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Portugal Situation Report Wednesday 17^th November 2021

Introduction

Good morning – At the weekend, in these first weeks of November, when many people are already shopping for Christmas, it is easy to forget that there is a highly contagious virus that continues to infect hundreds of people every day in Portugal and thousands in several European countries.

As my colleague Mike Evans states in his overseas report yesterday, the past week has seen a rise in infections across many parts of the world. Leading this rise is Europe where we are seeing large increases in new infections across many countries with some bringing back lock down restrictions in the hope of keeping the rates low enough to allow citizens to enjoy the Christmas celebrations.

As far as Portugal is concerned although the number of infections has increased the number of hospitalisations, those in ICU and deaths has so far not seen the dramatic rises as many other countries. Much of this is due to the high levels of vaccinations administered. It is important that all those eligible for their booster and flu jabs do so as soon as possible. The self- scheduling for those 70 and over can be made through the link here.

A meeting at Infarmed will be held this Friday to examine the current situation concerning Covid-19 in Portugal, as well as trends overseas. This is the first meeting since September. This an important and timely meeting to present information and analysis which will enable the Government to determine whether there is a need for measures to be introduced in the lead up to and over the festive season.

Yesterday the Prime Minister António Costa stated “will not hesitate, as we have not hesitated in the past, to take the necessary measures to protect the health and lives of the Portuguese”, when answering a question from a journalist, who questioned the prime minister about the possibility of applying new restrictions, given the increase in covid-19 cases in the country. Tuesday that “it is not foreseeable that measures will be taken again on the scale that we had in the past”, thanks to the vaccination against covid-19, but that “we cannot ignore the signs”: “The later we act, the greater the risks”, he concluded. We wait and see.

An item that drew my attention yesterday was concerning the forecasting of earthquakes. Unlike the sky, the Earth’s interior is not transparent. And that’s why a seismologist like Fernando Carrilho faces very different challenges from colleagues from other departments at the Portuguese Institute of the Sea and the Atmosphere (IPMA), who can relate the previous day’s forecasts to the clouds they see on the horizon. “There are earthquakes originating from depths of 10, 20, and 100 kms or more… and the existing technologies do not allow us to know what is happening in these places”, according to the head of the Geophysics Division at IPMA.

Clearly any pre-warning of earthquakes occurring, could allow time for public announcements to be made and potentially therefore save lives. This very interesting article and what could be done using new technology can be downloaded in English here.

We once again remind people to take care when going for a swim or venturing into the sea at this time of the year, when there are no lifeguards at beaches. A case on Monday when two women aged 83 and 56 (mother and daughter) were swept into the sea by a large wave, whilst paddling in the sea near Praia de Mira. Thankfully an off duty fire fighter, who visited the area to take photographs of sunsets saw their plight and dived into the sea and rescued them.

We remind people living in rural areas, that apart from general land cleaning around your house to protect against rural fires, now is a good time to consider other measures to limit the risk to your property. A survey undertaken of properties destroyed during the Pedrógão Grande fire in 2017 found that the most common way fires entered properties was through the roof, in about 60% of all instances.  For those living in older properties, therefore, which may have traditional tiled roofs that have been in place for many years, it makes sense to start in this area. Often vegetation, including leaves accumulate in these roofs and can catch fire either through burned leaves or embers carried by the wind that settle on roof tops. Some of burned leaves and small branches can travel considerable distances in worst case situations when the wind is high.

At the same time examine guttering. Now is a good time as blocked gutters restrict water flow in what is traditionally the wettest time of the year.

With that please have a Safe Day.

Covid-19 Situation 16^th November

Confirmed Cases: 1.110.155 (+ 1693 / + 0.15 %)
Number of admitted: 486 (+ 16 / + 3.40 %)
Number of ICU admitted: 80 (+ 4 / + 5.26 %)
Deaths: 18,274 (+ 9 / + 0.05 %)
Recovered: 1.053.609 (+ 1770 / + 0.17 %)
Active cases: 38,272 (-86 / -0.22%)

Trends

A small but welcome decrease in active cases after several days of increases. A growing trend is also visible in daily new cases if we recall that eight days ago, on 9 November, 1182 cases had been registered, 511 fewer than today. The number of deaths, nine, is similar to that of recent days, with the exception of Sunday, when 15 people died of the disease. The nine deaths were registered in the Centre (three), in Lisbon and Vale do Tejo (three), in the Algarve (one) and in Madeira (two). According to the DGS, the fatal victims are aged between 50 and 59 years (two), from 70 to 79 years (one) and the elderly aged 80 or over (six).

