Algarve Situation Report Thursday 23rd July 2020
UK studies Algarve method of combating Covid-19
Scientists from the UK Science & Innovation Network Office have met with the Algarve Biomedical Centre (ABC) with the aim of implementing, in the United Kingdom, the pool method that allows analysis to be carried out “more quickly and cheaply”.
The news was advanced by the newspaper the Telegraph which, in its edition of last Sunday, 19 July, wrote that the United Kingdom “turned to Portugal” and to its “massive tests” strategy to Covid-19.
Is that this method, writes the newspaper that can “help prevent the progress of the disease, reducing the number of deaths”.
Nuno Marques, president of ABC, explained to Sul Informação that he met with British scientists met, in June, with the Algarve Biomedical Centre to “explain our pooling protocol” to them, developed by this consortium that joins the Centro Hospitalar Universitário do Algarve (CHUA) and the University of Algarve (UAlg).
For Nuno Marques, this international interest (there have also been meetings with Spanish, Italian and Polish entities) is proof of the work that ABC has been developing in the fight against Covid-19.
“It is an acknowledgment for ABC and for our work, mainly because we are combining the issue of research with its practical execution”, he considered.
And this interest comes even from countries that excluded Portugal from the list of safe countries … like the United Kingdom. This decision, said Nuno Marques, was made using only “a single indicator: the number of cases per 100 thousand inhabitants”.
Integrated Medical Emergency System reinforces seasonal ambulances in the Algarve
The Integrated Medical Emergency System (SIEM) has been reinforced with eight seasonal ambulances to increase the response capacity in regions of the country where the population increases in the summer, announced today the National Institute of Medical Emergency (INEM).
In a statement sent to the newsrooms, INEM explains that the measure was implemented through seasonal protocols with eight entities: the volunteer firefighters of Terras de Bouro, Grândola, Canha and Albufeira, and the delegations of the Portuguese Red Cross (CVP) of Vilar Formoso, Faro-Loulé, Silves-Albufeira and Olhão.
Stressing that these partnerships ensure the action of an emergency ambulance 24 hours a day with the necessary crew, INEM assumes the payment of expenses and also defends that these protocols seek to “guarantee a better response to situations of accident or sudden illness”.
SIEM, which is coordinated by INEM, is made up of 364 Medical Emergency Posts (PEM) distributed over 308 municipalities in Portugal, with ambulances assigned to their service, in addition to 56 medical emergency ambulances and another 40 for immediate life support, and a set of multidisciplinary medical emergency means, with 44 emergency and resuscitation medical vehicles and four helicopters.
Covid.19: Uninfected construction site workers, housed at the Loulé ZAP
The Municipality of Loulé informed that, following a new outbreak of the disease among workers at a construction site taking place in the municipality (Quinta da Ombria), dozens of people linked to the construction company responsible for carrying out the work were tested. .
In a statement, the municipality indicates that the Health Authority, in conjunction with the Municipality of Loulé and other civil protection entities, “conducted a contact screening, with the prophylactic isolation of individuals who tested positive”.
According to the same source, the infected workers are now properly separated from the rest of their colleagues. For this purpose, the municipality opened a Population Support Zone (ZAP) in the Spanish pavilion, in Loulé, where workers who were negative in the screening tests were housed.
The Municipal Service of Civil Protection and Security in the Forest has also collaborated with the National Republican Guard in the daily control actions of workers positive for COVID-19 and who are in confinement in the homes of the construction company.
For reasons of prevention and safety of the entire community, the Municipality requested the Algarve Biomedical Center (ABC) to carry out tests on all employees of the nursing homes of Tôr, Salir and Querença, the results of which, for all 108 employees tested, were negative.
Portugal situation report – Wednesday 22nd July 2020
Introduction
Good morning. The decrease in daily cases of Covid-19 continued again yesterday with 127 cases confirmed, the lowest for just over a month. This is obviously a pleasing development and one hopes it is the start of a steeper decline in lower daily figures than we have recently experienced. Certainly from our own observations and the feedback we constantly receive there is general compliance with the rules and certainly with regards to social distancing, hygiene and the wearing of facemasks, which are essential in preventing new outbreaks.
