied in support that until 2030 will focus on making the exploitation of fish stocks 100% sustainable, accelerating the end of the scourge of ocean pollution by plastics and allowing a hundreds of countries with a coastline fulfill the full potential of their blue economies, said a UNDP official.
According to the ANSR, accidents involving cyclists have resulted in 23 deaths in 2021 (130% more than in 2020), 138 seriously injured (plus 16%) and 2,511 minor injuries (plus 19.7%).
The island of São Jorge has registered 39,995 earthquakes since March 19, of which 291 were felt by the population, the Azores Seismo-volcanic Information and Surveillance Centre (CIVISA) said today.
For regions with very high risk, the IPMA advises the use of sunglasses with a UV filter, a hat, ‘t-shirt’, parasol, sunscreen and that children, should not be exposed to the sun.