Month: June 2021

 

Council of Ministers meeting Press Conference

 

A day after Portugal entered the red zone of the risk matrix for the first time, the Council of Ministers met this Thursday, 24 June, to make decisions on de-confinement.

The Minister of State and the Presidency, Mariana Vieira da Silva, announced that the Council of Ministers approved a resolution extending the calamity situation until 23h59 of 11 July and that “changes the measures applicable to certain municipalities”.

Vieira da Silva also announced that, at this moment, “Portugal is clearly in the red zone of our matrix so there are no conditions” for continuing de-confinement. The country currently registers an incidence of 129 new cases per hundred thousand inhabitants and an R(t) of 1.18.

Portugal has entered the red zone in the risk matrix, which crosses the incidence of the disease with the contagion index (Rt), but there are other indicators, such as hospitalisations, which, despite still being far from the red lines, help to compose “a situation that is complex and requires everyone’s attention,” said the minister.

There are 19 municipalities on alert.

Municipalities with 120 cases per 100,000 inhabitants (or 240 cases in the case of low density municipalities):

• Alenquer
• Avis
• Castelo de Vide
• Castro Daire
• Chamusca
• Constância
• Faro
• Lagoa
• Mira
• Olhão
• Paredes de Coura
• Portimão
• Porto
• Rio Maior
• Santarém
• São Brás de Alportel
• Silves
• Sousel
• Torres Vedras

 

As of this week, there are three municipalities that are going back on deconfinement: Albufeira, Lisbon and Sesimbra. In these municipalities, restaurants and similar establishments will have to close at 3. 15h30 on weekends, as well as commercial establishments in the food sector. Supermarkets and food retail establishments will have to close at 19h00 on weekends.

25 municipalities halt deconfinement.

Municipalities with two assessments in which they register an incidence higher than 120 cases per 100 thousand inhabitants (or 240 in the case of municipalities with low population density):

• Alcochete
• Almada
• Amadora
• Arruda dos Vinhos
• Barreiro
• Braga
• Cascais
• Grândola
• Lagos
• Loulé
• Loures
• Mafra
• Moita
• Montijo
• Odemira
• Odivelas
• Oeiras
• Palmela
• Sardoal
• Seixal
• Setúbal
• Sines
• Sintra
• Sobral de Monte Agraço
• Vila Franca de Xira

 

It will be possible to leave and enter the Lisbon Metropolitan Area with a negative test and covid certificate

Already this weekend it will be possible to leave and enter the Lisbon Metropolitan Area with a negative covid-19 test (antigen test taken less than 48 hours ago or PCR taken less than 72 hours ago) and the covid-19 digital certificate attesting to complete vaccination or recovery from the disease.

The rapid self-tests for SARS-CoV-2 diagnosis will not be used to enter or leave the area. “Since they cannot have a laboratory result, the self-tests do not qualify”, revealed Mariana Vieira da Silva.

The timetable for the circulation ban will remain the same as last week, which means that this restriction will be in force between 15h00 on Friday and 06h00 on Monday. The “forms of enforcement” will also remain the same.

Telework remains compulsory only in some municipalities

There will also be no changes to the opening hours for commercial establishments, depending on the situation a particular municipality is in. The same applies to telework. “There are municipalities where it is compulsory again and others where it is no longer compulsory. This is the application of the rules that we had announced depending on the increase in incidence,” said the Minister of State and the Presidency.

The Minister Mariana Vieira da Silva rejects that there is a “total lack of control of the pandemic”, although Portugal is now in a “more serious situation”, which leads the government to “respond early” to the growth of the pandemic.

The Delta variant “is one explanation” for the increase in cases, but the executive “always” said that “the increase in social contacts” and the resumption of some “normality” would have an effect. However, “it was not expected to be this high,” she admitted.

“While we would all like to have a date for the end of this situation [the pandemic], it does not appear,” she said. But there are hopeful signs on the horizon: full vaccination of all citizens over 60 can have a “decisive effect” and the country is closer to achieving it, with “300,000 full vaccinations” per week. It is a “path of two or three weeks”, estimates Mariana Vieira da Silva.

