Archives: Situation Reports

Portugal Situation Report Wednesday 19^th May 2021

 

Introduction

Yesterday and Monday were two very busy days for us at Safe Communities with the publication of the list of testing centres for visitors to Portugal from the UK and also the new Beach Law. Regarding the latter, the decree law 35-A/2021 sets out the rules concerning access, occupation and use of bathing beaches (sea and river beaches, and with adaptations also all outdoor swimming pools) – this is with immediate effect.

The official bathing season formally starts in Portugal on 29^th May 2021 when the lifeguards and concessionaries are in place. To avoid exceeding the capacity of beaches there will be an occupancy status system: App ´Info Praia. This is currently being updated ahead of the formal start of the bathing season and we will publish details when available. The rules concerning beaches are similar to last year, the main difference being the capacities in the traffic light system.

As you can appreciate this is not just “cut and paste work” and the Beach Law took several hours to summarize the eleven pages highlighting and condensing the important points into a one-page table. I thank once again our volunteer Fernanda Gonçalves for all her help.

Yesterday the Prime Minister, António Costa, warned that the opening of borders in Portugal “has rules that must be complied with”, considering it essential that tourists arriving in the country are duly informed. He added that it is essential that everyone who arrives in Portugal knows that they have to wear a mask on the public road, they have to maintain adequate physical distance and that they have to maintain hand hygiene practices”.

We could not agree more with this statement and it is essential that tourists are aware of the rules that exist in Portugal not those existing in their own countries – and more importantly follow them.

This is where your help is needed to share the information that we place on Facebook as widely as possible. Many of our nearly 44 thousand followers are living in the UK visiting Portugal from time to time, so it is essential that these important messages get across – not from reading the tabloids. A very good example of this is that our Facebook post on Monday of the location of test centres has so far reached around 40 thousand people providing advance information to tourists planning to travel to Portugal.

Turning now to the weather and the fact that over the last 3-4 days there has been a considerable increase in the rural fire risk. Monday was the first day of the year that we saw a maximum fire risk being raised, which was for Tavira municipality. This increase is set to continue with today several municipalities at maximum risk and the forecast that on Saturday nearly all the Algarve will be at maximum fire risk. In such conditions it really is essential that we take every step possible to prevent a fire starting, because if it does it could spread quickly. The fires that have broken out so far, have been dealt with very quickly, on occasions using an air response at the outset. Remember when a fire gets hold in dry and windy conditions, it can take days to extinguish as we saw with the Monchique fire in 2018.

Behind the scenes at Safe Communities Portugal we have been working for the last 7–8 months on a project which aimed at further strengthening our delivery of information to the community. If all goes according to plan we will be unveiling this tomorrow, with an announcement on this page – stand by!

With that have a Safe Day.

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Headlines

Covid-19. António Costa warns that borders have opened “with rules”.

The Prime Minister, António Costa, warned this Tuesday that the opening of borders in Portugal “has rules that must be complied with”, considering it essential that tourists arriving in the country are duly informed.

“The borders have opened, but with rules and these rules have to be followed”, warned the Portuguese Prime Minister questioned in Paris by journalists about the arrival of thousands of tourists to Portugal starting this week.

For the Prime Minister, the balance between the opening of borders and the containment of the pandemic is based on “strict compliance with the rules”, with all entries to be subject to negative PCR tests, among other measures.

The Government leader considers that it is “fundamental” that foreigners arriving in Portugal are also informed of these rules. “It is essential that everyone who arrives in Portugal knows that they have to wear a mask on the public road, they have to maintain adequate physical distance that they have to maintain hand hygiene practices”, underlined the Prime Minister.

Also on the beaches, the rules must be maintained, with the Prime Minister reminding that “the limitation of capacity, with mandatory distance between towels” remains in this bathing season and that the value of the fines has risen to dissuade anyone who disrespects the sanitary indications in force.

“Today we are in a better situation than we were in, but we will only remain in that position if we do not relax the rules. Whenever you relaxed in the past, the situation has worsened,” concluded the Prime Minister.

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Children between the ages of 3 and 10 with possible food poisoning in hospital in Beja.

Children from several schools in Beja were taken today to the city hospital, due to “suspected food poisoning”. They are between 3 and 10 years old, a source from the City Council told Lusa.

The Councillor for Education in the municipality of Beja, Arlindo Morais, indicated that “there are suspicions of food poisoning”, adding that the children attend pre-school and 1st cycle of basic education and belong to two schools in Beja and schools in the rural parishes of Beringel, São Matias and Trigaches.

Arlindo Morais also said that meals for these schools are prepared by the Social and Recreational Center of Bairro da Esperança, in Beja, a Private Social Solidarity Institution (IPSS).

The Mayor also told Lusa that the municipality contacted public health authority which sent a team to carry out analysis at the place where meals are cooked.

In addition, he added, inspectors from the Food and Economic Security Authority (ASAE) are also carrying out analysis and are awaiting the results.

Arlindo Morais said that there have been contacts about the situation between the municipality, public health and the Beja hospital.

Hospital sources previously told Lusa that the Beja unit reinforced its teams with doctors and nurses to “respond” to the 36 children and 6 adults who, by 8 pm, had been admitted to the emergency room due to vomiting.

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Covid-19.

This Tuesday Portugal recorded two deaths and 386 new cases of Covid-19, according to the daily report of the Directorate-General for Health (DGS). The key figures for Friday are:

Confirmed Cases: 842.767 (+ 386 / + 0.05 %)

Number of admitted: 233 (-13 /-5.28 %)

Number of ICU admitted: 66 (-6 /-8.33 %)

Deaths: 17.011 (+ 2 / + 0.01 %)

Recovered: 803.759 (+ 568 / + 0.07 %)

Active cases: 21,997 (- 184 /- 0.82%)

Safe Communities comparisons/trends: show that deaths were in line as last week’s average; new daily cases were just above last weeks’ daily average (372) and were lower than recovered cases for second day in a row. In hospital there was a decreases and the third lowest for over a year since 27th March 2020 (then 191), and in ICU the lowest since 21st September 2020. Active cases were the third lowest since 22nd September 2020

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Health

Covid-19: Complete vaccination rate in the district of Bragança higher than the national average.

The rate of complete vaccination against Covid-19 in the district of Bragança is higher than the national average, with 19.3% of the population on two doses, while in the country the figure is 13.5 %, according to official data.

The Local Health Unit (ULS) of the Northeast announced today that 24,136 people already have the complete vaccination, which corresponds to 19.3% of the little more than 124 thousand inhabitants of the 12 municipalities in the district of Bragança.

As for the first doses, the coverage in the region is lower than the national average, with 28.5% against 31.3%, but in the overall dose administered, the district of Bragança follows the national pace with about 47% of the population with at least one dose of the covid-19 vaccine.

According to the latest data released by ULS, 83,559 doses of vaccines have already been administered in the district of Bragança. These figures include 35,287 people with one dose and 24,136 with both doses.

The district of Bragança recorded in the last official bulletin, on Monday, 35 active cases of infection with the new coronavirus, most of which (30) in the most populous municipality, Bragança.

The remaining cases were divided by Macedo de Cavaleiros, with two, and the municipalities of Vimioso, Carrazeda de Ansiães and Vila Flor, with a record.

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Vaccines Reactions

More than 5660 suspected adverse reactions to the Covid-19 vaccine have been recorded in Portugal and there have been 35 reported cases of death in the elderly with various diseases, but the cause-effect relationship has not been demonstrated, according to Infarmed.

According to the latest report, the National Authority for Medicines and Health Products , dated Friday (May 14), 5665 adverse reactions were reported, most of them (72.9%) referring to the Pfizer/BioNtech vaccine, with 4129 cases, followed by AstraZeneca (Vaxzevria), with 1234, and Moderna, with 302.

The Infarmed stresses, however, that “adverse drug reactions (ADRs) reported not necessarily have a causal relationship to the administered vaccine.”

Infarmed data indicates that for every thousand doses administered, 1.34 reactions were reported in the case of Pfizer, 1.05 in the case of AstraZeneca (Vaxzevria), 0.66 for Moderna and 0.05 for the Janssen vaccine.

“These cases occurred mainly in the elderly who have more fragile health conditions (some with several underlying health issues). Vaccination against Covid-19 in these groups will not reduce deaths from other causes, which will continue to occur “, underlines Infarmed.

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Minister of Interior asks tourists to respect the rules in force in the country.

Lisbon, 18 May 2021 (Lusa) – The Minister of Internal Affairs today called on tourists visiting Portugal to “strictly respect the rules” that are in force in the country to combat Covid-19, recalling that the pandemic “is not over yet”.

In the Assembly of the Republic, Eduardo Cabrita said that “the main wish” is that there is no more debate in the parliament about new periods of State of Emergency, nor the presentation of government reports.

“This is not over yet and it is essential that in all events, it is essential that the tourists we have strictly respect the rules that make Portugal today an example at European level”, said the minister, during the debate in parliament of the last two States of Emergency, between the periods from 1 to 15 April and from 16 to 30 April.

The minister stressed that the “appropriate and demanding” measures allowed Portugal to be able, for about two months, to be the country “with the lowest” incidence of cases of Covid-19 and deaths of “the whole European Union”.

