Portugal Situation Report Saturday 27th February 2021
Introduction
On March 2nd, one year ago, the first case of Covid-19 in Portugal was diagnosed. A study by Instituto Doctor Ricardo Jorge (INSA) published yesterday shows that the virus had been circulating in the country since February 2020. It is important to understand how the new coronavirus entered Portugal and the report gives some insight into this. Safe Communities Portugal first reported the new coronavirus on 26th January 2020, one month earlier.
We start the day with the continuing good news concerning the key Covid-19 Statistics.
Yesterday there was the 3rd lowest in terms of daily deaths since 21st December; new cases – 2nd lowest number 
since 7th October 2020; those recovered cases were double new cases; lowest number in hospital since 5th November; lowest in ICU since 7th January and a decrease of 39.6% since 1st February; the number of active cases lowest since 30th December, decreasing for 26th consecutive day and over 100,000 (61.4%) since 31st January (in 26 days) and those under surveillance. the lowest since mid-October.
Although these are indeed very encouraging figures, the Government has decided, rightly in our view, to retain the existing State of Emergency measures until 23:59 hrs on 16th March. The Prime Minister explained the rational for this, namely that although there is now “clear improvement” in the European context, the country just two weeks ago was the worst in the EU.
He warned, “all improvements are relative”, this being “the second reason for maintaining the measures “. The number of new cases in the last 24 hours (1027) is still more than four times higher than that registered on 4th May 2020 (242), with similar relationships in the number of hospitalized and hospitalized in Intensive Care Units.
In other words it is too early to make changes with the risk of reversing the downward trend.
“He emphasised that we must remain confined for the next 15 days. This is the message, nothing should change” and “We must avoid confusing citizens with messages that end up inducing wrong behaviour.” So in other words however optimistic the figures, it is important to ensure the basic rules of compliance and in particular the wearing of face masks, avoiding social gatherings, maintaining social distancing hygiene.
In these respects we cannot relax.
Importantly he stated that he will present the de-confinement plan on March 11th.
Also important was his emphasis that we are living in a “dangerous phase”. There may be the illusion that the worst has already been overcome and that we are not in danger of regressing. If there is one thing we have to strive for, it is not to regress in something achieved with such a sacrifice by the Portuguese.
Finally, a reminder about the purpose of our Facebook page. The aim of our page is to provide information and guidance from official channels which helps people during these difficult times. This can take us quite a bit of research and time, especially when we are publishing this in English. It may take a few minutes to publish a piece of information, but an hour or more to prepare it.
We are also there to answer, as far as we can, people’s questions, which again we need to research. When Facebook becomes full of opinions often bearing no relevance to the topic, this can result in long drawn out debates. This detracts from the topic and with long threads makes it more difficult for people to find the answers they really need. There are many Facebook groups where opinions and personal argument abound and Safe Communities Portugal is not one of them. The challenge for our administrators who have to deal with and try and answer the many questions we receive, is immense. We are an open page not a group, so information can be widely shared so as many people as possible benefit. As a result we now have over 40,000 followers compared with 17,000 just a year ago.
We therefore encourage people to keep abreast of developments through our page and website and through the various official channels, DGS, ECDC, etc as this helps in developing a broader more accurate understanding of the ongoing situation and the state of emergency measures in place.
There is much misinformation around, including as reported a few days ago the fake government plan. There are Facebook groups and pages which are abound with misleading information, provocative statements, argument, negativity and personal insults which is not helping during a health crisis and goes against our standards and values. This maybe a reflection of stressful times for many, which we understand, but we will not allow this on our page and such comments will be removed. We thank everyone for their understanding.
Please have a Safe Day.
Headlines
The Prime Minister announces extension of State of Emergency
New State of Emergency, government decree-law has “no change”, says António Costa.
“The measures have continued to produce the desired effects in controlling the pandemic. This is evidenced by the reduction in the transmissibility factor of the disease, the famous R, which is relatively stable, and a continued decrease in new cases”
Costa says that “this is not yet the time for the de-confinement”, although Portugal continues “sustainably” to see the number of new daily cases of infection decrease.
The Prime Minister underlined the “clear improvement” in the European context, when the country was the worst in the EU just two weeks ago.
However, he warned, “all improvements are relative”, this being “the second reason for maintaining the measures “. Portugal is better, but still with levels of new cases and hospitalizations four times above the beginning of the de-confinement of May 2020.