Despite the fact that we are seeing more visitors this does not so far appear to have resulted in an increase in confirmed cases. However, this is certainly not the time for relaxation and with the possibility of more visitors in August it is essential that they are fully aware of the laws and rules that apply here in Portugal, and follow them.
One issue I would like to raise again is the responsible use of social media – or I should say irresponsible. Whereas people are rightly quick to cricise the UK media when they make speculative and inaccurate comments about Portugal and its tackling of Covid-19, it is often the same people who themselves make equally damaging comments on certain Facebook groups in the Algarve.
One example two days ago on a Facebook group was: “Has anyone heard that the Portuguese/Spanish border – is closed – any rumour on this welcome” – or words to that effect. Over 100 comments! As it is in English there is the potential for this sort of distorted information to be picked up by UK residents and suddenly guess what – it becomes fact! This makes our job more difficult and could also misrepresent in the UK the correct situation here in Portugal. Unfortunately such groups have no Admin monitoring! Please do not add to or spread unsubstantiated information or gossip.
Yesterday we reported on the thunderstorms that hit Portugal overnight on Monday causing at least 12 fires according to the ANEPC. We now have more detail that on the night of July 20 and early morning of July 21, the instability associated with a depression in altitude, centred in the southwest of Lisbon and in a slow movement to the northeast, gave rise to strong electrical activity in the central and southern areas. The number of electric discharges was over 13,000 and those that hit the ground, recorded between 2100 hrs on the 20th and 0900 hrs on the 21st, was over 2600 “, explained the IPMA in a statement.
On the subject of fires there was an SMS by the ANEPC to four districts yesterday due to maximum red alert being issued. In one of these Portalegre we monitored closely a fire that broke out in the afternoon.
I wish you all a Safe day.
DGS Covid-19 statistics
The Directorate-General for Health (DGS) announced on Tuesday the existence of 1,697 deaths and 48,898 cases of Covid-19 in Portugal, since the beginning of the pandemic.
The number of deaths rose, from Monday to Tuesday by six and the number of confirmed cases by 127, which corresponds to an increase of 0.3%. This is the lowest daily increase in confirmed cases for over a month.
There are 439 hospitalized patients, 15 fewer than yesterday. 62 are in Intensive Care Units, one more compared to Monday.
The number of recovered cases rose from 33,547 to 33,769, plus 222.
Lisbon and the Tagus Valley, where there have been several outbreaks, register 24,470 cases today, 101 more than Monday.
In percentage terms, in the last 24 hours, the increase in deaths was 0.4% (from 1,691 to 1,697) and that of confirmed cases was 0.3% (from 48,771 to 48,898).
Lisbon and the Tagus Valley is the region where the increase in cases continues to be more significant, accounting for 79.5% of new cases, with 101 out of 127 accounted for. It was also in the Lisbon area that the six fatalities due to covid-19 recorded in the last 24 hours occurred.
In number of cases, Lisbon and Vale do Tejo leads with 24,470, followed by the North region (18,372, with 11 new cases), the Center region (4,367, with six new cases), the Algarve (792 and two new cases) and the Alentejo (636, one more case).
In the Azores, there was another case of covid-19 in the last 24 hours, now increasing to 159, maintaining the number of deaths (15), while in Madeira there was no increase in cases (it remains at 102) and remains unrecorded.
Health
Lisbon Metropolitan Area
The Minister of Internal Administration, Eduardo Cabrita, affirmed that the control of the pandemic in the 19 parishes in the Metropolitan Area of Lisbon (AML) that are in a state of calamity due to Covid-19 records “a clearly positive evolution”, with 65 active outbreaks.
At the end of a meeting to monitor Covid-19’s prevention and control strategy at AML, which took place at the Prime Minister’s official residence in Lisbon, Eduardo Cabrita said, however, that it is necessary to “continue this monitoring effort very closely, guaranteeing the monitoring by multidisciplinary teams of all cases that have been detected and that are today less than they were two weeks ago”.