“This result proves the adequacy of the initiative of the President of the Republic, the decisions of the Assembly of the Republic and the difficult and demanding measures taken by the Government”, he said.

Eduardo Cabrita underlined that the results are “above all the merit of all the Portuguese for the way they internalized the fulfilment of these measures” and the “merit of the professionals of the National Health Service who provided answers” ​​in difficult times and who contributed so that, during the April, Portugal registered “a significant reduction in cases and deaths”.

“This result is a merit of the security forces, who with determination, courage and commitment in a pedagogical or active way were present guaranteeing compliance with the measures. Whether guaranteeing border control measures, or guaranteeing and resisting even when for hours they were attacked with bottles, stones and who knows what else”, he said.

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Region Reports

Madeira Situation Report, Wednesday 19^th May 2021, by our Special Correspondent, Daniel Fernandez

Covid-19 update

There were 73 new Covid-19 cases, 65 recoveries and no deaths from Covid-19 in Madeira since the previous Madeira Situation Report.

On Saturday, there were 39 new Covid-19 cases (from 1 passenger who had arrived from the Lisbon and Tagus Valley Region and 38 cases of local transmission) and 21 recoveries. The number of patients in hospital remained the same as on Friday the same (5, including 1 in intensive care).

On Sunday, there were 8 new Covid-19 cases (from 1 passenger who had arrived from Belgium, 1 passenger who had arrived from the Lisbon and Tagus Valley Region and 6 cases of local transmission) and 6 recoveries. The number of patients in hospital remained the same as on Friday and on Saturday (5, 1 of whom in intensive care).

On Monday, there were 9 new Covid-19 cases (from 1 passenger who had arrived from the Lisbon and Tagus Valley Region and 8 cases of local transmission) and 21 recoveries. The number of patients in hospital increased to 6, 1 of whom was intensive care.

And on Tuesday, there were 17 new Covid-19 cases (all cases of local transmission) and 17 recoveries. The number of patients in hospital decreased to 4, 1 of whom was in intensive care.

There were 240 active cases on Tuesday, of which 18 had been imported while the other 222 cases had been a result of local transmission. As of Tuesday, there had been 9,280 cases, 8,969 recoveries and 71 deaths.

On Tuesday, there were 9 patients in isolation in a dedicated hotel, 227 patients in isolation in their own accommodation and 4 patients in Covid-19 units, 1 of whom in intensive care.

On the same day, there were 126 suspected cases under epidemiological investigation and analysis, which were all linked to patients who tested positive for Covid-19, to calls made to the SRS24 helpline, to referrals by SESARAM (Madeira Regional Health Service) and to airport screening.

There were 12,866 travellers under monitoring by the health authorities. Monitoring is being carried out through the ‘MadeiraSafe’ app. There were also 783 people, who had contact with positive cases, being monitored by the health authorities of several Madeira municipalities and of Porto Santo.

As for Covid-19 testing on passengers who had arrived at Funchal and Porto Santo airports, 202,081 samples had been collected until Tuesday (at 15h30). By Tuesday, 411,859 samples from RT-PCR tests had been processed and 54,933 antigen rapid tests had been carried out in the Autonomous Region of Madeira.

The SRS 24 helpline (Regional Health Service – 800 24 24 20) received 552 calls from Friday to Tuesday. Overall, it has received 49,312 calls.

The Covid-19 mental health helpline (Linha de Acompanhamento Psicológico da Direção Regional de Saúde – 291 212 399 – available every day from 09h00 to 21h00), which was set up to provide emotional and mental support to anyone in Madeira received 22 calls from Friday to Tuesday. Overall, it has received 3,530 calls.

https://funchalnoticias.net/2021/05/15/madeira-com-39-novos-casos-de-covid-19-nas-ultimas-24-horas/

https://funchalnoticias.net/2021/05/16/8-novos-casos-de-covid-19-6-recuperados-233-suspeitos/

https://funchalnoticias.net/2021/05/17/9-novos-casos-de-covid-19-21-recuperados-85-suspeitos/

https://funchalnoticias.net/2021/05/18/17-novos-casos-de-covid-19-17-casos-recuperados-126-casos-suspeitos/

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Vaccination update

Vaccination was temporarily suspended on Monday after 2 out of 5 boxes containing Pfizer Covid-19 vaccines were found to have some damage. These 2 boxes had come into contact with water and were found to have “signs of external humidity”. The Pharmacy of Hospital Dr. Nélio Mendonça immediately contacted Pfizer and was instructed not to use the vaccines. Technicians from the pharmacy and from Pfizer’s global quality team investigated the situation. Pfizer will have final say on whether doses can be used. Although vaccination was restarted in Funchal and in Machico, it was postponed until Sunday in Ribeira Brava.

Pedro Ramos revealed that the Region will receive 7,000 AstraZeneca vaccine doses that will be part of the 17,650 doses that will be used for vaccination on June 1st.

As of May 16th, 122,216 Covid-19 vaccine doses had been administered in the Autonomous Region of Madeira since the start of the vaccination campaign on December 31st. A total of 88,101 people (34.7% of the population) have received the 1st dose while 31,115 people (13.4% of the population) are fully vaccinated.

A total of 18,028 vaccine doses (11,597 1st doses & 6,431 2nd doses) were administered in the previous week.

The plan for this week is to continue to inoculate throughout the Region, with a specific focus on the administration of 2nd to residents in the municipalities and who belong to priority groups.

The following website provides a real-time update on the number of inoculations:

https://web.sesaram.pt/COVID19_INFO

All of the Region’s municipalities are listed on the map. To enable readers to understand the information provided, a translation of some key words and sentences has been provided:

Vacinas Administradas – Vaccines administered

1ª Dose – 1st Dose

2ª Dose – 2nd Dose

Objetivo – Goal/Aim

Vacinar 175 mil pessoas com as duas doses de vacina – To inoculate 175,000 people with 2 doses of the vaccine

Só assim alcançaremos a PROTEÇÃO DE GRUPO – That’s the only way for us to reach HERD IMMUNITY

https://www.jm-madeira.pt/regiao/ver/128871/Caixas_da_vacina_Pfizer_afetadas_com_agua_mantiveram_temperatura

https://funchalnoticias.net/2021/05/17/vacinacao-foi-suspensa-hoje-por-causa-de-lote-em-condicoes-duvidosas/

https://www.tsf.pt/portugal/sociedade/vacinacao-suspensa-na-madeira-devido-a-embalagens-pfizer-com-sinais-de-humidade-13729494.html

https://funchalnoticias.net/2021/05/18/gr-diz-que-ja-foram-administradas-mais-de-122-mil-vacinas/

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Czech solo sailor rescued off the coast of Porto Santo

A 64 year-old male Czech sailor was rescued off the coast of Porto Santo after being found onboard a liferaft belonging to Rogui II, a Czech sailing boat that had been headed from Europe to the Caribbean.

On Monday at around 17h30, the Lisbon Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC Lisboa) received a satellite signal that had been transmitted by an EPIRB (emergency position-indicating radio beacon), which issues an emergency signal upon coming into contact with water, at a location 150 nautical miles (277 Km) north-west of Porto Santo. The Lisbon MRCC immediately directed a tanker and a fishing vessel that were in the area and deployed a Portuguese Air Force C-295 aircraft to provide visual confirmation of this signal. At around 21h00 the Portuguese Air Force aircraft confirmed it and spotted a liferaft that had 1 person onboard.

LNG Port-Harcourt II, a Bermuda-registered tanker, was the first vessel to arrive at scene and rescued the Czech sailor at 01h45 (Tuesday). Afterwards, he was transferred at 04h00 to NRP Mondego, a Portuguese Navy Tejo Class patrol vessel, which was expected to have arrived in Funchal on Tuesday afternoon. The sailor was unharmed and medical treatment was not required.

https://www.facebook.com/MarinhaPortuguesa/?hc_ref=ARQt037luaeX9O6Lf8lTUGxcIuaaskNQ96CHL8fC3wdqi0m63l0h0SZfJ_MWUJmLudA&fref=nf

https://tvi24.iol.pt/sociedade/resgate/velejador-resgatado-a-bordo-de-salva-vidas-ao-largo-de-porto-santo

https://funchalnoticias.net/2021/05/18/navegador-solitario-socorrido-pela-marinha-a-noroeste-do-porto-santo/

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Free entry to Madeira Military Museum until May 20th

To celebrate International Museum Day, which took place yesterday, there will be free entry until May 20th to the Madeira Military Museum (Museu Militar da Madeira), located at São Lourenço Palace (Palácio de São Lourenço). According to the Portuguese Army, pandemic-related safety measures will be in place. An App that is available on Android and IOS will be available to all visitors and will provide them with a more dynamic and comfortable experience while exploring the different thematic galleries. The Museum use social media to provide updates on new developments and projects.

https://www.facebook.com/museumilitardamadeira

https://funchalnoticias.net/2021/05/18/museu-militar-da-madeira-oferece-entradas-livres-ate-20-de-maio/

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Water supply disruptions

There will be water supply disruptions in the Municipality of Câmara de Lobos, due to scheduled work on the water supply network to prevent water leaks. The disruptions will affect the following places:

– May 19th (09h00 to 13h00 – TODAY) — Parish (Freguesia) of Câmara de Lobos (Espírito Santo & Torre)