And Costa adds a risk factor: “A very high incidence of the British variant (49%), with a higher risk of contagion. This also justifies the greatest prudence regarding the de-confinement.”
And another one: “We have been executing a vaccination plan. We can confirm only the objective of having 80% of people over the age of 80 vaccinated in March, as well as the full vaccination of those over 50 years of age with major comorbidities.”
António Costa said that he will present the de-confinement plan on March 11th.
Covid-19, One Year On
On March 2nd, one year ago, the first case of Covid-19 in Portugal was diagnosed. A study by Instituto Doutor Ricardo Jorge (INSA) explains now that the virus had been circulating in the country since February 2020.
The first known patient was a 60-year-old doctor who had been on vacation in Northern Italy, one of the European countries most affected by the pandemic. He had fever, cough and body pain. He was admitted to the Hospital de Santo António, in Porto.
About two weeks later, contagions soared and Portugal decreed a State of Emergency: police on the street, mandatory confinement, closed-door business, prohibited travel, but above all, crowded hospitals.
According to a study developed by INSA and released this Friday, SARS-CoV-2 had been circulating in Portugal since February. It also advances that by the end of March 2020, more than 200 infected people had landed at national airports.
It is estimated that, for example, one case in Italy originated more than four thousand in Portugal; the majority in the northern and central regions. So far, in the country, more than 800 thousand Portuguese have been infected with Covid-19, 16 thousand lost their lives
Covid-19
This Friday Portugal counts another 58 deaths and 1,027 new cases of Covid-19 , according to the daily report of the Directorate-General for Health (DGS).
Confirmed cases: 802.773 (+ 1027 / + 0.13 %);
Number of admitted: 2.404 (-209 /-8.00 %);
Number of ICU admitted: 522 (-14 /-2.61 %);
Deaths: 16.243 (+ 58 / + 0.36 %);
Recovered: 714.493 (+ 2780 / + 0.39 %).
Active: 72,037 (-1811 /-2.45%)
Health
Only 55% of those invited responded to the SMS for vaccination against Covid-19. 30,500 messages have already been sent
Since vaccination against Covid-19 began – for people over 80 and certain individuals between 50 and 79 – 30,500 scheduling SMS have been sent and 16,799 responses have been received, Público reveals this Friday.
These are the numbers: 30,500 appointments have been sent and 16,799 responses have been obtained (55.08%), the Ministry of Health’s Shared Services (SPMS) revealed to the Public. Of these, 16,393 people answered yes to the vaccination and 406 said no, which means that only 2.47% of the people refused to be vaccinated.
The call is made by SMS message, whenever there is information on the user’s mobile phone number in the system.
The number 2424 messages that users receive, asks about their availability to be vaccinated at a specific date, time and place.
To this information, users must answer ‘Yes’, fully confirming the scheduling data, or ‘No’, which results in the sending of a second mobile message with a new scheduling proposal. The same happens if the user does not respond.
In the absence of a reply to the SMS or if the scheduling proposals are refused, the users will be contacted by telephone, by the health centres, to find an alternative scheduling, or, in the absence of telephone contact, a letter will be sent.
SPMS explains which message that reaches users explains how they should respond. “The SMS is sent from the number 2424, to the user eligible for vaccination in phase 1, with the location, date and time. This SMS needs a response through the format: SNS.NUMERO UTENTE.SIM or NO. When the user answers yes or no, that confirmation is recorded. ”
When the answer goes in the wrong format, the user receives the following message: “COVID19: Incorrect answer format. Answer: SNS.NUMERO UTENTE.SIM or NO. ” If you answer with an SNS number of a user who is not eligible for this phase “you receive information that the number of users in the response does not match the number of users of the person contacted”.
On the eve of the date scheduled for vaccination, an SMS is sent to remind the appointment.
The second dose of the vaccine is scheduled at the time of the first dose, ensuring that the vaccine used is the same brand.
All vaccines against Covid-19 are available from the National Health Service and are universal and free of charge.
European Union deepens cooperation in vaccine production process
European Union leaders focused their attention on combating Covid-19, during the videoconference that brought them together on 25th and 26th February, said Prime Minister António Costa at the end of the meeting.
The Prime Minister stated that “there was widespread concern and a very constructive exchange of views with the President of the European Commission, with a view to collectively supporting the increase in vaccine production and the streamlining of the vaccine licensing process by the European Agency Medicines’.