“This evolution is nationally positive, it is characterized, today, by an identification of the cases that occur in each parish and with a very concrete identification of the set of outbreaks that are being verified in each municipality”, he added.
Covid-19: Rises to 14 number of infected in outbreak in Torres Vedras hypermarket
Cases of infection with covid-19 in a hypermarket of the Sonae Group in Torres Vedras, in the district of Lisbon, rose to 14, said a public health source in the Lisbon and Vale region yesterday.
A Public Health source in the region of Lisbon and Vale do Tejo told the agency Lusa that the positive cases among employees of the hypermarket and the stores there, increased from six to 14. More than 100 workers had been tested.
Without confirming or giving data on the number of infected and tested employees, the Continente hypermarket chain confirmed to Lusa that, “as indicated by the local Health Authority and with the objective of preventing and early detection of cases, all employees of Continente Modelo Torres Vedras and the stores in the commercial gallery, although asymptomatic “, were going to be tested. Hypermarket and shops are open.
The company clarified that, “under the Contingency Plan of Sonae MC in any case of suspicion of covid-19 or of a confirmed employee, the person is removed from the premises and the Health Authority is immediately contacted”. In parallel, the area is cleaned and disinfected.
Among the preventive measures of covid-19, the hypermarket chain checks the temperature and any symptoms to employees, installed acrylic protection barriers in the payment areas and information counters, reinforce the hygiene and cleanliness of the work places, disinfects the trolleys and offers disinfectant gel to customers and employees, as well as gloves and masks to employees.
Torres Vedras registers 189 cases of infection, of which 92 are active, 92 recovered and five people have died.
Covid-19: Risk of air conditioning is very low if maintenance is carried out
The Directorate-General for Health (DGS) said yesterday that the risk of transmission of the new coronavirus resulting from the use of air conditioning in closed spaces is very low, as long as the maintenance rules and the space is ventilated.
In an update to the various guidelines it has been publishing, DGS defends that the risk of using HVAC systems (Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning) is considered to be very low, “as long as the rules for safe use, namely their maintenance, according to the manufacturer’s instructions, and the renewal of air in closed spaces”.
The national health authority recalls that it has closely followed the evolution of scientific knowledge since the first cases of covid-19 were reported and recalls the World Health Organization statement issued earlier this month in which it is reiterated that “transmission occurs mostly through secretions and droplets and close contact with infected people, not excluding the possibility of aerosol transmission”.
“ECDC has the same position” [European Center for Disease Control], he stresses.
In the same publication in which it updates some guidelines, DGS also says that “the risk of using coins and banknotes is considered to be very low as long as hand hygiene rules are complied with”.
In previous guidelines, when the degree of risk of transmission was still unknown, DGS had recommended that, for the protection of users, opt for contactless routes (such as computer applications or contactless cards).
Government will pay masks for schools
The government will fund the masks for the school community, announced the Minister of Education.
Tiago Brandão Rodrigues was speaking yesterday at the Education, Science, Youth and Sports Commission.
On the 18th of May, when the 11th and 12th year students returned to face-to-face classes, the Ministry of Education distributed more than five million masks to schools.
The authority has already announced that the new academic year should start between September 14th and 17th and that three scenarios are foreseen: the face-to-face, which should only be set aside in an exceptional situation and that will privilege pre-school and 1st grade students and 2nd cycles; the mixed, with alternating classes between face-to-face, synchronous classes and guided autonomous work; and not in person i.e., remotely.
Enforcement
Person infected with covid-19 was detained by GNR for walking on the street
A 27-year-old man infected with covid-19 was detained by the GNR in the municipality of Redondo, in the district of Évora, for disregarding the pandemic containment rules.
According to a statement from GNR, the man was detained in the vicinity of the residence where he had to be quarantined, in the town of Montoito, in the Alentejo municipality of Redondo.
“Following the information that two men were circulating on the public road, in breach of their duty of mandatory confinement decreed by the public health authority, the military officers of the guard took steps to locate them”, reports the GNR , indicating they had detained one of them.
The incident was referred to the Judicial Court of Redondo.