– May 19th (22h00 – TONIGHT) to May 20th (02h00) — Parish (Freguesia) of Estreito de Câmara de Lobos (Achada, Igreja, Pico e Salões, Ribeira da Caixa, Ribeira Fernanda & Vargem)

– May 19th (22h00 – TONIGHT) to May 20th (02h00) — Parish (Freguesia) of Câmara de Lobos (Bela Vista, Quinta do Leme & Ribeira da Caixa)

– May 21st (09h00 to 13h00) — Parish (Freguesia) of Estreito de Câmara de Lobos (Igreja, Pico e Salões, Quinta de Santo António, Quinta do Leme & Ribeira da Caixa)

– May 21st (09h00 to 13h00) — Parish (Freguesia) of Câmara de Lobos (Quinta do Leme)

https://funchalnoticias.net/2021/05/16/arm-avisa-para-cortes-de-agua-em-camara-de-lobos-2/

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Power cut

Empresa de Electricidade da Madeira (Madeira power supplier) announced there will be power cuts due to planned work on the electricity supply network. These works cannot be postponed and will take place in the following days and places:

FUNCHAL  – May 20th – 22h00 to 00h00 & May 21st – 00h00 to 06h00

– Rua de João Tavira (number 4)

– Rua da Queimada de Cima (numbers 4, 10, 12 and 14)

May 21st – 09h00 to 11h30

– Rua da Quinta do Leme (numbers 56 to 115)

– Rampa da Quinta do Leme (number 10)

– Beco João Rebelo (numbers 4 to 29)

CAMPANÁRIO – May 21st – 09h00 to 11h00

– Estrada Comandante Camacho de Freitas (numbers 444 to 517)

May 21st – 11h30 to 12h00

– Terreiros (partial)

– Cova do Conde (partial)

– Portela

– Eira das Moças

RIBEIRA BRAVA – May 21st – 09h00 to 12h00

– Eira do Mourão

MACHICO – May 21st – 09h30 to 09h45

– Pastel

However, power could be restored during the time frame mentioned above. So, for safety purposes, it should be assumed that there will be power at any time during this period of time.

If necessary, customers can contact the free Customer Support Service (Serviço de Apoio ao Cliente): 800 221 187.

https://funchalnoticias.net/2021/05/19/publicidade-o-fornecimento-de-energia-sera-interrompido-nos-dias-horas-e-locais-abaixo-indicados-anuncio-40-2021/

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 Algarve Situation Report, Wednesday 19^th May 2021

AHP receives confirmation from the “Task Force” on strengthening vaccination in the Algarve.

Following the proposal submitted to the “Task Force” responsible for the Vaccination Plan against Covid-19 with the request for priority vaccination of the population of the Algarve, the Association of Hotelaria de Portugal (AHP), said in a statement that it received confirmation of the intention to start strengthening vaccination in the Algarve region, accelerating the rate of vaccinated population.

“It is with great expectation that we received recognition for our proposal to speed up the vaccination of residents and tourism professionals in the Algarve region, the main national tourist destination. Add to its relevance at the moment when it is already possible to make tourist trips from some markets, among which, the British, are vital for tourism in the Algarve”, says Raul Martins, president of AHP.

The purpose of the AHP proposal, presented on May 13th, is to guarantee a quick resumption of tourism activity and maintenance of companies and jobs in a region very dependent on tourism activity.

“We are at a crucial stage for tourism, with the opening of airspace to some destinations and with the approach of summer, and it is important to transmit confidence both to the Portuguese population and to those who visit us. With the reinforcement of vaccination in the Algarve region, we will, for sure, ensure a greater competitiveness of the destination”, concludes Raul Martins.

AHP says that according to Eurostat data released in April, the Algarve was the Portuguese region that registered the highest unemployment rate in 2020, reaching 8.4%, followed by Madeira and the Lisbon Metropolitan Area. Also the Observatory of Inequalities, which recently published the study “Unemployment in 2020 – Impacts of the Pandemic, Mappings and Reflections”, indicates that the Algarve is the region of the country where the pandemic is having a disproportionate impact, largely explained by the fact the region is highly dependent on tourism, with particular emphasis on the municipality of Albufeira.

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Algarve short film about Covid-19 selected for American festival.

‘Short film 19’, an experimental documentary produced by Paradoxon Produções, directed by Hernâni Duarte Maria and music by Projeto Sonda / Pedro Glória de Lagos, was selected for the Trapped Film Festival 2021 in the USA in the category of Covid documentary films.

According to the Algarve producer, the story portrays the confinement in Portugal in the first person, the first in March 2020, in a very personal and intimate view of the director, “who films himself and films what surrounds him, in a real scenario that seems more fiction, but it is real”.

According to the same source, the film has already been selected for several festivals, “but this is the festival of internationalization”.

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Covid-19: Six agricultural workers were transferred to ZAP de Tavira.

Six agricultural workers with Covid-19 were today sent to the Population Support Zone (ZAP) in Tavira, which reopened to welcome them due to the lack of conditions for isolation in their homes, the Mayor said to Lusa.

“Six individuals were transferred to ZAP, from two different homes, and will stay there. The medical evaluation has already been carried out and, for now, everything is fine. Let’s see how the situation evolves now” said Ana Paula Martins, President of the municipality.

The Mayor justified the decision – taken today after a visit by the health authorities to the two private dwellings where the workers were staying – with the fact that “one of the houses has only one bathroom and there are no individual rooms to do the work”.

According to Ana Paula Martins, the objective is also “to ensure that [workers] do not leave” the places where they are in isolation, because “the security forces make periodic rounds, but they cannot be present at the places permanently”.

On Sunday, the Mayor had anticipated the possibility that the ZAP of Tavira’s fair and Exhibition Park could be reopened after seven cases of Covid-19 were detected among agricultural workers on Friday and another 12 on Saturday.

Speaking to Lusa, Ana Paula Martins had specified that the cases that could be housed in the ZAP were among the first seven, because the 12 infected detected on Saturday “live on the farm”, where they are going to do the isolation, since it was “verified that the necessary conditions ”exist for that purpose.

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Situation Report Azores – 19th May 2021 – From our colleague in the Azores.

Voucher Scheme 

The Government of the Azores has approved a resolution that resumes the “Voucher Destino Açores Seguro” initiative, with the attribution of a financial incentive to promote the conduct of screening tests to SARS-CoV-2 prior to shipment to the region.

The decision was taken by the Government Council (PSD / CDS-PP / PPM coalition), which met by videoconference, on May 10th and 12th, and whose decisions were announced this Monday.

The financial incentive attributed to those who take the test in advance is then “usable, exclusively, in the purchase of goods or services, in any of the establishments of the network of members”.

The “Destination Insurance Azores Voucher” is set at 35 euros for all non-resident passengers, over the age of 12, who board at airports located on the mainland and in the Autonomous Region of Madeira, as well as for other trips originating abroad and arriving at airports on the islands of Santa Maria, São Miguel, Terceira, Pico and Faial, with a ‘voucher’ being issued for each passenger.

In October, the former President promoted this initiative for anyone who came to the archipelago with a negative test, also worth 35 euros, to spend on goods and services in the region.

However, the measure was suspended the following month, when it became mandatory to submit a negative test done within 72 hours prior to the trip.

The new Regional Government of the PSD / CDS-PP / PPM coalition decided to resume the initiative to capture “national and international tourist flows to the region” and to promote “the promotion of inter-island tourism”.

The Government of the Azores says that passengers a pre-arrival test “will have the test paid for by the region on arrival, awaiting in isolation the result of the test, which will arrive in a period of up to 24 hours”, repeating then at 6th and 12^th day of the stay.

Those who “test positive on arrival will have to comply with mandatory confinement, for a period of 10 days”, while their “traveling companions referred to as close contacts of high risk will have to comply with prophylactic isolation for a period of 14 days”.

If the accommodation chosen by the passengers does not have conditions for the isolation to be fulfilled, or “if the situation decreed extends beyond the period initially contracted by the passengers, the Autonomous Region of the Azores assumes the costs of accommodation and meals in a hotel designated for the purpose”.

The Regional Government Council held last week also approved a resolution that updates the APOIAR.PT Azores Program – Operational Costs 2020, “according to the recent approval of the measure and the ongoing negotiations with the European Commission”, the statement said.

This program aims to “mitigate the impacts on billing caused by the pandemic” and “to strengthen instruments designed to support companies with their operating costs”, aiming to contribute to “economic confidence”, “maintenance of productive capacity and employment” in this transitional period before the economic recovery “.

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Death.

Sadly, there has been another death in the region. According to a press release from the health authority, “there was a death of a 38 year-old man, born in the parish of Ponta Garça, municipality of Vila Franca do Campo, who was hospitalized at the ICU of the Hospital do Divino Espírito Santo, in Ponta Delgada, after worsening his health condition, determining his death due to bacterial over-infection “.

With this further death, the region registers 32 deaths.

Saturday 15^th May.

27 new positive cases of Covid-19 were diagnosed in the Azores, all in São Miguel, in the context of community transmission, resulting from 1,829 analyzes carried out in reference laboratories in the Region, and one in a non-conventional private laboratory.