The measures allow “time for the vaccination to reach all these ages of greater vulnerability and even all citizens”.

The Minister also revealed that economic support to the sectors most affected by the pandemic will continue. “Bearing in mind that they were scheduled to end when the deconfinement ended and it will not end, the support will be extended in terms that the Minister of the Economy will announce,” she revealed.

Risk matrix is to be maintained

The Government again rejects changing the covid-19 risk matrix, which is “the best instrument for this moment”.

“It has been throughout these months an important instrument so that when a municipality is showing a high incidence measures are taken,” said Minister Mariana Vieira da Silva.

“The measures we have taken take time and with this level of spread of the virus there is the expectation that the numbers will continue to grow,” she warned. It is necessary to vaccinate more and wait for the effects of the vaccination: the immunity conferred by the vaccine is only reached two weeks after the second dose (in the case of vaccines with two inoculations), recalled the minister.

SOURCE: PÚBLICO

 

 

Lisbon, June 21, 2021 (Lusa) – The campaign “Give change to those who need it” starts today in pharmacies across the country to help families made more vulnerable by the covid-19 pandemic, under the Emergency program helped 1,472 people.

The campaign, an initiative developed by Associação Dignitude launched in March 2020 and which aims to provide dignified access to prescription drugs for those who do not have the financial capacity to purchase them, starts today and ends on June 29.

Speaking to Lusa agency, Maria de Belém Roseira, ambassador of Associação Dignitude, explained that the campaign invites people who go to pharmacies to donate “their change”, which will revert to the Emergency Fund abem: Covid-19, within the scope of the medicine’s solidarity network specifically aimed at people who are victims of the consequences of the pandemic, who have lost income.

The collected donations will be fully applied to access medicines, products and health services to people who have become more vulnerable due to the pandemic.

People, according to Maria de Belém Roseira, are identified as having economic need through the association’s partners in the field, they are given a card with a name and an identifying bar code which they then show at the pharmacy.

“We created the program right when the pandemic broke out. Suddenly many people were without resources from one moment to the next and one of the most basic needs people have is to continue taking the medications that are prescribed to them, otherwise this tragedy will be added later to an episode of illness, be it acute or chronic, which gets worse because people do not have access”, he said.

Therefore, underlines Maria de Belém Roseira, the appeal for national solidarity is made through campaigns with the collaboration of Portuguese Pharmacies and local partner entities.

“For this campaign there will be around 600 pharmacies on the continent and in the Autonomous Regions, in the sense that people who go to these pharmacies round up their change, donate their change to the Emergency program abem: Covid-19. Gathering a lot of crumbs, even a few cents, we get an amount that is fully transferred to the fund that supports this program and that is also converted into support for our beneficiaries”, he explained.

According to the ambassador of Dignitude, the beneficiaries are identified by 47 local partners, such as Municipal Councils, Parish Councils, Private Institutions of Social Solidarity, Cáritas and Misericórdias.

“Our beneficiaries are not identified by us, but by the social partners. They are the ones who know the seriousness of the social situations they accompany. This program lives on collaborations between several. We don’t want to do what others can do better than us”, he said.

Maria de Belém highlighted that what Dignitude ensures is the transparent collection, rendering of accounts and its full allocation of support to people in the payment of the portion not reimbursed by the State in medicines that are prescribed by doctors.

According to data from the association, the program has helped 1,472 people by the end of May to access medicines, health products and services and 14,804 deliveries of hospital medication at home or in a pharmacy close to the beneficiaries’ homes, through articulation with 33 hospitals and 2,906 pharmacies.

 

 

Minister of State and of the Presidency, announcement at end of the Council of Ministers meeting 17th June 2021

 

“The epidemiological situation in the country has been deteriorating.

An incidence of 1.5 and an R(t) of 1.13”, announced Mariana Vieira da Silva, Minister of State and of the Presidency, at the end of the weekly meeting of the Council of Ministers this Thursday, 17 June, to report on the update of the municipalities that advance and retreat in the levels of confinement.