Military
29 Military Personnel Infected
The Armed Forces count 29 military personnel infected with the new coronavirus, with no sign of any outbreak, Defense Minister João Gomes Cravinho said yesterday in Leiria.
“Of course, the military is not immune. Every day I get a report on the infection status. Yesterday we had 29 military personnel infected, none of them, fortunately, in any serious situation, and about a hundred military personnel who are not infected, but as a precaution they are quarantined”, informed the government official.
For João Gomes Cravinho, “the first mission of the armed forces is always to safeguard their own capacity for intervention”, which “since the first day has been done within the scope of the Armed Forces”.
The Defense Minister added that he has been receiving information from the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces on a daily basis, who informed him that “there was no outbreak in the military installations”.
Education
Schools in AML Should Resume Face-to-Face Education
Schools in the 19 parishes in the Lisbon Metropolitan Area (AML) that are in a state of calamity due to the covid-19 should resume face-to-face education in September, an objective assumed today by the Government and mayors.
“A set of conditions was analyzed that aim at what is everyone’s objective, that the school year be resumed in September, with the objective of resuming face-to-face education”, said the Minister of Internal Administration, Eduardo Cabrita, at the end of a meeting to monitor the covid-19 prevention and control strategy at AML, at the official residence of the Prime Minister, in Lisbon.
In addition to the assessment of “clearly positive evolution” in the control of the pandemic in the 19 parishes of the AML that are in a state of calamity until July 31, the meeting between the Government and the five mayors of the affected Town Halls – Lisbon, Sintra, Loures, Amadora and Odivelas – served to “start discussing together how to prepare for the reopening of the school year in early September”.
“Only face-to-face education guarantees the fight against inequalities, guarantees proximity, guarantees the fullness of social support measures that, in conjunction with the Ministry of Education and municipalities, will be promoted in educational communities”, said Eduardo Cabrita.
In this sense, the five municipalities where the 19 parishes concerned are located, together with the Ministry of Education and with the involvement of educational
communities, “will work intensely in the coming weeks” to guarantee the goal of starting the next academic year 2020 / 21 with the resumption of classroom teaching.
Other news
Sintra mountains – traffic closures due to fire risk
Traffic in the Sintra mountains has been closed between 00:01 hrs on Wednesday and until the end of Saturday, due to the risk of fire in the municipality, the municipality stated yesterday.
In a statement, the municipality of Lisbon explained that in the forest perimeter of the Serra de Sintra the “prohibition of circulation, parking and remaining of vehicles” comes into effect.
The measure is in effect between 00:00 on Wednesday and 23:59 on Saturday, and it does not apply to “vehicles of residents and companies based there, public passenger transport, rescue vehicles, emergency vehicles and entities members of the Municipal Civil Protection System”.
“There is an urgent need to preserve the Sintra mountain range, UNESCO World Heritage Cultural Landscape [United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization], and defend it for generations to come”, highlights the note.
The municipality recalls that for the municipality of Sintra the risk of rural fire is expected to be high on Wednesday and Thursday and very high between Friday and Saturday.
“The Serra de Sintra is part of a classified protection region sensitive to the risk of forest fire, characterized by a high number of visitors. Thus, it becomes essential to ensure their protection, maintenance and conservation considered objectives of public interest, worldwide, national and municipal, he adds.
The municipality also explains that this ban will be evaluated every 12 hours, and can be “aggravated or reduced, taking into account the conditions that may be registered”.
The Câmara de Sintra will also provide “free transportation” from the two peripheral car parks to the Serra de Sintra, located in Portela de Sintra and Cavaleira, to the Sintra train station.
Region Reports
Madeira Situation Report 22Nd July 2020
Madeira has eight active cases of covid-19 infection, detected in the screening carried out at the region’s Airport, totalling 102 infected and 94 recovered patients, the health authority said yesterday.
In the epidemiological bulletin distributed by the Institute of Health Administration (IASAÚDE), it can be read that, “until the end of July 20, 1,559 notifications of suspected cases of covid-19 were recorded in the Autonomous Region of Madeira, 1,457 of which have not been confirmed”.