Thus, 20 cases were diagnosed in the municipality of Ribeira Grande, all in Rabo de Peixe, one in the municipality of Ponta Delgada, in the parish of São Pedro, two in the municipality of Vila Franca (one in São Pedro and another in Ribeira Seca), three in the municipality of Nordeste (two in Lomba da Fazenda and one in Vila do Nordeste) and one in the municipality of Povoação, parish of Ribeira Quente.

In the same period, 16 patients recovered

Sunday 16^th May.

12 new positive cases of Covid-19 were diagnosed in the Azores, in the context of community transmission and all in São Miguel, resulting from 1,736 analyzes carried out in the reference laboratories in the Region.

Thus, nine cases were diagnosed in the municipality of Ribeira Grande (two in Conceição and seven in Rabo de Peixe), two in the municipality of Ponta Delgada (one in Santa Clara and one in Ajuda da Bretanha), and one in the municipality of Nordeste, in Lomba da Fazenda.

In the same period, 21 patients recovered, all in São Miguel.

Monday 17^th May. 

Eight new positive cases of Covid-19 have been diagnosed all on the island of São Miguel, in the context of community transmission, following 692 tests carried out in the laboratories of reference in the Region.

There are five new cases in the municipality of Ribeira Grande, all in Rabo de Peixe. In the municipality of Ponta Delgada, there is a new case in São Roque, and in the municipality of Vila Franca do Campo, there are two new cases in Água de Alto.

In the same period, there was a recovery in Lajes, on the island of Flores.

Tuesday 18^th May.

34 new positive cases of Covid-19 were diagnosed in the Azores, all on the island of São Miguel, in the context of community transmission, following 2,098 tests carried out in the laboratories of reference in the Region, and one in a private laboratory.

There are 31 new cases in the municipality of Ribeira Grande (29 in Rabo de Peixe, one in Ribeira Seca and one in Conceição). In the municipality of Ponta Delgada there is a new case in São Roque, and in the municipality of Vila Franca do Campo a new case was diagnosed in São Pedro.

In the same period, there were a total of 22 recoveries

There are currently five patients in hospital, all in the Divino Espírito Santo Hospital in Ponta Delgada, none in intensive care.

The Region currently has 246 positive active cases: 240 on the island of São Miguel, four on the island of Terceira and two on the island of Flores. There are two active transmission chains in the archipelago, one on the island of Flores and one on the island of Terceira and, to the present, 201 have been extinguished.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, 5,237 positive cases of covid-19 have been diagnosed in the Azores and 4,833 people recovered from the disease. There were 32 deaths, 79 people who left the archipelago and 47 cases with history of previous cure. Up to now, 477,354 tests have been carried out in the archipelago for SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes the Covid-19 disease.

From December 31st, 2020 until May 13th, 91,979 doses of Covid-19 vaccine were administered in the Azores, corresponding to 60,703 people aged 15 or over, who received the first dose and 31,276 people who received the second dose, under the Regional Vaccination Plan.

Portugal Situation Report Saturday 15^th May 2021

 

Introduction

Yesterday the highlight was that the Portuguese government announced it will lift its ban on non-essential travel from the UK on 17 May. A negative PCR test is required for entry to any part of Portugal. Fully vaccinated travellers to Madeira may also present complete NHS vaccine certificates or the small NHS wallet cards as a condition of entry instead of a negative PCR test. Travellers will be required to show a negative PCR test result for COVID-19 taken within 72 hours of departure (not required for children aged 2 or under). Your airline is likely to deny boarding if you cannot provide evidence of a negative PCR test at check-in. Check with your airline before you travel.

Before travelling to Portugal, visitors from England and Scotland should ensure they (i) have more than six months validity left on their passports and (ii) take out comprehensive travel insurance, including cover for COVID-related issues. Towards the end of their holiday in Portugal, travellers must also take a pre-departure COVID test within 72 hours before returning to England or Scotland.

Let’s just hope common sense prevails and that the visitors/guests give the hosts the respect they deserve after all the hard work and sacrifices they have done in making it possible.

The law has just been published regarding air travel restrictions for other countries, and we will update you on this during the course of the morning.

The Resolution of the Situation of Calamity, which takes effect midnight 16^th/17^th May has just been published and we will update you this morning on this. As far as we can see so far it only contains the changes announced by the Council of Ministers on Thursday, which we published on Facebook at the time, as well as the changes to allow visitors from the UK for non-essential reasons. This is effective until 23.59 hrs 30^th May 2021.

Regarding vaccinations we are aware that some people have experienced problems concerning the self-scheduling system. This is often because they have not received an SMS message even after their requested date. We have taken this matter up with the health authority and they confirmed that they are experiencing some problems and are working to correct the situation.

Also on the question of vaccines please remember there is no choice in which one you receive although obviously the vaccine you receive will be appropriate to your age group. I mentioned this because yesterday I received a call from someone who had attended her appointment at the vaccination centre, but would not accept the vaccine being offered, requesting another one which was not available. She contacted Safe Communities asking how she could find out when her preferred vaccine would be available, on the basis she considered this less risky than what she was offered according to a US doctor.  I find this unbelievable when so many are cueing for vaccines.

On the subject of beaches the Government diploma that establishes the rules regarding the access and occupation of beaches was promulgated yesterday by the President of the Republic, but has not yet been published in Diário da República. However the executive has said that in general the same rules applied in 2020 are maintained. One of the changes however announced already by government, concerns the system of traffic lights at the entrance of the beaches, related to their occupation.

According to Mariana Vieira da Silva, Minister of the Presidency, the green colour starts to indicate an occupation up to 50%, the yellow colour between 50% and 90% and the red colour above 90%. Last year, the colour green indicated low occupancy (1/3), yellow high occupancy (2/3) and red full occupancy (3/3).

We will publish when this becomes available.

So quite a bit of new legislation to contend with over the weekend to keep us busy. We will try to simplify the information where this possible. Just a reminder, however, to take care in sun as the UV is forecast at level 9, Very High, in various parts of the Mainland and Madeira. Also take care if hiking or other outdoor activities as temperatures may reach nearly 30C in some area to ensure plenty of fluids to avoid dehydration and of course ensure avoid any actions which may result in rural fires.

Have a Safe and Happy weekend and enjoy the fine weather.

Headline

WHO warns: second year of the pandemic could be more deadly than the first

The World Health Organization has also called for the vaccination against the covid-19 of children and adolescents to be postponed, so that doses are donated to countries that need them most.
“Covid-19 has already caused more than 3.3 million deaths worldwide and we are on track to make the second year of this pandemic much more deadly than the first,” warned Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus at the usual press conference, this Friday.

The Director-General of WHO highlighted countries such as India, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Vietnam, where cases of covid-19, hospitalizations and deaths are on the rise. “Saving lives through a combination of public health measures and vaccination is the only way out of the pandemic”, he stressed. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus also called on countries that are considering starting to vaccinate children and adolescents against covid-19 to reconsider and instead donate the vaccines to the Covax mechanism. In this way, nations that are lagging behind in immunization campaigns could have access to these doses.

“A handful of rich countries, which have bought most of the doses, are now vaccinating low-risk groups. I understand that they want to vaccinate children and adolescents, but at this moment I ask you to reconsider and donate the vaccines instead. Covax, because in low and medium-low income countries the supply of vaccines has not been sufficient even to inoculate health professionals “. Only 0.3% of the vaccine supply is destined for low-income countries, according to the director-general of WHO, which “is not an effective strategy” to stop infections by the new coronavirus worldwide.

 

Covid-19

On Friday no deaths were recorded but there 450 new cases above last weeks The figures from yesterday were:

Confirmed Cases: 841.379 (+ 450 / + 0.05 %)
Number of admitted: 236 (-8 /-3.28 %)
Number of ICU admitted: 72 (+ 2 / + 2.86 %)
Deaths: 16.999 (+ 0 / + 0.00 %)
Recovered: 802.285 (+ 324 / + 0.04 %)
Active cases: 22,095 (+ 126 /+ 0.57%)

Safe Communities comparisons/trends are that there were no deaths yesterday, new daily cases were for the 16th consecutive day below 500 infections in 24 hours, a scenario that has not occurred since in August and September 2020. However there were above last weeks’ daily average. New cases were higher than recovered cases for third consecutive day and again those in hospital were the lowest for over a year since 27th March 2020 (then 191). Covid-19 Patients 6612 less compared to number in hospital 1st February 2021.And in ICU they were the lowest since 22nd September 2020. Active cases however showed an increase for the second day after two days of moderate decreases, but second lowest since 22nd September 2020

Incidence and transmission rates

The incidence of covid-19 per 100 thousand inhabitants continued to fall, while the R (t), or transmissibility index, increased slightly in Portugal. The incidence is now 50.3 in the national territory and 48.1 in the continent (less than half of the red line of 120) and the R (t) goes to 0.95 in the Continent and also 0.95 in the whole territory national , according to Fridays bulletin from the Directorate-General for Health (DGS).

There are five municipalities in mainland Portugal with more than 240 thousand cases of Covid-19 per 100 thousand inhabitants in the last 14 days, according to the epidemiological bulletin of this Friday from the Directorate-General for Health (DGS).
The municipalities in the “red” are Arganil, with 826 infections per 100 thousand inhabitants, Lamego (261), Castelo de Paiva 298, Montalegre (289) and Odemira (271).

