Portugal Situation Report Wednesday 19th 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 29th 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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
Region Reports
Madeira Situation Report, Wednesday 19th 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/
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://funchalnoticias.net/2021/05/18/gr-diz-que-ja-foram-administradas-mais-de-122-mil-vacinas/
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.
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
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/
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.
Algarve Situation Report, Wednesday 19th 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.
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”.
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.
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 12th 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 “.
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 15th 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 16th 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 17th 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 18th 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.