Health

Vaccines

Vaccines that block transmission of the new coronavirus ready by 2022

Second-generation vaccines that already allow blocking the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 should arrive within the next year.
According to Manuel Santos Rosa, immunologist and full professor at the Faculty of Medicine of Coimbra, only blocking vaccines can save time and win the battle against covid-19.
In an interview with Diário de Notícias , Manuel Santos Rosa says that these new vaccines are already at an advanced stage of development in the United States but also in Europe, namely in Germany and the United Kingdom. New vaccines based on micro-spikes that work as a kind of adhesive seal and which will already have the ability to block the transmission of the disease will also be effective in enhancing cellular immunity.

Covid-19: Public health doctors warn you can’t let your guard down

Lisbon, 16 Nov 2021 (Lusa) – The president of the Association of Public Health Doctors today considered that it was “virtually impossible” to repeat the pandemic situation experienced at the beginning of the year due to the high vaccination coverage, but warned that “it is not to let your guard down.”
Speaking to Lusa news agency about the epidemiological situation in Portugal, Ricardo Mexia stated that the increase in the number of covid-19 cases “was predictable” as a result of the winter and the resumption of a set of activities. “Fortunately this increase is mainly at the expense of the incidence, the number of new cases. Regarding mortality and severity (demand for health care and hospitalization), despite everything, they are not growing as fast as the incidence, which is also to be expected as a result of the high vaccination coverage of the population”, he said.

According to the public health doctor and epidemiologist, vaccination coverage and the “better knowledge” of the disease allow for “some confidence” in relation to what is happening.
“But it is not to let our guard down and reach a situation as we had in January and February this year, which seems virtually impossible to repeat, given the vaccination coverage we have, but which on a smaller scale may still have an important impact both on the demand for health care and on mortality”, he warned.

To stop the increase in cases, he defended several measures such as accelerating the pace of vaccination of the “most vulnerable”. On the other hand, people have to realize that the pandemic is not over: “Although we have resumed almost all of our normal activities, in fact, the situation is not resolved”. It is necessary to continue to maintain some precautions, such as avoiding large agglomerations of people, particularly in closed spaces, using the mask “as long as possible” and continuing to sanitize hands, measures that allow to “reduce the risk significantly”.

Covid-19: Portugal registers more deaths and fewer births in 2020

Last year, mortality increased more than 10% and births dropped 2.5% compared to 2019, according to data released by the National Institute of Statistics.
The birth of close to 86,500 babies last year reveals a 2.5% drop in births compared to 2019. The Algarve and the Lisbon Metropolitan Area were the regions where there were more births.
The natural balance, that is, the difference between birth and mortality, was aggravated by the pandemic.
Last year, more than 11,565 people died, most of them over 85 years of age. In the unusual year, marked by confinement and many restrictions, the number of marriages dropped by more than 40%. Divorces also declined last year, with less than 17,300.
Average life expectancy was estimated at 84 years for women and 78 years for men.

Incidence of pancreatic cancer is increasing and being detected in more young people

A cancer that “was rare”, is becoming “more frequent” and has registered a “30% increase” in the last decade.
The incidence of pancreatic cancer has increased and is being detected in a population younger than usual, Ricardo Rio Tinto, president of the Clube Português do Pancreas (CPP), told Lusa. Pancreatic cancer, a disease that mainly affects people aged 70 or over, has increased significantly in patients between 40 and 50 years of age and also in those in their 30s.
“Not only has the global incidence increased significantly, as there has been a shift in diagnosis to younger ages”, the president of the CPP, section of the Portuguese Society of Gastroenterology, told Lusa, on the occasion of World Pancreas Day, marked on 18 from November.
A cancer that “was rare”, is becoming “more frequent” and has registered a “30% increase” in the last decade, a period during which it went from 1,200 to 1,300 cases annually to “close to 1,800 cases, and it could be more”, according to Ricardo Rio Tinto.

Smoking and alcoholism continue to be risk factors, as does family history, but the doctor who chairs the CPP underlined that there is evidence that changes in the pattern of pancreatic cancer are related to “environmental factors”, such as exposure to “carcinogenic substances”, from fertilizers and pesticides to plastic components, although “the molecular aspects that lead to the appearance of the tumour” have not yet been determined.

Travel

TAP has not been offering meals on board in medium-haul economy class for over a year. Measure will have come to stay

Flying to Milan, London or Berlin on TAP no longer entitles you to a sandwich or a pastel de nata and a drink in economy class. For more than a year, the Portuguese air carrier stopped offering light meals, snacks or snacks and drinks free of charge in economy class on medium-haul trips.
The changes in TAP’s on-board service began to affect the management of the American private shareholder, David Neleeman, with on-board meal offers being more frugal and replaced by paid service, as usual in companies low cost, low cost calls.