In the autonomous region of the Azores, the municipality of Lajes das Flores has 410 cases of Covid per 100 thousand inhabitants, Northeast 329 and Ribeira Grande 375.
Under surveillance, between 120 and 240 cases of Covid-19 per 100 thousand inhabitants in the last 14 days are: Albufeira (152), Alvaiázere (152), Fafe (131), Golegã (206), Lagoa (129), Melgaço (124), Oliveira do Hospital (229), Resende (158), Torres Vedras (127), Vale de Cambra (141) and Vila Nova de Poiares (144).

In the autonomous regions there are three municipalities in the range between 120 and 240 cases: Funchal (124), Ponta do Sol (128) and Vila Franca do Campo (145).

Health

Beaches. Traffic light regime undergoes changes

There is no change about where to wear a mask on the beach; only the mandatory use of accesses, beach facilities and restaurants is maintained. Just like last year, going to the beach this summer will mean paying attention to a traffic light. The access regime, in any case, will be different, announced Mariana Vieira da Silva, at the press conference after the council of ministers.
“Up to 50% of the capacity is green, 50 to 90% is yellow and above 90% is red”, he revealed. The official also clarified that there is no change on where to use a mask on the beach; only the mandatory use of accesses, beach supports and restaurants is maintained. “There is no change regarding the places and situations where it is necessary to use a mask. As in the past year, it is not necessary to wear a mask on the beach, and it is necessary to wear a mask when accessing the beach, cafes and restaurants. These are the same rules that were in force a year ago” she said.

As for the administrative regime – a fine of up to 100 euros, which is provided for in the covid-19 rules will also be applied to beach measures.

President of the Republic – Beaches

The President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, promulgated this Friday the diploma that regulates access and occupation of beaches during the bathing season of this year, in the context of the pandemic of the covid-19, alerting for the practical application of the new regime sanctioning.
“Drawing attention to the issues that arise in the practical application of the new sanctioning regime, a matter in which it is important to ensure compliance with the substantial rules and, at the same time, not to create conditions that empty them, the President of the Republic”, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, promulgated the Government decree-law, reads in a note published on the website of the Presidency of the Republic.

 

Facemasks

The exemption from the use of a mask should only be considered when there is a good vaccination coverage against covid-19 and a reduced transmission of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned this Friday. “Countries should take into account vaccine coverage and the local incidence rate [of the virus that causes covid-19] before deciding to withdraw these measures,” said Michael Ryan , director of the WHO emergency program , at a conference on press.

The United States announced on Thursday that it will end the mandatory use of facial masks for vaccinated people, including in some closed environments, due to the favourable evolution of the fight against the covid-19 pandemic, a change welcomed by President Joe Biden . The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ( CDC ) revised their guidelines for fully vaccinated people, allowing them to stop wearing masks outdoors in crowds and in most indoor environments.

However, the use of masks in crowded closed environments, such as buses, airplanes, hospitals or prisons, is still required.

Tourism

The Minister of State, Economy and Digital Transition, Pedro Siza Vieira, referred to the need for a common approach and actions for tourism in the countries of the European Union (EU), which should focus on the immediate recovery of demand in the sector. Pedro Siza Vieira was speaking at the opening of the High Level Forum on Sustainability and Tourism, promoted under the Portuguese Presidency of the Council of the European Union.

In his speech, the Minister highlighted the three lines of action with regard to the future of tourism: the qualification of workers, the transition to carbon neutral and circular practices in the sector and the digital transition. Pedro Siza Vieira recalled that the tourism sector is critical for the recovery of European economies, in the face of the crisis caused by the covid-19 pandemic and that, in addition to the immediate recovery of the sector, it is necessary to work for it to become more resilient.

“We must ensure that the installed capacity of this industry – whether it be companies, jobs, or the entire ecosystem – remains capable of responding quickly to the demand that we hope will be recovered in the short term,” he added. For his part, the European Commissioner for Environment, Oceans and Fisheries, Virginijus Sinkevicius, highlighted the importance of sustainable coastal and maritime tourism, as he is particularly exposed to the threats of climate change.

 

Tourism economy

Covid-19: Income from tourist accommodation falls by more than 80% in the 1st quarter – INE

The tourist accommodation sector recorded a drop of 83.5% in revenues to 76.6 million euros in the first quarter of the year, following the fall in the number of overnight stays, according to data released today by INE. According to data from the tourist activity in March, today released by the National Statistics Institute (INE), in the first quarter of 2021, there was a decrease of 80% in total overnight stays, resulting from a decrease of 59.3% in residents and 90.0% in non-residents.
Considering only the month of March, the tourist accommodation sector registered 283,700 guests and 636,100 overnight stays, representing falls of 59% and 66.5%, respectively (-87.1% and -87.8% in February, in the same order), he says.

Overnight stays from residents decreased by 20.2% (-74.9% in February) and non-residents fell by 86.2% (-94.5% in the previous month). “It should be noted that these year-on-year variations, in March, affect the first month of 2020 when the impact of the covid-19 pandemic has already been felt significantly”, signals the INE.
The income recorded in tourist accommodation establishments thus reached 26.4 million euros in March and 20.6 million euros in relation to accommodation, corresponding to year-on-year falls of 73.5% and 71.4%, respectively (-90 , 5% and -89.7% in February, in the same order).

In the group of tourist accommodation establishments, the average income per available room (RevPAR) stood at 7.3 euros in March, decreasing 50.2% (-79.7% in February). The average income per room occupied, in turn, reached 51 euros in March, which translated into a drop of 22.5% (-28.0% in February). In March, considering the majority of the means of accommodation (tourist accommodation establishments, camping and summer camps and youth hostels), there were 308 thousand guests and 768.4 thousand overnight stays, corresponding to variations of -58.4% and -63.7%, respectively (-86.7% and -86.1% in February, in the same order).

 

Armed Forces put into operation new concept of military support for civil emergencies

Proença-a-Nova, Castelo Branco, 13 May 2021 (Lusa) – The Armed Forces will put into operation the new concept of Military Support for Civil Emergency (AMEC), whose main objective is efficiency and effectiveness gains.
“The new concept of military support for civilian emergencies is a concept, from the outset, that will cover all potential interventions by the Armed Forces (FA) in support of civil protection, which frames what is the potential for FA collaboration, that is in the case that brought us here, in support of combating or monitoring rural fires, “Rear Admiral Nobre de Sousa told Lusa. The military, who was at the presentation of the Special Device for Fighting Rural Fires (DECIR 2021), at the Moitas aerodrome, in Proença-a-Nova, Castelo Branco district, said that this concept will be operationalized by a plan and will have subsidiary plans for each of the potential disasters.

“There will be a plan for firefighting, a plan for surveillance of fires, flood situations and one for earthquake situations”, he maintained. According to the Rear Admiral, until now, what happened was that the FAs, made available a set of means and capacities and then the supporting entities, employed according to their needs.
“Until now, we delivered a set of means and we said: during this time of fires they can use this set of means. From now on, the entities tell us what kind of mission we have to do. In other words, we stopped assigning means and tell us what it is to do. What we want is to tell us what it is to do and we tell you how we do it “, he underlined.

With this, Nobre de Sousa says that they intend to optimize the AF device.
“What we want are efficiency gains and, desirably, efficiency gains”, he concluded.

 

Over six thousand cases in Spain in last 24 hrs

Spain has registered 6,347 new cases of covid-19 in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of infected people to 3,604,799 so far, continuing the number of contagions to fall, according to the Spanish Ministry of Health. Health services have also reported an additional 58 deaths attributed to the pandemic since Thursday, bringing the total number of deaths to 79,339.
The accumulated incidence (contagions) continued to fall today, from 166 (Thursday) to 162 cases diagnosed per 100,000 inhabitants in the previous 14 days. The autonomous communities with the highest levels are those of the Basque Country (335), Madrid (256), Aragon (249) and Navarra (221).

In the last 24 hours, 702 people with the disease were admitted to hospitals across the country (706 on Thursday), of which 167 in Madrid, 137 in Catalonia and 133 in Andalusia. On the other hand, the number of hospitalized patients with covid-19 decreased to 7,088 (7,375), which corresponds to 5.6% of the beds, of which 1,899 patients are in intensive care units (1,931), which corresponds to 19, 2% of beds in these services. Spain enjoys, as of today, its first weekend in six months without being in a state of emergency and with most of the sanitary fences erected, which allows, among other things, to travel between the autonomous communities.

 

Portugal Situation Report Wednesday 11th May 2021

 

Good morning – We start with the good news from yesterday and that is that the vaccination process is advancing faster than anticipated. Self-scheduling for people over 60 started ahead of time and on the first day more than 40 thousand registrations were made.

Yesterday was one of the D-days of the vaccination process against Covid-19, reaching 4 million doses being administered on the mainland. Thus, mainland Portugal already has more than 36% of the adult population with a dose of the vaccine taken and 14% with the complete process.

Other encouraging news was the Prime Minister stating yesterday that he received “good news” from the executive chairman of Pfizer about developments in the production and distribution of vaccines against Covid-19, as well as about pricing policies for developing countries. In his message, the Prime Minister also reiterated his idea of ​​extending the supply of vaccines against Covid-19 to all countries in the world.

“We will only be protected when we are all protected,” he added.

This strategic vision is essential in combatting Covid-19, as it reflects the principal that security is only as good as its weakest link. If there remain countries highly vulnerable to the spread of Covid-19 because they have made little or no progress concerning vaccinating their people due to lack of vaccines, then potentially we all remain exposed.

