Algarve Situation Report Wednesday 21st July 2021
This week we have seen a continued rise in Covid-19 cases across the Algarve. The General Directorate of Health (DGS ) today pointed out the existence of 29,967 cases of coronaviruses in the Algarve, 199 more than yesterday, and the region totals 378 (+1) deaths since the beginning of the pandemic. In the daily update of the epidemiological situation in the municipality of São Brás de Alportel, on Monday, there were 69 (+6) active cases, 469 (+17) recovered, 137 (-3) people under surveillance and 12 deaths.
According to the latest status report released on Sunday by the Castro Marim City Council, the county has 14 active cases, 410 recovered and 2 deaths. In Tavira there were, on Monday, 61 (+1) cases of coronavirus, 170 (-5) in isolation, 1699 (+5) recovered and 29 deaths, according to the municipality’s Facebook page. In Alcoutim, the municipality registered on Saturday, 5 active cases.
According to the Facebook page of the municipality of Vila Real de Santo António, there were, on Monday, 47 (+2) active cases, 1343 (+5) recovered and 19 deaths. According to the municipality of Loulé, on Saturday, the county had 766 active cases, plus 64 recovered, 66 deaths and 12,130 administered vaccines. In Portimão there were, on Monday, 406 (+44) active cases and another 41 recovered, according to a Facebook publication by the municipality, while Aljezur had on Thursday 4 active cases, 133 recovered and 1 death.
The district capital, Faro, registered, on Monday, 635 (+39) active cases, 3807 (+9) recovered and 56 (+1) deaths, according to the Facebook page of the City Council. According to the Albufeira City Council, the county had, on Monday, 842 (+40) active cases, 2927 (+2) recovered and 45 deaths. Through its Facebook page, the municipality of Silves reveals that on Friday there were 191 active cases, 1435 recovered and 12 deaths, while in Lagos there were 296 (+17) active cases on Monday, 1701 (+19) recovered and 29 (+1) deaths. In Lagoa there were, on Monday, 148 (+10) active cases of coronavirus, 834 (+5) recovered and 15 deaths and Monchique had on Wednesday 7 active cases, 179 recovered and 11 deaths.
The lifting by the United Kingdom of the quarantine imposed on travellers from Portugal is a “step forward” for tourism and the Algarve hotel industry is “expectant” regarding the impact of the measure on reservations, according to the main regional hotel association. “The measure is yet another step towards lifting restrictions, which in practice have impeded and continue to impede travel, and we are somewhat expectant about the impact this could have on increased demand from tourists British,” said today, to the Lusa agency, the President of the Association of Hotels and Touristic Enterprises of the Algarve (AHETA), Elidérico Viegas.
The association leader said that it is “still soon” to know how this measure will impact demand, because, he recalled, “some of the previous restrictions continue to be maintained, namely the requirement, two days after returning to the United Kingdom, to do a PCR test”.
“Our country has not yet lifted restrictions on the entry of British tourists with the two doses of the vaccine, which is a pity, and it continues to require a test to enter Portugal”, exemplified Elidérico Viegas, considering that this restriction “also de somehow, it could be lifted”.
“Our perspectives point to having an occupation in the months of July and August that could be around 60%, still far from the usual 100% that occurred before the pandemic”, he estimated.
The President of AHETA stressed that these predicted occupancy rates are “more or less identical” to last year and lamented that the “predictions of having a much better summer than last year” are being “compromised by the restrictions that have been coming to be announced and by the recommendations of countries that are very important in the tourist demand of the region, such as Germany, Netherlands or Ireland”.
Good morning – this week has seen a lot of activity surrounding fires throughout the country. We should never underestimate the work that these volunteer fire fighters take on in extreme conditions to keep us safe. Our thanks go out to all those who are involved in these activities.
This week we have seen a number of issues surrounding cybercrime and fraud and this is highlighted in a report in Expresso that says credit cards and payments made on the Portal da Queixa increased 130% in the period between 1st January and 15th July, compared to the same period last year. According to the consumer support platform, “an increase that was transversal to all entities included in this category”, occurred, namely the Universo Card, WiZink Card, Revolut Card and Cyrana Card, details the Portal da Queixa in a statement released this Tuesday.
Finally, for anyone travelling through the country’s airports in the past few days they will be aware of the chaos due to the strike by the ground handlers at Lisbon and Faro. For those who are not aware, the issue here is that these workers have not been receiving their full salaries for some time and there is no sight of this changing, although we understand that the government is now involved and hopes to come up with a solution soon.