“Apparently, there is a greater prevalence of the Delta variant in this territory and also in the Alentejo region. We await more data and the sequencing work that the National Institute of Health Doctor Ricardo Jorge does.

The high number of cases in Lisbon has led the Government to decide to apply an extraordinary measure to the Metropolitan Area of Lisbon (AML – Alcochete; Almada; Amadora; Barreiro; Cascais; Lisboa; Loures; Mafra; Moita; Montijo; Odivelas; Oeiras; Palmela; Seixal; Sesimbra; Setúbal; Sintra; Vila Franca de Xira) in restricting mobility, prohibiting circulation both in and out of the AML throughout the weekend.

The traffic restrictions apply only to circulation to and from the Metropolitan Area of Lisbon. In other words, circulation between municipalities within the Metropolitan Area will continue to be permitted. The travel restrictions will start at 15h00 this Friday, 18th June and will finish at 6 am Monday 21^st June.

It is difficult to take these measures, but it is a condition that we believe is essential at this time to avoid spreading the situation in Lisbon to the whole country.

Based on data on incidence by municipality as of June 16, changes were introduced with regard to the municipalities covered by each of the decontamination phases:

The municipalities of Albufeira, Arruda dos Vinhos, Braga, Cascais, Lisbon, Loulé, Odemira, Sertã and Sintra are subject to the high risk measures of 1 May.

The municipality of Sesimbra applies the very high risk measures, dated 19 April;

The rules of phase 1, of June 10, apply to all other municipalities, namely the municipality of Vale de Cambra, which is moving towards decontamination.

Minister Mariana Vieira da Silva says there is a “very large number” of municipalities on alert compared to those recorded in last week’s assessment. Most of these municipalities are in the Lisbon region:

• Alcochete
• Águeda
• Almada
• Amadora
• Barreiro
• Grândola
• Lagos
• Loures
• Mafra
• Moita
• Montijo
• Odivelas
• Oeiras
• Palmela
• Sardoal
• Seixal
• Setúbal
• Sines
• Sobral de Monte Agraço
• Vila Franca de Xira

The restriction on circulation “is not a measure to control the pandemic”, says Mariana Vieira, adding that it will not be this decision that will bring the numbers down in the Metropolitan Area of Lisbon (AML). “It is an attempt to contain in this territory, not spreading to the rest of the country what is happening in Lisbon,” she says. “It is much more a measure to protect the rest of the country, than a measure to contain the pandemic in the AML,” she says.

Depending on the evolution, the situation now may mean, warns Vieira da Silva, that the country will not move forward in the deconfinement plan next week, as was foreseen in the plan announced by the government at the beginning of the month.

The minister also announced that the Council of Ministers has decided that the digital certificate can replace the presentation of tests in events where tests are mandatory. “There is a diversity of tests at lower prices,” recalled the minister, praising the possibility of there being events with tests, so that otherwise would have been banned.

SOURCE: PÚBLICO

 

It is the health services that will issue a vaccination certificate

How to order, what information does it give and how will it work? These are some of the questions that citizens ask. Know the answers.

In mid-May, negotiators for the Portuguese presidency of the Council of the European Union and the European Parliament reached a political agreement on the creation of the EU Covid Digital Certificate, proposed by the European Commission last March, the approval by the assembly of the compromise text, which legally frames the document, paves the way for its entry into force, as planned, on 1 July and with a duration of 12 months.

This certificate, which was designed to facilitate the return to free movement within the EU, being a kind of free transit pass, should be free and will work similarly to a travel boarding pass in digital and/or paper format, with a QR code to be easily read by electronic devices in the citizen’s national language and in English.

In Portugal, the first covid-19 digital certificates for national citizens should start being issued in the middle of this week by the Shared Services of the Ministry of Health (SPMS), a government source told Lusa on Sunday. But what is this certificate, how will it work and how to get it? Here are the answers.

What is the EU Digital Certificate?

It is digital proof that a person has been vaccinated against covid-19, has had a negative test result, or has recovered from the disease.

What are the main features of the document?

It can be in digital or paper format and has a QR code. The document is free and is in the national language and in English. The EU guarantees that it is safe and secure and valid in all countries in the Community space.