The third positive news is that last night the Council of Minister decided to lift the health cordon in the parishes of São Teotónio and Longueira/Almograve, in the municipality of Odemira, with immediate effect given the positive evolution of the epidemiological situation verified in those parishes. Residents and workers in these parishes have suffered greatly since the health cordon was imposed, so the fact that the improving situation now allows this to be removed is very welcoming news.

A reminder that the current deadline for land cleaning is the 15^th May 2021. However, at issue is a resolution of the Assembly of the Republic that recommends the Government extends the deadline for clearing forest land, from May 15 to May 31. This is according to a diploma published on April 30 in the Diário da República, disregarding the extension already determined until 15^th.

In response to the Lusa agency, the cabinet of the Minister for the Environment and Climate Action, João Matos Fernandes, said that the parliament’s recommendation to extend the deadlines until May 31 implies that “the municipalities, which are the entities responsible for ensuring that of all fuel management work in place of the defaulting owners and other forest producers, have to carry out this work during the month of June”.

“Considering the history of fires from previous years, namely those of 2017 that occurred in June, and the weather conditions that were registered at the date of the extension approved in March, the Government considered the extension of deadlines until May 31 to be counterproductive”, informed the Ministry of Environment and Climate Action.

We recommend that people do not wait for any possible further extension and comply with the 15^th May deadline. The fines for non-compliance can be hefty.

With that reminder, please have a Safe Day.

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Headlines

Government decrees end of sanitary fence in Odemira

Prime Minister António Costa affirmed that “the lifting of the health cordon has been decreed from 00:00 on 12 May” (midnight 11^th/12^th May) in the parishes of São Teotónio and Longueira/Almograve, in the municipality of Odemira.

In Odemira, after the signing of protocols with the objective of responding to the housing needs verified in the municipality, the Prime Minister highlighted the decision taken during an extraordinary Council of Ministers, carried out electronically.

The Communique of the Council of Minsters states that “given the positive evolution of the epidemiological situation verified in those parishes, largely due to the implementation of mechanisms to mitigate the difficulties that the high degree of mobility and the dynamics inherent to that geographical area created in the fight against spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, the Government decided to change the circulation restriction measures that had been in force since April 30”.

This resolution shall enter into force at 00:00 on 12 May 2021.

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DGS Covid-19 Report

On Tuesday Portugal recorded one death and 268 new cases of Covid-19, according to the daily report of the Directorate-General for Health (DGS).

Confirmed Cases: 840.008 (+ 268 / + 0.03 %)

Number of admitted: 257 (-20 /-7.22 %)

Number of ICU admitted: 71 (-2 /-2.74 %)

Deaths: 16.994 (+ 1 / + 0.01 %)

Recovered: 801.306 (+ 661 / + 0.08 %)

Active cases: 21,708 (-394 /-1.78%)

Safe Communities comparisons/trends show that the number of deaths was below last weeks’ average; it was the 13th consecutive day below 500 infections in 24 hours, a scenario that has not occurred since in August and September 2020 and recovered cases for second day more than double new cases. In hospital the number of Covid-19 patients was the lowest for over a year since 27th March 2020; the number in ICU the lowest since 22nd September 2020 and active cases – moderate decrease, lowest since 21st September 2020.

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Health

Vaccines

Covid-19: Vaccine 4 million in Portugal administered to a user in Póvoa de Varzim

Póvoa de Varzim, Porto, 11 May 2021 (Lusa) – Portugal today reached the mark of four million vaccines against Covid-19 administered to the population, with the inoculation of a user in Póvoa de Varzim, Porto district, announced the Ministry of health.

The number was reached with the vaccination of Maria Helena Lordelo, 64 years old, born in Póvoa de Varzim, who received the drug at 12:30, administered by nurse Ana Denise Silva, in the vaccination center of the town.

Speaking to the Lusa agency, the Secretary of State for Health, Diogo Serras Lopes, underlined the acceleration of the vaccination process, at a time when more vaccines are beginning to be available to the population without being administered.

“It took more than two months to inoculate the first million vaccines, 33 days for the second, 19 days for the third. Now, we have reached 4 million in just 14 days. This is the evidence that our efforts to protect the greater number of Portuguese in the shortest period of time are having an effect “, revealed the minister.

According to information from the Ministry of Health, of the four million vaccines administered in Portugal, about 2.9 million are first doses and 1.1 million are second doses, including the 18 thousand vaccines from Janssen already administered, whose vaccination schedule is only you need a dose to be complete.

Thus, mainland Portugal already has more than 36% of the adult population already with a dose of the vaccine taken and 14% with the complete process.

The ministry predicts that, if this rate is maintained, all people aged 60 or over will be vaccinated, with at least one dose, by the end of May, with some regions of the country already having people who are aged between 50 and 60.

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António Costa says he received “good news” from Pfizer on vaccine prices and production.

The Prime Minister said today that he received “good news” from the executive chairman of Pfizer about developments in the production and distribution of vaccines against Covid-19, as well as about pricing policies for developing countries.

This conversation was disclosed by António Costa in his official account on the social network Twitter.

“I spoke today with the executive president of Pfizer, Albert Bourla, who gave me good news about the evolution of the capacity of production and distribution of vaccines and about the price policy for developing countries”, wrote António Costa.

In his message, the Prime Minister of Portugal, the country that is President of the Council of the European Union until June, also reiterated his idea of ​​extending the supply of vaccines against Covid-19 to all countries in the world.

“We will only be protected when we are all protected,” he added.

On Saturday, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced a new contract to purchase up to 1.8 billion doses of vaccines against Covid-19 from BioNTech-Pfizer, by 2023.

“The Commission has approved a contract for 900 million doses, plus 900 million optional, with BioNTech and Pfizer,” said Von der Leyen, adding that “other contracts and other vaccine technologies will come”.

The contract with the German and American laboratories, allies in the production of anti-Covid-19 vaccines, provides for deliveries starting this year and until 2023.

The new contract, which is endorsed by the Member States of the European Union, will involve not only the production of vaccines, but also the guarantee that all essential components must come from the EU.

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EU has not renewed vaccine order from AstraZeneca for after June.

The European Union (EU) has not yet renewed the contract with AstraZeneca for the supply of vaccines against Covid-19 after June, the European Commissioner for the Internal Market, a spokesperson said today after a new contract with Pfizer was announced.

“We have not renewed the contract [with AstraZeneca] until after the month of June. We see, we will see what happens,” said Commissioner Thierry Breton, speaking to France Inter/France Info.

On Saturday, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced a new contract to purchase up to 1.8 billion doses of vaccines against Covid-19 with BioNTech-Pfizer, by 2023.

“The Commission has just approved a contract for 900 million doses, plus 900 million optional, with BioNTech and Pfizer,” announced Von der Leyen, adding that “other contracts and other vaccine technologies will come”.

The contract with the German and North American laboratories, allies in the production of vaccines against Covid-19, foresees deliveries from this year and until 2023.

The AstraZeneca vaccine has been delayed in delivery, prompting the EU to file a lawsuit against the laboratory. Some cases of blood clots have also led to restrictions on the use of this vaccine.

A European Commission spokesman said at the end of April that the lawsuit was filed because “some of the terms” of the contract negotiated between AstraZeneca and the European Commission “have not been respected” and the pharmaceutical company has not presented a “strategy” credible to ensure timely delivery of doses “.

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Testing

More than half a million tests in schools since the resumption of classroom teaching.

Continuing the testing process in public and private sector education and teaching establishments, a further 26,000 tests for the detection of SARS-CoV-2 were carried out in the last week for teaching and non-teaching staff in Pre-School Education,  the 1st cycle, of the so-called “Full-Time School” and to secondary school students and workers, from the municipalities with an incidence rate of more than 120 cases per 100 thousand inhabitants in the last 14 days (April 28 list), as determining the basic orientation of this process.

In 26 thousand tests carried out in the education and teaching establishments of these 35 municipalities, 30 positive cases were registered, that is, a positivity rate of 0.12%, maintaining the levels that have been verified since the beginning of the process of testing carried out by the Ministry of Education.

The next stage of the testing process takes place next week, again in the education and teaching establishments of the municipalities with the highest incidence in Covid-19, covering teaching and non-teaching staff in the 2nd and 3rd cycles of basic education.

Since March 15, the day that the classroom activities started in stages, more than half a million tests were carried out on Covid-19, with a positive rate of 0.13%.

The Ministry of Education welcomes the fact that it undertakes a large-scale testing process that is significantly contributing to the increase in testing levels in the country.

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Marcelo wants to know what’s going on with the application of the informal caregiver status.

Caminha, Viana do Castelo, 11 May 2021 (Lusa) – The President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, expressed his concern today about the “very small” number of people who achieved the status of informal caregivers, stressing that he wants to understand what is happening about the law.

In Caminha, on the sidelines of a visit to a forest clearing action, Marcelo expressed his belief that there are “many more” informal caregivers than those who have obtained the status.

“It is an issue that concerns me a lot. I think there are far more informal caregivers than those who are registered. I don’t know if there are tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands, but just look at families that have informal family caregivers or others. And I am concerned when a law is made and in the end there are 2000 or 3000 informal caregivers who meet the requirements”, he said.