On Tuesday, the vaccination open day using spare doses of AstraZeneca vaccine was a huge success. The spare doses were available for those aged 18 or older, who merely had to turn up at the vaccination centre in Funchal (Madeira Tecnopólo) in order to be inoculated. There was no need for booking a vaccination slot. By 18h00, about 1,000 vaccine doses had been administered, 600 of which had been first doses. The success of this vaccination open day meant that a second vaccination open day was announced. It will take place on July 27th.
The young man has been missing for about a week and the case was reported to the Public Ministry, so that the procedures to be followed in the investigation can be started.
Two years after the approval of measures to strengthen responses to prevent and combat domestic violence, the Secretary of State for Citizenship and Equality highlighted the intervention model of victim support offices (GAV) in the Departments of Investigation and Criminal Action (DIAP), which is now being evaluated, and which started with offices in Braga, Aveiro, Coimbra, Lisbon West, Lisbon North and Faro, but should be expanded.
According to the John Hopkins University in the USA, confirmed cases of Covid-19 have passed 188.9 million globally. The number of confirmed deaths stands at more than 4.06 million. More than 3.54 billion vaccination doses have been administered globally, according to Our World in Data.
The United States has administered 336,054,953 doses of Covid-19 vaccines in the country as of Thursday morning and distributed 388,738,495 doses, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Thursday. The agency said 185,135,757 people had received at least one dose while 160,408,538 people are fully vaccinated as of Thursday.
Los Angeles County will reimpose its mask mandate this weekend in the latest sign that public health officials are struggling with an alarming rise in coronavirus cases tied to the highly contagious Delta variant. The latest order not only puts the county further at odds with both the California Department of Public Health and the U.S. Centres for Disease Control and Prevention — both of which continue to maintain that vaccinated people need not cover their faces indoors — but puts officials in the precarious position of asking the inoculated to forfeit one of the benefits recently enjoyed. Vaccinated people are, in essence, being asked to make a sacrifice to help slow coronavirus spread among the unvaccinated.
It added that a curfew will be imposed from 9pm to 4am, while checkpoints will be set up to prevent people from travelling outside their provinces. Bangkok and nine other provinces have already been under these restrictions, the toughest in more than a year, since last Monday. Thailand is currently battling its longest-running and most severe outbreak so far. The country reported 11,397 infections and 101 deaths on Sunday, bringing the cumulative total to 403,386 cases and 3,341 fatalities.
Britain’s biggest supermarket groups will encourage staff and customers to keep wearing face coverings from Monday, (today) despite new rules in the country making it a matter of personal choice. The UK government has announced that masks will no longer be a legal requirement in England from 19th July, but government guidance still urges supermarkets to ask customers and staff to wear them in their stores.
“The goal of the study is to make Covid-19 antibody tests more accessible.” said Johnny Zhang, a PhD candidate at the Institute of Biomedical Engineering and department of chemistry who is one of the co-first authors of the publication. “The end result is that the patients can take a self-diagnosis for Covid-19 with their phone, and that data can be immediately accessed digitally by medical professionals.”
There were 31,715 travellers under monitoring by the health authorities. Monitoring is being carried out through the ‘MadeiraSafe’ app. There were also 413 people, who had contact with positive cases, being monitored by the health authorities of several Madeira municipalities and of Porto Santo.
On July 14th, Covid-19 vaccination started on athletes who take part in national and international sports competitions, particularly those from Clube Desportivo Nacional. It started at 15h30 and Pedro Ramos (Madeira’s Health and Civil Protection Secretary) and Jorge Carvalho (Madeira’s Education Secretary) were in Madeira Tecnopólo (a vaccination centre in Funchal) to witness this moment.
The Madeira Regional Government renewed the pandemic restrictions. As such, the PSP (Polícia de Segurança Pública – Public Security Police) warned it will continue to monitor businesses such as restaurants to ensure compliance with the restrictions. These include compliance with the closing time (midnight), the maximum capacity limit of 2/3 (both indoors and outdoors), the prohibition of food consumption at the counter. The PSP appealed for customers and business owners to comply with the rules. It also reminded that the curfew lasts from 01h00 until 05h00, social distancing is mandatory; all people aged 6 or older must wear a face mask in order to enter and remain indoors or to use public transport; alcohol consumption in public areas and near commercial establishments is forbidden; and no customers can remain inside a restaurant, bar or similar establishment after its closing time. It appealed for people to comply with all rules and recommendations and warned that failure to comply may result in a crime of disobedience and/or in a fine.
Good morning – We start today by extending our condolences to the families and friends of those who died in the floods in Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands as well as other countries. This is a tragedy beyond all proportions, in terms of deaths, injuries and widespread destruction.