How to get this certificate?

National authorities are responsible for issuing the certificate, which can be issued by testing centres or health authorities or directly via an online health portal. Digital certificates will begin to be issued by the Shared Services of the Ministry of Health (SPMS). The digital version can be stored on a mobile device. Citizens can also request a paper version. Both versions will have a QR code that contains essential information, as well as a digital signature, to guarantee the authenticity of the certificate. These were the versions that member states agreed to facilitate recognition.

How will the certificate contribute to free movement?

The Covid EU Digital Certificate will be accepted in all EU Member States. It will help ensure that restrictions currently in place are lifted in a coordinated manner. When traveling, holders are, in principle, exempt from restrictions on free movement: Member States shall not impose additional travel restrictions on holders of this certificate, unless they are proportionate and necessary to protect public health. In that case – for example, to respond to new variants that give rise to concern – the Member State concerned has to notify the Commission and all other Member States and justify this decision.

How will the certificate work?

The certificate includes a QR code with a digital signature to prevent forgery. When the certificate is inspected, the QR code is scanned and the signature verified. Each issuing body (eg hospital, testing centre, health authority) has its own digital signature key. All these keys are registered in a secure database in each country. The European Commission has created a portal that allows you to verify all certificate signatures across the EU. Personal data of certificate holders are not transmitted to the portal, as this is not necessary to verify the digital signature. The European Commission has helped member states to develop national software and applications for issuing, storing and verifying certificates,

Will unvaccinated citizens be able to travel to another EU country with this certificate?

Yes. The EU Covid Digital Certificate should facilitate free movement within the EU – but it will not be a precondition for such movement, although this is a fundamental right in the EU – because it will also prove test results, which are often required by the strength of the applicable public health restrictions. The certificate provides an opportunity for member states to adjust existing restrictions for public health reasons. The recommendation currently in force on the coordination of restrictions on free movement in the EU will be amended in mid-June in view of the holiday season.

Is it important to know what vaccines citizens received?

Vaccination certificates will be issued to people vaccinated with any vaccine against covid-19. With regard to exemption from restrictions on free movement, member states will have to accept vaccination certificates for vaccines that have obtained an EU marketing authorization. Member States may decide to extend this possibility also to EU travellers who have received another vaccine. It is also up to Member States to decide whether to accept a vaccination certificate after a dose or after completion of the vaccination cycle

What data is included in the certificate? Is the data secure?

The EU Covid Digital Certificate contains essential necessary information such as name, date of birth, date of issue, pertinent information about the vaccine/test/recovery and a unique identifier. These data remain in the certificate and are not stored or preserved, by countries or when the certificate is verified in another Member State.

Lisbon, June 15, 2021 (Lusa) – The prime minister today expressed his confidence in the GNR’s ability to adapt to the new challenge posed by the political power to protect borders following the extinction of the Foreigners and Borders Service (SEF). ).

This position was conveyed by António Costa after having presided at Largo do Carmo, in Lisbon, at the ceremony of handing over the general officer’s sword to the first brigadier general of the National Republican Guard (GNR), António Bogas – an act he considered to represent “a historic day” for this security force.

“I would even say that this is a historic day for the national defence and internal security system in Portugal. The GNR is an institution that has a very unique nature: It is a security force, but it is a force of a military nature”, pointed.

In his brief speech, the leader of the executive especially praised “the closeness of the guard in the connection between the State and the communities and for the humanization of the GNR itself”, giving as an example, afterwards, the fact of many international missions, or of the United Nations , or the European Union, request the presence of security forces of the nature of the GNR.

António Costa then considered that the GNR “has a unique ability to adapt and respond always present to the successive challenges posed by the political power”, namely following “the tragedy of the fires of 2005 with the creation of a new valence for intervention, protection and relief”.

“Now, again, new missions are being asked of it in the context of surveillance and protection of our external borders of the European Union as a result of the extinction of the SEF. It is not an unknown mission for the guard, but it is perhaps a mission that has already been forgotten. , it is necessary to reinvent and rebuild it – and we are certain that the GNR will do it with the pride that is characteristic of it,” stressed the prime minister.