The President said that he will soon meet with associations representing informal caregivers, to understand what is happening with the law.

He stressed that “the law itself was promising”, stressing that it is necessary to understand if there are any problems in its application.

“If the question is because there is no money, because it costs money, because it takes time, because it is difficult to solve labour problems or with Social Security, assume that”, he said.

For Marcelo, it is necessary to understand whether or not there are conditions to fully apply the law to all who deserve it or whether it is a “purely bureaucratic issue” that strangles access “to the departure”, allowing the entry of 2000 or 3000 leaving out many others who “do the same thing”.

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Enforcement

Odemira parishes of São Teotónio and Longueira – Almograve.

Yesterday morning, GNR controlled the access of about 1,000 workers to the health cordon in two parishes in the municipality of Odemira and rejected the entry or exit of 83, who did not present negative tests to Covid-19.

These data refer to the period between 5:00 am and 10:00 am, at the four checkpoints installed in the sanitary fence of the parishes of São Teotónio and Longueira-Almograve, the source of the Territorial Command of Beja of the GNR told the Lusa agency.

The GNR controlled the entry and exit of the health cordon for work reasons for a total of 1,006 people for work reasons, of whom 668 were seasonal workers from companies operating in the two parishes targeted by the measure enacted by the Government and 338 were workers from other sectors and professions.

“The entry or exit of 83 workers was rejected because they did not present a negative SARS-CoV-2 test [to the new coronavirus] at the time of inspection or were not included in the lists sent to the Regional Directorate for Agriculture and Fisheries in Alentejo”, highlighted the GNR.

The parishes of Longueira-Almograve and São Teotónio have had a health cordon since April 30, due to the high incidence of Covid-19, mainly due to cases among workers in the agricultural sector, many of them immigrants.

Last Thursday, in a Council of Ministers, the Government decided to maintain the sanitary fence, but with “specific conditions for access to work”.

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Other news

Confirmation of prison sentence for pharmacist who defrauded SNS by 1.3 million.

The Porto Court of Appeal confirmed the six-year and six-month prison sentence to a pharmacist in Póvoa de Lanhoso who, in collusion with five doctors, swindled the National Health Service (SNS) of 1.3 million euros.

Clinicians were sentenced to suspended sentences between five and three years in prison. The company that owns the Pharmacy São José will have to pay a fine of 70 thousand euros.

The scheme ran from January 2012 to October 2015 and focused on a pharmacy in Póvoa de Lanhoso. Rosa Maria Costa, owner and clinical director of Farmácia São José, and the five doctors combined a scheme that went through fraudulent prescriptions.

Doctors used data from patients or pharmacy customers appointed by the pharmacist to prescribe drugs with expensive acquisition costs and with a high rate of SNS reimbursement (above 90%). The receipts were handed over to the pharmaceutical company that presented them to the NHS for payment of the state contribution as if they had actually been filled. The court estimated that over the more than three years of the scam, the state was defrauded of 1.360 million euros.

On November 23, 2020, the Porto Court sentenced Rosa Maria Costa to six years and six months in prison for qualified fraud, document forgery and active corruption and the commercial company to pay a 700-day fine at 100 euros per day, in a total of 70 thousand euros. The defendant and Farmácia São José appealed, but on 28 April, the Porto Appeal Court upheld the referred judgment in its entirety, the Porto Attorney General announced on Monday.

Five doctors were also convicted of qualified fraud, document forgery and passive corruption. Four had suspended sentences between four and six months and three years. One of the doctors, Abílio Pinto, had been sentenced to five years and six years in prison, but the Appeal judges partially upheld his appeal and reduced the sentence to five years in prison, the execution of which will be suspended for the same period, upon payment of 109 thousand euros to the NHS.

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Region Reports

Madeira

Madeira Situation Report, Wednesday 12^th May, by our Special Correspondent Daniel Fernandez.

Covid-19 update

There were 51 new Covid-19 cases, 74 recoveries and no deaths from Covid-19 in Madeira since the previous Madeira Situation Report.

On Saturday, there were 12 new Covid-19 cases (from 1 passenger who had arrived from Romania, 2 passengers who had arrived from the Lisbon and Tagus Valley Region and 9 cases of local transmission) and 23 recoveries. The number of patients in hospital increased to 17, 3 of whom were in intensive care.

On Sunday, there were 10 new Covid-19 cases (all cases of local transmission) and 13 recoveries. The number of patients in hospital remained the same (17, 3 of whom in intensive care).

On Monday, there were 11 new Covid-19 cases (from 1 passenger who had arrived from France, 1 passenger who had arrived from the Lisbon and Tagus Valley Region and 9 cases of local transmission) and 17 recoveries. Although the number of patients in hospital decreased to 17, the number of patients in intensive care increased to 5.

And on Tuesday, there were 18 new Covid-19 cases (from 1 passenger who had arrived from Central Portugal and 17 cases of local transmission) and 21 recoveries. The number of patients in hospital decreased to 11, 4 of whom were in intensive care.

There were 227 active cases on Tuesday, of which 11 had been imported while the other 216 cases had been a result of local transmission. As of Tuesday, there had been 9,134 cases, 8,836 recoveries and 71 deaths.

On Tuesday, there were 23 patients in isolation in a dedicated hotel, 193 patients in isolation in their own accommodation and 11 patients in Covid-19 units, 4 of whom in intensive care.

On the same day, there were 55 suspected cases under epidemiological investigation and analysis, which were all linked to patients who tested positive for Covid-19, to calls made to the SRS24 helpline, to referrals by SESARAM (Madeira Regional Health Service) and to airport screening.

There were 10,662 travellers under monitoring by the health authorities. Monitoring is being carried out through the ‘MadeiraSafe’ app. There were also 662 people, who had contact with positive cases, being monitored by the health authorities of several Madeira municipalities and of Porto Santo.

As for Covid-19 testing on passengers who had arrived at Funchal and Porto Santo airports, 197,184 samples had been collected until Tuesday (at 15h30). By Tuesday, 400,940 samples from RT-PCR tests had been processed and 52,640 antigen rapid tests had been carried out in the Autonomous Region of Madeira.

The SRS 24 helpline (Regional Health Service – 800 24 24 20) received 366 calls from Friday to Tuesday. Overall, it has received 48,361 calls.

The Covid-19 mental health helpline (Linha de Acompanhamento Psicológico da Direção Regional de Saúde – 291 212 399 – available every day from 09h00 to 21h00), which was set up to provide emotional and mental support to anyone in Madeira received 10 calls from Friday to Tuesday. Overall, it has received 3,482 calls.

https://funchalnoticias.net/2021/05/08/12-novos-casos-de-covid-19-23-recuperados-103-suspeitos/

https://funchalnoticias.net/2021/05/09/10-novos-casos-de-covid-19-13-recuperados-120-suspeitos/

https://funchalnoticias.net/2021/05/10/11-novos-casos-de-covid-19-17-recuperados-62-suspeitos/

https://funchalnoticias.net/2021/05/11/18-novos-casos-de-covid-19-21-recuperados-55-suspeitos/

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Covid-19 vaccination update

On Saturday, at 11h40, the 100,000th Covid-19 vaccine inoculation took place. João Baptista, 76 years old, was administered the 100,000th vaccine dose. He had not expected this. He was inoculated with the 2nd vaccine dose. Pedro Ramos (Madeira’s Health and Civil Protection Secretary) was at Madeira Tecnopólo to witness and to celebrate this milestone. A video of this short ceremony can be watched on the followed link:

https://www.jm-madeira.pt/regiao/ver/127887/Madeira_ultrapassa_marca_das_100_mil_vacinas_administradas_contra_a_covid-19_com_video

As of May 9th, 104,185 Covid-19 vaccine doses (76,5011st doses & 27,684 2nd doses) had been administered in the Autonomous Region of Madeira. This means 30.1% of the population has received the first dose of a vaccine and 10.9% of the population has been fully vaccinated.

In the previous week, 12,888 vaccine doses (7,601 1st doses & 5,287 2nd doses) were administered.

The plan for this week is to continue inoculations throughout the Region, with a special focus on people who have priority and on Tourism professionals.

https://www.jm-madeira.pt/regiao/ver/127890/Vacina_numero_100_mil_foi_administrada_a_ex-guarda_fiscal_de_76_anos

https://www.jm-madeira.pt/regiao/ver/127887/Madeira_ultrapassa_marca_das_100_mil_vacinas_administradas_contra_a_covid-19_com_video

https://funchalnoticias.net/2021/05/11/gr-da-conta-de-mais-de-104-mil-vacinas-contra-a-covid-19-ja-administradas/

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Parish of Ribeira Brava delivery of masks, alcohol gel and thermometers to institutions.

The parish (Junta de Freguesia) of Ribeira Brava delivered surgical face masks, alcohol gel (big bottles and spray) and thermometers to a school and police station. A total of 1,250 surgical face masks for students and staff, 15 packs of alcohol gel (spray), 45 litres of alcohol gel and 3 thermometers. And the police station received face masks, alcohol gel (big bottles and spray) and 1 thermometer. The local parish leadership said it was always aware of the situation in the parish and will always intervene whenever necessary and in partnership with local entities. It has already spent over €20,000 providing support to institutions, schools, fire stations, the police (PSP), associations and care homes.

https://www.jm-madeira.pt/regiao/ver/128080/_Junta_da_Ribeira_Brava_entregou_mascaras_alcool_gel_e_termometros_a_delegacao_escolar_e_esquadra_

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Big increase in demand for flights to Madeira.

