Algarve Situation Report Saturday 17th July 2021
SYNLAB strengthens covid-19 testing capacity in the Algarve with the opening of 10 units
The SYNLAB company has opened ten new units in various regions of the Algarve, to carry out covid-19 PCR and antigen tests, without the need for previous appointments, in the car (“drive” format) or while the customer is on a walk (“walk” format).
Located in Albufeira, Almancil, Olhão, Portimão, Vilamoura and Faro, these new units are intended only for people who wish to take the test on a private basis. No free tests are carried out with co-payment from the SNS, nor tests with co-payment from insurance companies, the company clarifies in a statement.
Tests are performed using a swab, with no need for fasting or special preparation. PCR test results are sent within 24h-48h, and antigen test results are available within 1 to 2 hours. The results are sent by email and/or to the SYNLAB Access app, being available in 6 languages, including Portuguese and English, records the same document.
“At a time when the number of cases in the Algarve has been growing, and with thousands of people traveling at this time of year to spend holidays in the region, these units are an important contribution to the screening and control of the pandemic», reads yourself in the same document.
For more information, contact 300 067 051 or send an email to covid19@synlab.pt.
Covid-19: Monchique demands correction of error that puts county at high risk
The mayor of Monchique today demanded that the error that puts the county at high risk of incidence of covid-19 be corrected by 7:00 pm so as not to jeopardize the restoration and other economic activities.
“To see if until seven in the afternoon there is a deliberation by the Government on this issue so that it can be resolved before the rules for the restoration come into force”, stressed to Lusa Rui André.
The announcement of placing the county at high risk was made known after the meeting of the Council of Ministers held this Thursday and was taken to believe that the county would have surpassed 120 cases of covid-19 per 100,000 inhabitants, but Rui André he stressed that, in the case of low-density territories, the criterion “is two weeks of 240 cases”.
“We never had even one out of 240. As this is an error, which has happened on other occasions, the General Directorate of Health (DGS) corrected the situation and I hope the same happens now”, he stressed.
With “only seven active cases” in the population – data from June 15 – and having reached “11 cases in just three days” in the last two weeks, he highlighted that it corresponds to an incidence of “217/100 thousand inhabitants”.
Burned wood awaiting removal from Monchique from 2018 fire
Monchique, Faro, July 16, 2021 (Lusa) – Thirty thousand tons of wood burned in the wake of the 2018 fire in Monchique are awaiting a protocol with the Government to be cut and removed from the land, according to the mayor.
Rui André told Lusa that a meeting with the Secretary of State for Nature, Forests and Spatial Planning, João Catarino, resulted in a commitment to a protocol between the municipality and the tutelage to “ensure support for transport” of the wood still on the ground.
The mayor revealed that five thousand tons of wood already cut and stacked along several roads in the mountain began this week to be transported to the biomass production plant in Huelva, Spain, in a transport financed by the Monchique Town Hall, in the district of Faro (Algarve).
The agreement for the remaining 30 thousand tons will be based on the protocol signed between the municipality and the Association of Forestry Producers of the Barlavento Algarvio (Aspaflobal), which was “very well received by the member of the Government”. According to the mayor of the municipality, the protocol is expected to be implemented in the next few days, thus guaranteeing support for this situation “to be resolved”.
“In addition to an economic, civil protection and public health problem, we are here with an environmental issue, because the trees that are not removed rot and can create a phytosanitary problem that can harm other species and delay the normal cutting cycle” , he warned.
Rui André revealed that the municipality decided to advance with the 45 thousand euros needed to transport the burned wood already collected to a factory in Spain because the purchase price no longer covers the costs of the operation, but it does not have the capacity to cover the entire collection.
At issue is the unexpected closure of the nearest biomass plant, in Cercal do Alentejo (Santiago do Cacém, Setúbal district), and the fact that the amount paid for another plant in Setúbal, with the increase in transport costs, ceases to compensate the work of loggers.