Algarve Situation Report Wednesday 8th December 2021
Algarve reactivates vaccination centers to administer booster doses against Covid-19
The Algarve is preparing to reactivate the vaccination centers that have since been deactivated, to administer booster doses of the Covid-19 vaccine and, eventually, to vaccinate children. The revelation was made this Monday by Paulo Morgado, president of the Regional Health Administration (ARS) of the Algarve.
“What we want is, in places where we have already had large spaces for vaccination, to reactivate them again. In Faro, where the centre used to be located at Pavilhão da Penha, we have already found the solution at Forum Algarve. In Portimão, we are finding that solution”, said the official, at the press conference to update the epidemiological situation.
The reactivation of these spaces allows “avoid the accumulation of people in the vaccination process”, and, recently, “we had queues in some health centers, such as Faro and Portimão”.
According to Paulo Morgado, this happened because «there was little adhesion of the population to the vaccination process, with many shortages and, suddenly, there was a “click” at the national level, with the appearance of the new variant, with the increase in the number cases and with the measures taken by the Government, which led people to join».
Even so, explains the president of the ARS Algarve, the accumulation of people is also due to the Open House modality, which “is a disorganized process, with no scheduling, no time. But, as of today [yesterday], the Open House will have digital passwords again, as it used to, to avoid this disorganization”.
According to the latest data, for Saturday, the Algarve has 85% of people with full vaccination and 86.3% with at least one dose, approaching the numbers of the rest of the country.
Now, the main challenge is the administration of booster doses. Therefore, Paulo Morgado makes the “appeal to people who live and work in the Algarve, to get vaccinated. We have open vaccination for people over 65 years of age and for professionals at higher risk, and yesterday we started users vaccinated with Janssen, over 50 years old. People should go to vaccination centers, where we are available to vaccinate eligible people and we do not refuse the vaccine to anyone who belongs to these group.”
Then, highlights the official, “this process of vaccination will continue and the expectation we have is that, in the coming months, more groups will be included and that, like other countries, we will vaccinate children aged 5-11”.
COVID-19: The situation in the Algarve and the country is “worrying”
After months of absence, the press conference took place today in Loulé to raise awareness of the epidemiological situation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic in the Algarve.
António Miguel Pina, president of the Faro District Commission for Civil Protection, began by explaining that “Calamity seems to transpose into a situation of near chaos. Not necessarily so. The numbers are known, but it seems obvious to us all that we need to react again and activate what is foreseen in the plans that have already been put into practice in the past. This is what we are working on, to organize ourselves, whether at the level of vaccination or at the level of public health assistance in the control of epidemiological links, as a result of this activation of district and municipal plans”.
Ana Cristina Guerreiro, Regional Health Delegate for the Algarve, outlined the current situation, which she considers “worrying”.
The situation in the Algarve region, as at national level, I would consider worrying. Worrying on the one hand because the numbers are high, and on the other because the estimate is still of some growth. This puts pressure on health services and is one of our greatest concerns. Then the low temperature plays in favour of the virus and the pre-Christmas favouring contacts social activity, especially in enclosed spaces, itself also is favouring these contagion opportunities’, he said.
The responsible justified with numbers. “The latest data, referring to the 4th of December, show 265 new cases and that means that in the region we have 3339 positive people. The number of cases under active surveillance, that is, on the list of contacts with positive cases and high-risk contacts, is 3129. Intensive Care and within these, 14 ventilated”.
Regarding the incidence rates, “ours is high, as has been accompanied by data from the Directorate-General for Health and, at the moment, we have a rate of 761 cases for 14 days per 100,000 inhabitants, with some municipalities more affected than others”, such as Portimão, Lagoa, Monchique, Loulé and Faro.
By age group, Ana Cristina Guerreiro pointed out, the incidence has been predominant in the 30-39 age group. Then, closely followed by the group of 40-49 and the group of children from zero to nine who in the last 15 days «has grown a lot».
“The incidence rate in the last three oldest age groups, from 60 onwards, mainly in the last (80+), it appears that it does not grow proportionally as much as in other age groups. In other words, older age groups have been spared. This is clearly evidence of the effect of vaccination, which in this age group goes ahead because they started to be vaccinated earlier», he detailed.
Regarding outbreaks, “at the moment we have 35 active outbreaks, 20 of which in schools. Then we have two outbreaks in homes, one of them with some dimension, but already a few days old and therefore already stabilized, although it has not yet been concluded. In schools, in the region we have not had major outbreaks. We have outbreaks involving students and families. These isolated cases in schools, for us, are a bringing and bringing of cases to the community and it is to this extent that they end up taking some work and causing some damage. There are 85 schools with cases, but 20 schools with outbreaks. The students who are positive are 171 and in prophylactic isolation 2487. Employees are 20 positive and in prophylactic isolation 385. There were, at midnight on Saturday, 111 classes in prophylactic isolation», he said.
“The graphs show the evolution of all cases throughout the pandemic and show the clear impact of the assessment in reducing mortality. In the winter wave last year, mortality followed the curve”.
Covid.19: Municipality of Monchique cancels events to stop contagion
The Municipality of Monchique decided to cancel some of the Christmas activities, as part of the “Monchique Natal” program.
As explained by the municipality in a statement, the decision now announced, “was previously considered” and taken after the AMAL meeting held on December 2nd, where it was decided to cancel the year-end shows.
The decision comes due to the growing evolution of the Covid-19 pandemic situation in the municipality, with Monchique being among the 10 municipalities in the country at extreme risk.
In this sense, all activities scheduled for December are cancelled, keeping the Christmas lighting, display of the wooden crib and the competition “Buy at local businesses” with a view to promoting local businesses.
In order to prevent the spread of the disease and stop the increase in cases, it was also decided to cancel the monthly market in December, which would take place on Friday 10th, to adopt a set of mitigation measures in order to stop the spread of the virus, namely: the granting of rapid tests to catering establishments, local commerce and services and civil protection agents.
The municipal executive also appeals to the population’s understanding, warning of the importance of vaccination and compliance with the rules.
Comment
On 1st December the incidence rate in Monchique was 1105 the highest in the Algarve
Hotel occupancy in November in the Algarve tripled compared to 2020
Hotel occupancy in November in the Algarve more than tripled compared to 2020, according to data released yesterday by AHETA.
The Association of Hotels and Touristic Enterprises of the Algarve (AHETA) announced the figures for November, today, Monday, December 6th.
Compared to the same month of 2019, the overall average/room occupancy rate was 41.3 percent (-5.8 percent). However, compared to 2020, the average occupancy rose by 225 percent. The domestic market increased by 6.8 percent and the external market decreased by -13.3 percent compared to November 2019.
In accumulated terms, since the beginning of 2021, room occupancy has recorded an average decrease of 47.1 percent and sales volume a decrease of -40.1 percent compared to the same period in 2019.
By geographical area, compared to November 2019, the biggest declines were seen in Monte Gordo/ Vila Real de Santo António (-57.4 percent), Albufeira (-23.0 percent), and Carvoeiro/ Armação de Pêra (-16.3).
Sales volume, however, increased 1.3 percent compared to November 2019, and grew 248 percent compared to the same month in 2020. Sales made through online platforms do not include the payment of the respective commissions, which influences the year-on-year increase in sales volume and, therefore, the prices charged.
In November 2021, 28.5 percent of sales were made through traditional tour operators, compared to 43.7 percent in 2019. Averages are not reflected equally in all establishments, with discrepancies depending on the categories and geographical areas.