Demand for travel to Madeira has greatly increased since the announcement that Portugal will be on England’s green list for travel. For instance, Jet2 has scheduled flights from 9 airports in the UK, starting at the end of June. Summer bookings of Jet2 flights and Jet2holidays holiday packages to Madeira and Faro increased 600% in the first 24 hours since this announcement. And easyJet added 20,000 seats on flights between Portugal and the UK, with prices starting at €29,99, due to strong demand since the announcement. Flights between Bristol and Funchal are included in the list of extra seats.

https://www.jm-madeira.pt/regiao/ver/128091/Reservas_da_Jet2com_cresceram_600_para_Faro_e_Madeira

https://funchalnoticias.net/2021/05/11/easyjet-lanca-mais-20-mil-lugares-para-voos-entre-portugal-e-o-reino-unido/

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Road closures.

Traffic will disrupted today, from 09h30 until 21h00, at Estrada Monumental (parish of São Martinho), due to the felling of two trees on the stretch of road between Travessa do Valente and Largo da Paz.

The stretch of road at E.R. 231, between the junction at Rua Capitão Pinto Correia and the junction at at Rua da Marinheira, will remain closed to traffic until June 13th. A diversion for traffic will be through Rua João Augusto Ornelas and Rua da Marinheira.

https://funchalnoticias.net/2021/05/11/transito-na-estrada-monumental-condicionado-amanha-devido-ao-corte-de-arvores/

https://funchalnoticias.net/2021/05/11/dre-avisa-que-troco-da-er-231-continuara-encerrado-ao-transito-por-mais-30-dias/

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Algarve

Algarve Situation Report, Wednesday 12^th May.

Tourism – President of AHETA believes in a good summer but cannot make up for the losses of 2020.

The British government’s announcement on the green list of countries, where it is allowed to travel without restrictions, including Portugal, has led to a “rain” of reservations at hotels in the Algarve.

It is well known that the British have a predilection for our country and the proof of that is in sight. As confirmed by Elidérico Viegas – President of the Association of Hotels and Tourist Enterprises of the Algarve (AHETA), said “this is great news, because it results in enormous satisfaction for hoteliers and tourist entrepreneurs in the Algarve, with good expectations for this summer, since in addition to the domestic market, we will now have tourists from our largest supplier, the United Kingdom”. Despite the expected recovery, the representative of the association says that it will still not be a year equal to 2019, “but surely it will be a better year than 2020, since it will bring together Portuguese and foreign tourists”.

The President of AHETA recalls that the opportunity is to take advantage, “all of our competitors were left out of the “green map”, such as Spain, Greece and Turkey and this brings a competitive advantage to our region, even more at this stage”.

The good news was expected at any time, due to the efforts of the Portuguese in the last few months, but also due to the number of vaccinations carried out in Portugal, however, he says that it is necessary to continue the effort to control the pandemic, “reducing the cases of infection, with the rhythm of vaccinations on the rise, in a process that must advance as quickly as possible to achieve group immunity”.

On the possibility of this summer being able to compensate for the losses of last year, Elidérico Viegas speaks of an unlikely scenario: “I understand that in this matter, what has been lost is lost, it is worth remembering that we have been in deficit for a year and a half, we entered the late summer of 2019 in the low season, we caught the pandemic in March and we had more than a year of deficient management. We have good expectations for the tourist season this year, for example last year when the air corridors were opened 10 days, it resulted in a substantial increase in demand from the English, it is necessary that the agents involved in the tourism business, transporters, retailers , airline operators, among others, quickly prepare to respond to requests”.

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Former Alderman of the Chamber of Loulé and President of the Junta de Almancil dies with Covid-19.

João Martins, former councillor of the Chamber of Loulé and President of the Almancil Parish Council, died this Tuesday, May 11, victim of Covid-19. He was 72 years old and was admitted to intensive care at Hospital de Faro.

The South Information, Vítor Aleixo, President of Loulé Câmara, lamented “deeply” the death of this former alderman, in the executive who led the council from 2013 to 2017.

“It is a very big loss that leaves us very dismayed,” he said.

The political trajectory of João Martins, who was a social security inspector, is directly linked to the parish of Almancil, where he held the positions of President of the Parish Assembly (from January 1990 to December 1993), executive secretary of the Parish Council de Almancil (from January 1994 to December 1997) and president of the Almancil Parish Council (from January 1998 to October 2013).

He was a founding partner and President of ASCA (Social and Cultural Association of Almancil) and chaired the 1st Congress of the Parish of Almancil (May 2004), the Organizing Committee for the Conventions of Portuguese Communities in the World and the Commission for the Commemorations of the 30th Anniversary of 25 de Abril, among other initiatives carried out in this Parish, namely as a member of the commission that chaired the creation of the coat of arms of the Parish of Almancil.

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Covid-19: ACRAL survey finds that Algarve companies “can’t take” another summer equal to 2020.

Algarve businesspeople “can’t take another summer equal to 2020, with the pandemic “severely” affecting 8.8 out of 10 companies, reveals a survey released today by the Association of Commerce and Services of the Algarve Region (ACRAL).

Of the associates who responded to the survey with the theme “Impact on the local economy: effects caused by Covid-19”, the majority (92%) have micro-enterprises with “less than 10 workers” and 66.7% belong to commerce.

“If by chance, the summer of 2021 is equal to or worse than the summer of 2020, the winter season can be extremely dramatic for the future of the sustainability of companies in the Algarve”, warned the President of ACRAL, Paulo Alentejano, quoted in a statement association.

The same source asked the Government to adopt “different measures” that can “guarantee the survival of the Algarve’s business fabric and avoid a social crisis in the Algarve to the limit”, a region that has been strongly affected by restrictions on tourism.

“In view of the current situation, 88% of the companies responded that they were seriously affected by losses accumulated in the last months”, quantified ACRAL, stressing that the assessment made of the current situation is “very bad” and “70% of the respondents” felt “in 2021 a worsening of the situation”.

ACRAL pointed out as one of the reasons for the lack of confidence of these entrepreneurs “the sharp drop in revenues” due to the “low demand for products and services after confinement” caused by the “drastic” decline in demand.

“In accordance with the data obtained from the referred survey, it is concluded that 66.7% of the respondents correspond to companies in which commerce is the main activity, 16% relate to services and 16% to hotels and restaurants” reported the Algarve business association.

Regarding expectations for the next 12 months, “72% of respondents do not foresee any improvement” and, therefore, had to control costs, postpone or cancel investments or dismiss workers, a situation that implied an “increase in the dismissal rate” and unemployment in the region.

“Regarding the restrictions enacted by the Government, 97% of the respondents agree with the measures imposed in terms of health, however, their establishments have been seriously affected by the restrictions applied in their sectors of activity and, although a large percentage are aware of the support made available by the Government and having adhered to them, 94% consider that the State support is not corresponding to the needs”, said the ACRAL.

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GNR arrested a 54-year-old man for drug trafficking yesterday in the Parque da Fronteira in Castro Marim.

According to a statement from that security force, it was through a patrolling action that the military verified the presence of a vehicle, “about 100 meters from the control point, in the direction of Spain – Portugal, which was standing at the side of the road, the driver having left it and showing suspicious behaviour “. As they approached the vehicle, the military found that the individual had two black bags in his possession, “which he tried to conceal outside the road.”

In the sequence, the same statement reads that the military approached the suspect and found that the bags contained a narcotic product inside, with the suspect trying to escape, “having been immediately arrested by the military”.

In the same action, 1,922 doses of cannabis were seized; 880 euros in cash; a vehicle and two mobile phones.

The detainee who was constituted accused is being present at the Faro Judicial Court, for the application of coercion measures.

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Azores Report

Situation Report Azores – 12th May 2021 – From our colleague in the Azores.

Covid-19 

The Regional Health Authority has said that in the last four days the number of new positive cases of Covid-19 resulting from 5,623 tests is 86.  These tests were carried out in reference laboratories in the Region, in private laboratories with conventions, in the Regional Health Service, through rapid tests (mass screening), in the laboratory of Terceira University and by means of tests carried out in the scope of occupational medicine.

São Miguel registered most of the cases with 81. Flores had 2 and Terceira 3.

There have been some recoveries, 57 in total.  All of them on the island of São Miguel.

12 patients are hospitalized, all at the Hospital do Divino Espírito Santo, in São Miguel, with one in intensive care. There are currently 774 people under active surveillance.

As of today, the Region has 214 active positive cases, 199 in São Miguel, 9 in Flores, 4 in Terceira and 2 in Santa Maria.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, 5,085 positive cases of Covid-19 have been diagnosed in the Azores, and 4,720 people have recovered from the disease. 31 died, 79 left the archipelago and 43 presented proof of previous healing. There is an active chain, in Flores, and 201 chains have already been extinguished.

Between December 31st, 2020 and May 6th, 87,077 doses of vaccine against Covid-19 have been administered in the Azores, corresponding to 59,347 people aged 15 years and over, with the first dose and 27,730 people with both doses, within the scope of the Regional Vaccination Plan.