In crisis situations, debate on Facebook, which is not focused on the facts can create unnecessary, unrelated and long threads. This has a negative impact and makes it more difficult for people to find factual information and answers to questions. In critical situations such delays can even place lives at risk. Where such comments detract from the main topic, be it a health crisis or major fire for instance, we will delete these in the interests of the majority and in order to achieve our mission. The “about us” section on our Facebook page is very clear on this subject.
At this moment, about 95% of the population over 50 years living on the continent already has a dose of the vaccine administered and 85% has completed vaccination. It should also be noted that, of the adult population residing on the continent, 74% already have a dose of the vaccine and 55% have the complete vaccination schedule.
On a visit to the vaccination centre in Oeiras, this Friday, Marta Temido admitted the hypothesis that Lisbon is already going through the peak of a fourth wave, acknowledging, however, that more data are needed and praising the vaccination efforts.
In the letter, released by some media, the 20 signatories portray the current situation in the country, stating that in the last 14 days (until July 8th), the covid-19 mortality rate was 0.03 per 100,000 population, against a mortality rate from other diseases and causes of death of 2.7 per 100,000.
According to data released this Friday by the National Institute of Statistics (INE), in May there were 2,602 celebrations, which represents an increase of 88.4% from April to May.
The SYNLAB company has opened ten new units in various regions of the Algarve, to carry out covid-19 PCR and antigen tests, without the need for previous appointments, in the car (“drive” format) or while the customer is on a walk (“walk” format).
Rui André told Lusa that a meeting with the Secretary of State for Nature, Forests and Spatial Planning, João Catarino, resulted in a commitment to a protocol between the municipality and the tutelage to “ensure support for transport” of the wood still on the ground.
It is a circular flight from Amsterdam to Terceira, with the final destination, Ponta Delgada, a connection that had been suspended in 2020 due to the covid-19 pandemic.
“Cases rise when complacency sets in,” she warned during a press briefing. “We are all tired, but after experiencing successive peaks of infections in the same locations, we must break this cycle by embracing public health measures early and consistently.”
It said that the number of people in isolation is 104. A total of 4,196 confirmed cases of Covid-19 (2,028 females and 2,168 males) have been recorded since March 2020, and 48 people have died from the virus. To date, the authorities have carried out 195,982 tests.
In total, the Americas has reported nearly 74 million Covid-19 cases and 1.9 million deaths – more than a third of Covid cases and more than 40% of deaths reported globally. If you couple the Big Nations of US and Canada with these Central American and Caribbean countries, we find that in the past week there has been a 50% increase in confirmed new cases compared to the previous week and an 11% increase in deaths.
In recent weeks, PAHO has delivered personal protective equipment to Haiti, helped expand care for Covid-19 patients, and provided thousands of tests and laboratory materials. PAHO has also helped train community health workers and supported the Ministry of Health in preparing for vaccine introduction and setting up new systems to dispel rumours. Vaccines continue to be inaccessible for many in Latin America and the Caribbean.
In France the French authorities have announced that the country will introduce stringent rules against unvaccinated persons travelling from the United Kingdom, Spain, and Portugal.
To be able to enter Germany, in line with the Ordinance on Coronavirus Entry Regulations for vaccinated travellers, everyone is required to be immunised with one of the vaccines approved by the European Medicines Agency (EMA).
Meanwhile in Cyprus, the country with the highest rate of cases per 100,000 of population in the past week, the country has ceased imposing the requirement of quarantine on arrivals from Sweden and Latvia, whereas travellers coming from Portugal will undergo stricter entry restrictions, as the country is placed in the high-risk category.
Meanwhile another tourist country, Malta, has been told by the EU that their Travel Ban on unvaccinated people could be discriminatory. The Maltese authorities had previously announced that they would restrict non-vaccinated travellers from the UK due to an increased number of Covid-19 infections.
And finally, to end this report we look at Estonia, where they have imposed a 10-day mandatory quarantine for all arrivals from Spain and Andorra. This follows the same rules for people arriving form the United Kingdom, Portugal and Cyprus last week. The decision on the three latter countries was set to remain effective until July 11th; however, the increased number of infections pushed Estonia’s government to continue to apply the compulsory self-isolation requirements for travellers from the UK, Portugal and Cyprus until July 18th.
This was said on the eve of the end of “Operation Periphery”, which, with the support of the ‘task-force’ and a military team provided by the Ministry of National Defence, vaccinated 70% of the population of the islands without a hospital, except do Corvo, which was the first island to achieve group immunity, in March.