Azores Situation Report Wednesday 29th September 2021
From our colleague in the Azores
Covid -19
Since the last Situation Report a week ago on the 22nd September there have been 78 new cases of Covid-19 registered, two more than last week and 57 recoveries.
Current situation:
The archipelago currently has 122 active positive cases: 98 on the island of São Miguel, 12 on the island of Faial, eight on the island of Terceira and four on the island of Pico.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, 8,973 positive cases of COVID-19 have been diagnosed in the Azores and 8,632 people recovered from the disease. There were 42 deaths, 95 people who left the archipelago and 82 cases with history of previous cure. To date, 700,266 tests have been carried out in the archipelago to detect SARS-CoV-2 virus which causes the disease COVID-19.
The Rt rate in the region is still at 0.66
From 31st December 2020 to September 20th, 172,284 people in the Azores have been vaccinated with the first dose (72.8 per cent) and 186,398 with complete vaccination (78,8 per cent), under the Regional Vaccination Plan.
Bad Weather
Five houses in the parishes of Mosteiros and Sete Cidades, on the island of São Miguel, were left uninhabitable because of heavy rain on Monday, Civil Protection has said.
The coordinator of Civil Protection for the municipality of Ponta Delgada, Pedro Azevedo, indicated that “five houses are not now habitable.”
“These people from the five houses are staying with relatives and it was not necessary to relocate them. The Social Action division in parallel with the Social Security Institute (ISSA) of the Azores has already carried out a case-by-case survey, housing by housing and everything is fine to be treated for further support to affected families with the synergy between the two entities”, he indicated.
Pedro Azevedo also referred that the most affected houses “have no structural damage”, that is, “are not at risk of collapse”, since the greatest damage is “at the level of contents, such as appliances and furniture”, and also “doors and windows”.
As for the cleaning work of houses, water lines and circulation routes in Mosteiros and Sete Cidades, they continue today “at a good pace”, he added.
The Civil Protection of the Azores registered on Monday 24th occurrences due to heavy rain on the island of São Miguel, namely “flooding of houses, blocked roads and dragging vehicles”, with no record of personal injury.
The parishes of Mosteiros and Sete Cidades, in the municipality of Ponta Delgada, were the most affected by bad weather.
In the case of Mosteiros, Pedro Azevedo told Lusa that “the two cars that were on the beach have already been removed”.
“There were two vehicles that were taken away by the force of the water, and in one of the vehicles there was a couple, who were eventually rescued by firefighters,” he said.
The municipal coordinator of Civil Protection for the municipality of Ponta Delgada also said that “the mud had already been removed from the interior of the houses” most affected.
“And, in parallel, all the cleaning of the road is being carried out next to the houses. And the priority is to restore the stream water line, where there is a lot of material to be removed”, he stressed, adding that there is still to be done “all a work to clean up the beach area” of Mosteiros.
Possible Drowning
A man was found dead this morning on the beach at Água d’Alto, in Vila Franca do Campo on São Miguel.
According to information from the Captain of the Port of Ponta Delgada, a man of about 40 years was “spotted by surfers who were on the Água d’Alto beach and who quickly pulled him out of the water, but he was already dead.”
The alert was given to the PSP around 11:38 am and a lifeboat, the Maritime Police and the Vila Franca do Campo Fire Department immediately moved to the scene.
According to Commander Abrantes Horta, the body was transported to the Ponta Delgada morgue, but “has not yet been identified, nor is the cause of death known.”
Ship to Shore Transfer
A crew member of a merchant ship, sailing off Terceira Island, was rescued on Monday. He had severe abdominal pain and was needing medical assistance.
The alert was made at around 9:00 am, by a crew member of the merchant ship, and elements of the Praia da Vitória Lifeguard Station were immediately activated to the location, using a vessel from the Praia da Vitória port.
Alongside the merchant ship, the elements of the Life-Saving Station rescued and transported the victim, a 38-year-old man of Filipino nationality, to the port of Praia da Vitória, where elements of the Immediate Life Assistance Service (SIV) were waiting. He was later transported to the hospital unit.
The operation will start in the summer of 2022, with 10 scheduled frequencies between Heathrow airport, in London, and Ponta Delgada airport, on the island of São Miguel, on Saturdays, between July 2nd and September 3rd.
The Vaccination Centre located in the Pavilhão do Mar, Portas do Mar, in Ponta Delgada was transferred to the Health Centre of Ponta Delgada because of the Azores Rally. All citizens living in São Miguel, who are aged 12 years or over, and who have not yet been vaccinated against Covid-19, can go to the Vaccination Centre of Portas do Mar, from Monday to Friday, between 1:00 pm and 7:30 pm and on Saturdays, between 9am and 3pm, and get your vaccinations done.
Between January and July, considering most types of accommodation (tourist accommodation establishments, camping and holiday camps and youth hostels), there were 5.8 million guests and 14.8 million overnight stays, corresponding to breaks of 1.2% in both cases, compared to the same period in 2020.
EarthCheck is an international certification and consultancy group for scientific benchmarking in travel and tourism, in operation since 1987. The certification responded to the criteria of the Global Sustainable Tourism Council, an international accreditation body for certification of sustainable tourism.
The British decision “was communicated by letter to the president of the [Regional] Government, José Manuel Bolieiro, by the United Kingdom ambassador to Portugal, Christopher Sainty”.
The company has said that in the last four months of 2021 there should be “a significant movement of cruise ships” in the region, due to the redefinition of routes by operators, which “unequivocally privileged the Azores destination”.