“We all realize that, in order to eradicate the pandemic, it is essential to speed up the vaccination process, and to speed up the vaccination process, it is essential to have a more agile licensing process, and the industry to have greater production capacity,” he said.
António Costa underlined that “in addition to the need to ensure compliance with contracts already signed, it was seen that it is essential to develop mechanisms to anticipate the joint detection of new variants, in an articulated effort of cooperation between the different research institutions and the different research authorities, health of all member states’.
“This step is very important”, he underlined, adding that “information about the new variants requires teamwork, through an incubator that the European Commission is developing, in which the pharmaceutical industry participates, so that the industry can adapt vaccines put on the market to the variants that may emerge”.
Covid-19. Vaccination decreases incidence rate among health professionals at São João hospital
The vaccine against Covid-19 is proving to be effective among health professionals at São João hospital, in Porto. The Director of the occupational health service says that the seven positive cases detected this month were identified in people who have not been vaccinated.
“Before the vaccination season, in this hospital, the incidence of illness was around 50 cases per week. Currently, in the entire month of February, we had about seven cases. All of them in unvaccinated professionals. Even so, the incidence that we have in a whole month is lower than what we had a day before starting the vaccination”, says Pedro Norton.
The Director of the occupational health service also stresses that this “is the first evidence that the vaccine is in fact effective and that opens a window of hope for the remaining Portuguese citizens”.
DGS reviews standard for conducting screening tests in the community
In view of the decrease in the number of Covid-19 cases in the country, the Directorate-General for Health is preparing a new update of the standard that establishes the criteria for conducting screening tests in the municipalities.
Despite issuing on February 11th an update to the norm that establishes the “National Test Strategy for SARS-CoV-2”, the Directorate-General for Health (DGS) is revising these guidelines, due to the decrease in the number of infections by Covid-19 in the country.
In response to the JN, the DGS explained that “due to the evolution of the epidemiological situation, incidences will be considered lower than those currently provided for in the standard and that better respond to the testing needs for the current and next phases of the epidemic”.
It is recalled that the current regulation provides for regular laboratory screening in schools with secondary school students, in prisons and in occupational contexts with high social exposure, such as factories and civil construction. But only in municipalities with a cumulative incidence over 14 days exceeding 480 new cases per 100 thousand inhabitants. The data revealed by the DGS at the beginning of the week showed the existence of 113 municipalities in this situation.
“The new version, in preparation, will consolidate the defined strategic axis, always with a view to its alignment with the needs at national level”, according to the recommendations of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and the World Organization Health Organization (WHO), added this entity.
The DGS also stressed that “tests on a large scale, integrated with other measures of Public Health, are a key element to limit the spread of Covid-19.” This new version should include the use of saliva tests, analysed in the laboratory by PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction), as has been announced by the Minister of Health, Marta Temido.
These join standard PCR tests, with analysis of samples collected in the nose or mouth (nasopharynx and oropharynx) using swabs and rapid antigen tests with biological material obtained in the same way.
Also this week, the Assistant Secretary of State and Health, António Lacerda Sales, explained that screening criteria were being defined, such as, for example, tests in schools every 7 days, or every 14 days, depending on the epidemiological situation in the region of the country where they are located.
Covid-19: Portuguese industry will contribute to EU collective effort
The Prime Minister, António Costa, said today that the Portuguese industry will certainly contribute to the “collective effort” agreed between all the Member States to increase the production capacity of vaccines against Covid-19 in the European Union.
At the press conference at the end of two virtual summits of European Union leaders, between Thursday and today, the first of which being devoted to the coordinated European response to the pandemic, and in which the 27 made it a top priority to accelerate the production of vaccines and vaccination, António Costa pointed out that Portugal has already communicated to Brussels “the diverse capacities” of the Portuguese pharmaceutical industry “to be able to collaborate in the different stages of production of a vaccine”.
“We hope and are sure that our industry will do its best to be able to collaborate in this collective effort,” he said.
The Head of Government and President-in-Office of the Council of the EU recalled that, in addition to the reprogramming of the framework for the application of EU funds for the development of the country “Portugal2020”, “credit lines were created that have supported the conversion of industrial lines to the production of the most diverse materials to combat Covid-19 ”.
“This was particularly visible, for example, in the textile industry in relation to the production of masks, but it is also naturally open to the pharmaceutical industry”, he pointed out.