The eight cases that remain active “are imported” and were “identified in the context of the surveillance activities implemented at the Covid-19 Screening Unit at Madeira Airport”, in Funchal.
Of these patients, four “were transferred” from the Inpatient Unit of Hospital Dr. Nélio Mendonça, in Funchal, to a hotel unit, “where they will remain in isolation and accompanied by health authorities”, with the rest being in their own home.
“To date, 10,592 people are being monitored by the health authorities of the various counties in the region, now using the ‘MadeiraSafeToDiscover’ application, and 4,566 are under active surveillance”, mentions IASAÚDE.
In the traveller screening operation carried out at the airports of Madeira and Porto Santo, “there is a cumulative total of 9,923 harvests for testing the covid-19 carried out on site” until 6:30 pm today.
As for the total number of tests carried out in Madeira, the regional health authority indicates that “35,711 samples were processed by the end of the 20th”.
Covid-19 Madeira Assembly Plenary Sessions with all Deputies from 15th September
The plenary sessions of the Madeira Assembly will once again take place with all elected deputies, 47, representing five parties (PSD, PS, CDS, JPP, CDU), as of September 15, announced today the president of the regional parliament.
“It was decided that as of September 15, if there is no resurgence of the pandemic, the plenary will now have the 47 deputies in office, instead of the operating and deliberation quorum that we had been adopting in this period more difficult to confine and gradually de-define parliamentary work ”, declared the president of the Legislative Assembly of Madeira (ALM).
José Manuel Rodrigues (CDS-PP) was speaking at a press conference, after the meeting of the Conference of Representatives of the Parties with a seat in the island parliament.
The Legislative Assembly of Madeira is composed of 47 deputies, being 21 from PSD, 19 from PS, three from CDS, three from JPP and one from PCP.
The president of the island parliament also informed that the ALM will invest in the remodeling of the audio-visual media, to allow the creation of a parliament channel in the medium term, and in the facilities destined to the journalists who cover the parliamentary activity.
One of the projects, he said, is “the remodelling of the journalists’ room, which will be transformed into an auditorium and also into a support room for professionals who cover parliamentary work, with better physical and technical conditions”.
Another planned investment highlighted by José Manuel Rodrigues is in the “audio-visual media of the regional parliament, in the sense that in the medium term ALM may have a parliamentary channel, similar to what happens with the Assembly of the Republic and other regional and the national parliaments”.
Algarve
Brussels Agreement: 300 million euros to be paid to the Algarve
The president of AMAP yesterday said it was “extraordinary” the result of the negotiations carried out by Portugal in the European Union and which allowed 300 million euros to be allocated to the region to face the fall in tourism.
“First of all, I would like to congratulate the Prime Minister and, in a way, those representatives of the different States that managed to reach a good agreement. Then, I was pleased that the Prime Minister paid special attention to the Algarve, which means that he realizes the difficulties we have been through and that our concerns have come to him ”, said António Pina, President of AMAL speaking to Lusa.
António Pina, who holds the presidency of AMAL with that of the Chamber of Olhão, thus reacted to the agreement reached at dawn between the member countries of the European Union to relaunch the economy after the crisis caused by the pandemic of covid-19 and which he attributes to Portugal, with the long-term budget of the European Union (EU) and the Recovery Fund, 45 billion euros in subsidies, earmarking 300 million euros to the Algarve.
The President of AMAL warned, however, that the Algarve “has more ambitions” for the amount of 45 billion euros and is preparing a recovery plan with investments in the areas of health, water collection and distribution or in the area ports, which he also wants to see also included in that package.
The representative of the 16 municipalities in the district of Faro pointed out that, “in relation to the 300 million, and since there is talk of a strengthening of the regional OP [Operational Program], which was in the previous Framework of 320” million, the region it is “practically 100% reinforced, and this is extraordinary”.
New ARS Algarve data centre is “the largest in the region”
The Regional Health Administration (ARS) of the Algarve has, since the beginning of July, a new modular data centre, “modern, safe, with more storage capacity and with high energy efficiency”, being “the largest of its kind in the region”.