With the pandemic, TAP put an end to complimentary snacks and drinks and now the only thing it offers on medium-course economy class is a glass of water. The rest is paid. The carrier clarifies that it is following a general trend in the industry, even practiced by the former flag companies. “TAP has adopted this practice [on board sales service (On-board Retail)] for over a year, which has become widespread in the industry, which brings not only a wider range of choices, but also a reduction in food waste,” he explained to Express the company’s official source.

The menus available on board, explains TAP, “were designed around the passengers’ most frequent preferences and requests”. There are sandwiches, mixed toast and hamburgers. TAP also clarifies that the in-flight sales service is available on European flights from Lisbon, except for Porto, Faro, Madrid, Malaga and Seville, and on connections to North Africa and Cape Verde. On these seven flights, TAP does not have any type of service on board for economy classes.

Portugal Situation Report Wednesday 3^rd November 2021

Introduction

Good morning – We start with some good news and that is that is the announcement that until the end of October, Portugal had the lowest number of rural fires and the second lowest level in burnt area, since 2011.

The Minister of Internal Administration said yesterday that it was thanks to the initial muscular and effective intervention in the vast majority of cases, of the Fire Department, of the heli-transported teams of the Guarda Nacional Republicana (GNR) and of the Sapadores Florestais teams, that in more than 80% of the recorded occurrences, the burned area was contained to less than 1 hectare.

As we have previously said in our reports it is the combined team efforts of the various emergency services that are containing many of these fires at the initial stages. Great work to all the emergency services involved.

Another topic coming under the broad heading of civil protection is the forthcoming A Terra Treme Earthquake awareness exercise, on Friday 5^th November. We urge everyone to become involved in this. Does your business have an earthquake emergency plan? If not why not? Do you and your family know what to do in an earthquake? If not why not? If you are a school principal or teacher, is your school participating? If not why not?

Unfortunately there are many casualties in major earthquake because people were unaware of the correct action to take. The simple measure of “Drop, Cover, Hold On”, could save many lives. By caring for those you have responsibility for, please become involved, through the many ways of doing so.

The A Terra Treme website is here:  http://www.aterratreme.pt/o-exercicio/   and we have put this altogether in English here:  https://www.safecommunitiesportugal.com/find-information/environment-and-weather/earthquake-tsunami/  Please read, get involved and help keep yourself and others safe should a major earthquake take place. To make it even easier we have put together a PowerPoint which you can download here: https://www.safecommunitiesportugal.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/A-Terra-Treme-Earthquake-Awareness-Exercise.-2021-pptx-1.pdf

Well we had a taste of some bad weather recently with 5 days of rain in most areas of the mainland. The emergency services were out and about attending to over 1300 occurrences during this period. There were plenty of warnings beforehand and I hope that everyone took heed of these. However, some clearly did not do so and we saw from photos and reports of the number of cars damaged by fallen trees. The winter season officially starts at the end of this month and we can expect further rain and winds as is normal during this period.

However we are in a period of climate change and extreme weather conditions are becoming more frequent. If you live in an area prone to flooding and exposed to high winds, it is the right time now to start clearing blocked drains and gutters, cleaning trees in poor condition and in particular removing branches that may overhang your property. This will greatly reduce the risk of property damage in case of bad weather.

Related to this Tropical Storm Strom Wanda is heading in the general direction of the Azores, if the current forecasts are direct. This is the first of this season but in the past the Azores, Madeira and even the mainland of Portugal have been affected by these storms. When they progress to hurricane level they cause immense damage, so it is important to monitor their track and be prepared.

You may notice that yesterday our Facebook page reached a milestone of 50,000 followers. We thank those who are following and sharing our work which is undertaken by volunteers.

Given our remit of safety and security, inevitably we have to sometimes deal with, and communicate, difficult and challenging topic, which do not always make happy reading. We are conscious of this and therefore, we try to balance this with positive and good news, which is important during challenging times. Some examples in the last two days were our posts concerning: the “Portuguese tradition to ask for Pão Por Deus”, and “Big wave surfing at Nazaré”, which have so far reached around 26,400 and 33,600 respectively, as well as the “1755 Tsunami Simulation post, with an engagement of nearly 3,000 reach over 17,000 so far”.

We do monitor this figures closely so we can see what sort of topics people are finding most useful and informative.