Extension of Portugal – Spain Border Controls
The control of people at land and river borders will continue until 16th March. According to the Ministry of Internal Administration, in a statement sent to the newsrooms, more Authorized Crossing Points (PPA), Ponte da Barca and Vinhais were added to the list, which will operate on working days between 6 am and 9 am and 5 pm and 8 pm.
In this way, from 00:01 on March 2nd, circulation between Portugal and Spain – and only in the PPAs – is limited to “the international transport of goods, cross-border workers and seasonally documented, and vehicles of emergency and relief and emergency service “.
Cross-border rail traffic also remains suspended, and “except for goods transport, as well as river transport between Portugal and Spain”.
About 1,900 people prevented from crossing the borders between Portugal and Spain
About 1,900 people have been prevented from moving across the borders between Portugal and Spain since January 31st, when controls came back into force due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Ministry of Internal Administration (MAI) said today.
In a report sent to the Lusa agency on land border control, the MAI states that the Foreigners and Borders Service (SEF) and the National Republican Guard (GNR) controlled, between January 31st and February 24th, a total of 
279,578 citizens and 251,750 vehicles at authorized crossing points (PPA).
According to MAI, of the 279,578 citizens, 1,904 were prevented from travelling through authorized crossing points.
The Ministry, under the tutelage of Eduardo Cabrita, states that the refusals of circulation occurred in Valença (593), Caia (367), Castro Marim (339), Vila Verde da Raia (188), Vilar Formoso (140), Quintanilha (62) , Vila Verde de Ficalho (53), Marvão (39), Monção (35), Melgaço (28), Monfortinho (20), Miranda do Douro (15), Barrancos (11), Mourão (8) and Montalegre (6) .
MAI also states that the Valença PPA, Viana do Castelo, was the one that controlled the largest number of citizens, a total of 111,459, followed by Vilar Formoso, Guarda (41,354), Caia, Elvas (33,532), Vila Verde da Raia , Chaves (31,353), Castro Marim, Faro (19,327), Quintanilha, Bragança (10,881) and Vila Verde de Ficalho, Beja (9,209).
In PPAs that operate with limited hours, SEF controlled 3,599 people in Marvão, 10,673 in Monção, 1,018 in Melgaço, 382 in Montalegre, 1,008 in Miranda do Douro, 2,475 in Termas de Monfortinho, 2,690 in Mourão, 593 in Barrancos and 25 in Rio de Onor.
The MAI also mentions that GNR controlled 251,750 vehicles, 114,347 of which were heavy goods and 137,403 light vehicles, having rerouted 225 vehicles to the PPA at unauthorized crossing points.
International Travel
European Union admits creation of “vaccination passport” until summer. Will “dispense with quarantine”
In the aftermath of the European Council meeting, Prime Minister António Costa announced that the EU is considering the creation of “a document to help dispense with quarantine”, but rejected the term “health passport”.
The document will prove that the passport holder already has immunity, due to having been vaccinated, or performed a test with a negative result.
“The Commission will prepare in the coming months a document that allows to certify, in an unidentified way, that a person is in one of the following circumstances: either he has already been infected with Covid-19, or is properly vaccinated, or carried out a test that confirms which is not currently contaminated with Covid-19 “, said António Costa.
Asked about the “vaccination passport”, António Costa said that “this is not a national measure” but rather on a European scale.
“We are defenders of a European-wide measure, it is with that objective that as Presidency we are working together with the European Commission. The wish we all have is that until the summer it is possible that this document exists”, he guaranteed.
In the government’s view, the document “will help freedom of movement”, the functioning of the internal market and will enable “a more peaceful recovery” of tourism.
Other news
Traffic accidents – First week without road deaths since records began
There is no memory of anything similar: for seven consecutive days, between the 18th and 24th of February this year, there was no record of deaths on Portuguese roads.
The information was provided by the National Road Safety Authority, through its Twitter account, on the eve of the launch of the website on the new strategic plan to combat accidents. Called “Vision Zero 2030”, the program aims to achieve zero deaths and zero injuries on the roads over the next decade.
“From February 18th to 24th, 2021, there were ZERO fatalities on Portuguese roads. There were 7 consecutive days without deaths resulting from road accidents, something never seen in Portugal”, reads the Twitter of the Autoridade Nacional de Segurança Rodoviária (ANSR), which has already completed the first phase of the “Vision Zero 2030 Strategy”, the new plan to combat accidents that aims to achieve zero deaths and zero injuries on the roads in the next decade