For the president of ARS Algarve, Paulo Morgado, “this investment in technological innovation aims to provide the Algarve region with an essential infrastructure for the future, which will contribute to improving the quality of IT systems and resources and, thus, reinforcing the proximity between the citizen and health service”.
Installed at the Faro Health Centre, this new equipment, which is based on a 100 percent Portuguese solution, developed by a national company, is part of the Technological Restructuring Project in healthcare provision and represents a total investment of around 400 thousand euros, 60 percent of which are co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund, under the CRESC Algarve 2020 Operational Program (OP).
The new data centre will progressively centralize the information technology systems used in primary health care units and that were dispersed throughout the region, in a controlled environment and aimed at High Availability applications, reducing the risk of loss data and facilitating access to them, “implementing a culture of transparency, security, control and monitoring”.
Group of migrants from North Africa land illegally on Ilha do Farol in the Algarve
The group aged around 25 from North Africa were intercepted by the GNR at 7.30 pm on Tuesday 21st July 2020.
A vessel with 21 migrants from North Africa arrived, at the end of Tuesday afternoon, at Ilha do Farol, in the municipality of Faro. The group was caught by the GNR already on the beach and sent to a pavilion in Olhão.
According to the commander of the Olhão Coastal Control Detachment, Nuno Marinho, the vessel was still detected at sea by the Integrated Surveillance, Command and Control System (SIVICC), by GNR, and were intercepted by military personnel, at 7.30 pm on the beach. They appeared to be “in good health”, although one of them was using crutches.
The group offered no resistance to being arrested and, after 10:30 pm, they were transferred on a bus from the Municipal Fire Department of Olhão to the pavilion where they will have spent the night, located in an isolated area. Shortly before, Nuno Marinho had guaranteed that they will all be tested at covid-19 and, later, handed over to the guard of the Aliens and Borders Service.
In the operation, about 20 members of the GNR participated, who, after detecting the group, “started a series of steps” to check if any had fleeded. Everything points to the fact that they have all been caught by the military.
Since December, 69 migrants have disembarked in the Algarve on five different occasions.
Azores
Situation Report Azores 21st July – 22nd July 2020 – From our colleague in the Azores
The Regional Health Authority reported on Monday that, from 719 tests carried out in the two reference laboratories in the Region, two positive cases of COVID-19 were diagnosed on the island of São Miguel.
One of the diagnosed cases is a 36-year-old man, a crew member of a vessel that arrived in the Autonomous Region of the Azores and that remained here while waiting for test results.
He is in a stable clinical condition and will be transferred to an accommodation to complete the required isolation.
The rest of the crew members must quarantine on the vessel for a period of 14 days.
The other case is a 51-year-old man, who arrived on Monday, by air from the continent, his pre-arrival tests produced inconclusive results. A second test, taken after arriving in the Region, was positive.
He is also in a stable clinical condition and has been transferred from the airport to the Hospital do Divino Espírito Santo in Ponta Delgada, for evaluation.
The Regional Health Authority has reported that the 1,023 tests carried out in the two reference laboratories in the Region in the last 24 hours did not reveal positive cases of COVID-19.
The Region has had a total of 161 cases of infection by the new SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, which causes COVID-19 disease. There are currently only nine active positive cases, seven of which on the island of São Miguel, one on the island Terceira and one on the island of Flores.
The president of the Algarve Tourism Region (RTA) hopes that the British Government’s decision to keep Portugal off the list of safe destinations for travel , known today, will be “finally corrected next week, as updates to that list seem which are now weekly ”.
The reopening of the Portuguese-Spanish river crossing between the Algarve and the autonomous region of Andalusia thus joins the road connection re-established on July 1, between Castro Marim and Ayamonte, through the Guadiana International Bridge, which had also been closed in March , except for the transportation of goods and cross-border workers.
The municipality’s source confirmed that some cases of Covid.19 were recorded, not giving the exact number, referring that the testing operation for the professionals of the homes was another preventive measure, to prevent possible contagions in the elderly population.
As Moto Clube de Faro announced on Thursday on Facebook, “for reasons beyond our control and without any consistency, the traditional parade through the city will not be held” which would be scheduled for Sunday.