Out Team at Safe Communities wish you a Safe and Happy day 

Headlines

Covid-19: five million dead is “a global shame”, says António Guterres

These are not numbers on a page. They are mothers and fathers. Brothers and sisters,” Guterres said in a statement in which he stressed that while rich countries are already administering a third dose of the vaccine against the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, which causes the disease, “only about 5% of the population of Africa is fully vaccinated”.

“This is a global shame,” Guterres said, adding that the fact that the pandemic has already left five million dead is also a “clear warning” that it is not possible to “lower our guard”.

The head of the United Nations also indicated that there are several factors that could contribute for the coronavirus to continue to spread, including misinformation, the concentration of vaccines and the lack of global solidarity.

“We have to inject vaccines into the arms of 40% of people in all countries by the end of the year, and 70% by mid-2022,” urged Guterres, urging world leaders to support the Organization’s Global Vaccination Strategy.

“The best way to honour these five million people we’ve lost, and to support health workers who struggle with this virus every day, is to make vaccine equity a reality by accelerating our efforts and ensuring maximum vigilance to win against the virus”, the UN secretary general added.

Covid-19 has already caused more than five million deaths worldwide, among more than 246.62 million infections by the new coronavirus recorded since the beginning of the pandemic, according to the latest report by the Agence France-Presse, based on data officers. 

Covid-19

COVID-19DGS Situation Report from Tuesday 2^nd November 2021

Confirmed Cases: 1.091.592 (+450)

Number of admitted: 372 (+12)

Number of ICU admitted: 59 (-1)

Deaths: 18.171 (+9)

Recovered: 1.041.385 (+345)

Active cases: 32.036 (+98)

Health

Covid-19: Câmara de Lisboa extends free testing plan until the end of the year

Lisbon, Nov 02, 2021 (Lusa) – The free and unlimited testing plan for covid-19 in Lisbon was extended until the end of the year, the City Council announced today, recalling that the program is open to the entire population, whether or not resident in the capital.

“The municipal testing plan, scheduled until the end of October, was extended by the new executive until the end of the year”, reads the website of the Câmara de Lisboa, now chaired by the social democrat Carlos Moedas.

The covid-19 testing program in Lisbon was implemented by the former municipal executive, under the presidency of the socialist Fernando Medina, who failed to be re-elected to the position in the municipal councils on 26 September.

“The Municipality of Lisbon provides a mass testing system, which allows monitoring the gradual de-confinement, preventing the transmission of the virus in the community and reducing contagion”, said the municipality.

Covid-19 tests are free and unlimited, for residents and non-residents, and can be performed at the network of participating pharmacies or at fixed posts in various parts of the city and markets, in partnership with the Ministry of Health, Unilabs, National Association of Pharmacies and Lisbon City Council.

The municipality announced on April 14 that it was going to extend free testing in pharmacies to covid-19 to all residents of the municipality, leaving the program – which started on March 31 – to be limited to parishes with the highest incidence of the disease.

On May 19, the City of Lisbon decided to provide free tests to covid-19 to fairgrounds and merchants in municipal markets, workers from companies covered by the Lisboa Protege Program and to athletes from training levels registered in the council’s clubs and collectives. 

Covid-19: Montemor-o-Velho Chamber activates Municipal Emergency Plan

The Municipality of Montemor-o-Velho activated the Municipal Emergency Plan until Wednesday next week, with the possibility of renewal, in order to control the spread of covid-19, the municipality announced yesterday.

According to a statement, a situation was detected “of particular epidemiological vulnerability in municipal services, which has been exponentially worsening.”

Given this situation, the Municipal Emergency Plan was activated from 4:30 pm on Monday.

As long as the emergency plan is activated, the Paços do Concelho building is closed, with the suspension of face-to-face service, which will be carried out exclusively by telephone and digital means.

According to the municipal notice, the municipal buildings of the high-performance centre, the library, the municipal archive, the Balcão Único do Prédio (BUPI) and the municipal pavilion are also closed for the same period.

With regard to payments and compliance with deadlines, they are postponed for as long as this period lasts, so that there is no harm to residents and service users.

According to that municipality in the district of Coimbra, the evolution of the epidemiological situation will be analysed together with the health authority, so that, as soon as possible, the face-to-face reopening of services is made.

The notice for general knowledge is published on the municipality’s website.

Other news

Fenprof suspends teachers strike due for Friday 5^th November

Coimbra, 02 Nov 2021 (Lusa) – The National Federation of Teachers (Fenprof) yesterday decided to suspend the Friday teachers’ strike, due to the ‘stalemate’ of the State Budget for 2022, but will join the administration strike public scheduled for November 12th.

