Azores Situation Report Wednesday 26th May 2021
By our Azores Correspondent
Inaugural Flight.
The Regional Government of the Azores, the Association of Tourism and the carrier Lufthansa considered this Sunday that the beginning of the company’s connections to São Miguel signals the recovery of the tourist sector in the region, affected by the Covid-19.
At 12:22 local time, Lufthansa’s 320-Neo aircraft, arrived from Frankfurt, Germany, with a capacity for 179 passengers, it landed for the first time at Ponta Delgada airport, on the island of São Miguel.
Awaiting the inaugural flight of the German company in São Miguel, which had an occupancy rate of around 80%, was a delegation of members of the Government of the Azores, ANA Airports and the air carrier.
Mota Borges considered the beginning of the connection to be “recognition” of the Azores’ tourism potential and said he hoped the operation would “infect other markets”.
“People want to travel, the Azores offers everything you need for a safe trip. There is so much to do on this island, not only on this island, but across the archipelago. It is truly safe by nature”.
The President of the Azores Tourism Association, Carlos Morais, praised the operation that aims to bring about 4 thousand passengers from the German market, the second most important tourist market in the Azores (the first is the national market).
“Today is a historic day for tourism in the Azores, and one of the largest airlines in the world is making its first flight to the autonomous region of the Azores. There are a total of 22 flights and it’s a very important market for the Azores“.
From the 25th of June, Ponta Delgada will also have a direct connection with Geneva, Switzerland, on Fridays, operated by Swiss (belonging to the Lufthansa group).
Death
The Regional Health Authority has reported that there has been another death. An 86-year-old woman, who was hospitalized at the Hospital do Divino Espírito Santo, in Ponta Delgada”.
She was a resident of the parish of São Sebastião, in the municipality of Ponta Delgada.
The number of fatalities caused by Covid-19 in the Azores archipelago has risen to 33 since the beginning of the pandemic.
Over the last few days there have been a number of cases and recoveries.
22nd May
24 new positive cases of Covid-19 were diagnosed in the Azores, all in São Miguel, in the context of community transmission, resulting from 1,914 tests in the reference laboratories in the Region.
The municipality of Ribeira Grande registered 18 new cases (13 in Rabo de Peixe, four in Ribeirinha and one in Conceição). In the municipality of Ponta Delgada there are four new cases (one in São José, one in Santa Clara, one in Capelas and one in Arrifes). In the municipality of Vila Franca do Campo there is a new case, in Ponta Garça, and in the municipality of Lagoa there is a new case, in Santa Cruz.
There was a total of 18 recoveries.
During the epidemiological investigation, it was found that a positive case initially allocated to the parish of Matriz, municipality of Ribeira Grande, resides in the parish of São José, municipality of Ponta Delgada, so the data shown in the table reflect this change.
23rd May
30 new positive cases of Covid-19 were diagnosed in the Azores, 29 in São Miguel and one in Faial, resulting from 2,177 tests carried out in the region’s reference laboratories.
In Faial, the case now diagnosed resulted from screening, upon arrival, to a traveller, resident in Feteira.
In São Miguel, the municipality of Ribeira Grande registered nine cases (three in Rabo de Peixe, three in Matriz, one in Ribeirinha, one in Ribeira Seca and one in Pico da Pedra). In the municipality of Ponta Delgada there are also nine cases (four in São Vicente Ferreira, three in Capelas, one in São Sebastião and one in Arrifes). In the municipality of Vila Franca do Campo there are two new cases (one in Ponta Garça and the other in Água de Alto). In the municipality of Lagoa there are two new cases in Rosário, and in the municipality of Nordeste there are seven new cases, all in Salga.
There was a total of 30 recoveries.
24th May
12 new positive cases of Covid-19 were diagnosed in the Azores, all in São Miguel, resulting from 1,207 tests carried out in the Region’s reference laboratories.
The municipality of Ribeira Grande registered eight cases (five in Ribeira Seca, one in Rabo de Peixe, one in Ribeirinha and one in Santa Bárbara). In the municipality of Ponta Delgada there is a new case in Livramento and in the municipality of Vila Franca do Campo there are three new cases (one in Ponta Garça, one in São Pedro and one in Água de Alto).
There was a recovery in Terceira, Praia da Vitória municipality, Lajes parish.
25th May
33 new positive cases of Covid-19 were diagnosed in the Azores in the last 24 hours, all on the island of São Miguel, following 1,909 tests carried out in the reference laboratories of the Region. All cases concern community transmission.
There are 20 new cases in the municipality of Ribeira Grande (18 in Rabo de Peixe, one in Ribeirinha and one in Conceição). In the municipality of Ponta Delgada, there are five new cases (two in São Vincente Ferreira, one in Santo António, one in Capelas and one in Rosto do Cão (Livramento). There are four new cases in the municipality of Vila Franca do Campo (three in Ponta Garça and one in Ribeira Seca). There are two new cases in the municipality of Lagoa, both in Santa Cruz. In the municipality of Nordeste, a new case was diagnosed in the parish of Salga and in the municipality of Povoação there is a new case in the parish of Furnas.
During the epidemiological investigation of the case above mentioned, that was initially allocated to the parish of Arrifes, municipality of Ponta Delgada, it was found she was now residing in the parish of São Sebastião, in the same municipality, so this data was changed.
As of today, six patients are in the region’s hospitals, with five at the Divino Espírito Santo Hospital in Ponta Delgada (one in intensive care) and one at Santo Espírito Hospital in Angra do Heroísmo.
The archipelago currently has 264 active positive cases: 257 on the island of São Miguel, three on the island of Terceira, two on the island of Pico, one on the island of Faial and one on the island of São Jorge. There is one active transmission chain on the island of Terceira and 202 have been extinguished so far. 1,056 people are under active surveillance.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, 5,404 positive cases of Covid-19 have been diagnosed in the Azores and 4,978 people recovered from the disease. There were 33 deaths, 79 people who left the archipelago and 50 cases with history of previous cure. Up to now, 491,690 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 20th, 106,631 people aged 16 years or more were vaccinated in the Azores, corresponding to 68,352 people who received the first dose, and 38,278 people who received both doses, under the Regional Vaccination Plan.