The secretary general of Fenprof, Mário Nogueira, said today in Coimbra that as Friday’s strike was “intimately linked to the State Budget and the visit of the minister to parliament” for its discussion in the specialty, with the parliamentary committee, it was decided to suspend that fighting action.

Mário Nogueira stressed that this is a suspension of the strike, but not its annulment, noting that Fenprof will leave this fighting action “in portfolio for a moment in the near future”.

This moment could arise if “a State Budget proposal similar to the one that has now been rejected is presented by the next Government, on the day the future Minister of Education goes to the Parliamentary Committee on Education to hear about it”, he asserted.

Fenprof has a different understanding of the public administration strike scheduled by the Common Front for November 12th.

This “was not a strike associated with the visit of any minister to parliament, it was intended to convey to the Government and the country that public administration workers do not conform with the devaluation they have been subjected to nor with the degradation of public services that it was not started by the current Government, but continued by it”, said Mário Nogueira, at a press conference held this afternoon, after a meeting of the Fenprof secretariat that took place in the morning.

ASAE faces a “structural issue” of lack of means (it has fewer inspectors than when it was created) and a challenge: online commerce

The inspector general of the Authority for Food and Economic Security (ASAE), Pedro Portugal Gaspar, admits that the ASAE is going through “a structural issue”. In an interview with the newspaper “Público”, the inspector general highlights some problems that ASAE is experiencing, such as the “aging of staff, mobility to other organizations and the absence of new hires”.

The number of workers has fluctuated. In 2006, it had 251 inspectors, for a total of 595 workers. In 2021, it has 491 workers, of which 248 (51%) are integrated in the inspection career.

Leading the 2022 State Budget could jeopardize the budget targets set by ASAE for the next year. The budget was set at 20.5 million euros, 11% more compared to this year (18.479 million), of which “2% increase in transfers from the State Budget and 9% increase in the projection of own revenues”.

Pedro Portugal Gaspar also recognizes difficulties in the supervision of online commerce: “Let’s say that it benefits from some situation of greater difficulty in immediate supervision, despite the guarantee space and cooperation being made with other countries”.

Unemployment rate

Portugal registered an unemployment rate of 6.4% in September, according to the estimate put forward this Tuesday by the National Statistics Institute (INE).

The INE also revised downwards the August unemployment rate, which had initially been estimated at 6.4% and which has now corrected to 6.3%, indicates the statement published this Tuesday.

According to the same source, the unemployed population (331.3 thousand) increased by 1.9% in relation to the previous month and decreased by 6% in relation to the three months before and 18.2% in relation to the same month of the previous year.

On the other hand, the employed population (4,817.8 thousand) decreased by 0.3% compared to August and increased by 0.3% compared to June and 3.7% compared to September 2020, according to INE.

“The unemployment rate stood at 6.4%, 0.1 pp (percentage points) more than in the previous month, 0.4 pp less than three months earlier and 1.6 pp less than a year earlier “, observes the institute.

Judicial Police seizes 430,000 doses of cocaine from Brazil at Porto airport

Porto, Nov 02, 2021 (Lusa) – The Judicial Police (PJ) seized enough cocaine for 430,000 individual doses and detained five people during an operation, centred at Porto Airport, to combat drug trafficking from Brazil to Portugal, revealed today police source.

In a statement, the Northern Directorate of the PJ indicates that the action took place on Sunday, following a control of the cargo of a plane coming from São Paulo, “as part of the investigation starting some 6 months ago, into the activities of a criminal group”.

The drug, a total of 43 kilos of cocaine, with a high degree of purity, would be enough to produce more than 430,000 doses, and that quantity could be expanded with the addition of so-called ‘cut products’, the police said.

The detainees are four men, aged between 34 and 44, and a woman, aged 31, all Portuguese and residents of the Greater Porto area.

An investigating judge ordered the preventive arrest of three of them and ordered the remaining two to report periodically to the authorities.

Two of the defendants are employees of companies operating at the said airport. Within the scope of the trafficking scheme, “they had the function of extracting the illicit cargo, proceeding with the collection of the volumes with the narcotic”, based on instructions received from a South American criminal network.

In addition to drugs, four high-end cars and a firearm that was loaded were seized, in an operation in which the PJ had the collaboration of the Customs Services of the Tax and Customs Authority of Francisco Sá Carneiro Airport and of the Airport Security Division of the PSP.

Comment

Brazil does not produce cocaine but it is one of the main exit points for trafficking into Europe.