Portugal Situation Report Wednesday 13^th April 2022

Introduction

Let us start with some good news – That is according to IPMA forecasts, by the Easter weekend temperatures in some parts of the mainland may reach 28C.  This will be welcomed by many tourists that will be in Portugal over Easter and excellent news for the tourism industry. We will as normal keep you up to date as the weekend approaches.

Last week I was privileged to visit the 112 call centre in Lisbon which handles all calls on the mainland south of Santarem. It was an extremely interesting visit and gave me the opportunity to see how calls were handled. During my 45 minutes there some 150 calls were received. Three essential points were made during the visit; one ensuring that calls are for genuine emergencies as some 65% of calls received are non-emergency. The second point is that it is vital that callers continue to wait until the call in answered. This may take time when there are many calls – minutes rather than seconds. All incoming calls are in a queuing system, so if you terminate a call and call again a few minutes later, you will be at the back of a queue.

The third point is to remain calm – speak clearly and slowly. This is easier said than done when a fire is raging towards your home! However it is a fact that in an emergency people are naturally under considerable stress and when speaking in a different language to the operator’s native tongue, sometimes with strong regional accents, effective communication is more challenging.

APAV, the victims support organisation in Portugal, have just produced their Annual Statistical report for 2021. Of the cases reported to them during the year almost 77% were for domestic violence including 19% where the victim was a man.  We posted the report yesterday.

Unfortunately domestic violence is one of the highest reported crimes in Portugal and we await Government’s Annual crime report (RASI) which is normally published around this time. We are working with APAV regarding holding a seminar in the Algarve on this subject and will publish more details in due course. The APAV report can be read here: https://apav.pt/apav_v3/images/press/Relatorio_Anual_2021.pdf?fbclid=IwAR2jvcr8pFkDoYDi5K00JvaVrCHjgkEs7g8NsXudDwtlzqK2wg9qI6nIrq8

Turning to the earthquake situation in São Jorge Island in the Azores, for the second consecutive night, the island of São Jorge did not register any tremors felt by the population, the Azores Seismovolcanic Information and Surveillance Centre (CIVISA) reported yesterday. About 240 earthquakes felt by the population have been identified since the beginning of the crisis, on March 19. The island maintains the volcanic alert level V4 (threat of eruption) out of a total of seven, where V0 means “state of rest” and V6 “eruption in progress”. Let us hope this can be reduced soon.

A reminder that yesterday the Government extended the alert situation due to the covid-19 pandemic until April 22, according to a statement from the Council of Ministers. “The resolution was approved extending the declaration of the alert situation, within the scope of the covid-19 disease pandemic, until 23:59 on April 22, 2022”, says the statement.

According to the Government, the resolution “keeps the measures currently in force unchanged”. Among the measures in force is the mandatory use of a mask in public indoor spaces, health services and transport. For those who do not have the booster dose of the vaccine against covid-19, the negative test for the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus remains mandatory in visits to homes and health establishments, taking into account that they are groups of special vulnerability.

With that have a safe day

Covid-19

Infarmed suspends the sale of surgical masks from two manufacturers

Surgical masks from two manufacturers with improper CE marking in the national market were identified. Infarmed explained that all legal requirements applicable at European level were not met, including the fact that the technical documentation is incomplete.

As announced by the National Authority for Medicines and Health Products, surgical masks type IIR, from the manufacturers Borgstena Textile Portugal, Lda, and Plasfer – Indústria e Comércio, Lda have been identified on the national market. Infarmed explains that in both cases the masks have improper CE marking, as there is no compliance with all the legal requirements applicable at European level, including the fact that the technical documentation is incomplete.

As a preventive measure, Infarmed ordered the immediate suspension of commercialization and withdrawal from the market. 

News

Independent commission has already received 290 testimonies of sexual abuse in the church

The independent Commission created in January to investigate sexual abuse in the Portuguese Catholic Church has already received 290 valid testimonies from victims and 16 cases have already been referred to the Public Ministry.

In an assessment of the first three months of work, held this Tuesday at a press conference at the Calouste Gunlbenkian Foundation, in Lisbon, the former Minister of Justice Álvaro Laborinho Lúcio, who is a member of the Commission, stated that among the 290 validated testimonies, 16 are still did not prescribe and, therefore, were sent to the Public Prosecutor’s Office.

Created in January to investigate sexual abuse in the Catholic Church in Portugal, the Independent Commission had already received 214 testimonies from victims, aged between 15 and 88, in the first month of activity.

Complaints and testimonies can reach the commission by completing an online survey at darvozaosilencio.org , by calling +351917110000 (daily between 10:00 am and 8:00 pm), by email, at geral@darvozaosilencio.org and by letter to “Commissão Independente”, Apartado 012079, EC Picoas 1061-011 Lisbon.

By the end of the year, the commission intends to collect testimonies and complaints from people who have suffered abuse in childhood and adolescence, up to the age of 18. At the end of its work, a report will be prepared, to be delivered to the Portuguese Episcopal Conference (CEP), which will decide what actions to take.

Portuguese Consulate in Shanghai offers assistance to Portuguese in difficulties with the lockdown due to covid-19

Consular help is made available to Portuguese living in the Chinese city, where residents are complaining about food deliveries and other needs

The Portuguese consulate in Shanghai on Tuesday encouraged Portuguese citizens based there to seek consular assistance if they encounter difficulties, given the lockdown measures imposed in the Chinese city, due to an outbreak of covid-19

In a statement, the diplomatic representation warned that even asymptomatic cases are placed in quarantine centers designated by Chinese authorities, a measure that has resulted in tens of thousands of cases being isolated in makeshift facilities.

“From what has been shared by the [Chinese] authorities, people who are in the quarantine centers will have to test negative for covid-19 there a certain number of times until they can be discharged”, reads the note issued by the Ministry of Health.

“Although this consulate general cannot prevent this process, as it is the exclusive competence of the Chinese authorities, if you are in this situation we encourage you to call the emergency number of this Consulate General: 159 2155 3994”, he said.

China continues to react to Covid-19 outbreaks with strict measures, as part of the ‘zero cases’ strategy, despite rising economic and social costs.

These measures include isolating all those infected in designated facilities and locking down entire cities, including closing supermarkets.

Shanghai authorities said they are securing daily supplies for residents following complaints about food deliveries and other necessities. Regarding the problems related to the food supply, the consulate acknowledged that there have been “many difficulties”. The diplomatic representation recommended that e-commerce platforms be used to obtain essential goods, but recalled that delivery can take up to three days.

More than 640 fines in operation on seat belts and child seats

Lisbon, 12 Apr 2022 (Lusa) – The GNR registered more than 640 administrative offenses for lack or incorrect use of seat belts and/or child seats in an operation that took place last week and inspected more than 17,000 drivers.

In a statement, the GNR explains that during the ‘RoadPol – Seatbelt’ operation, aimed at the use of seat belts and a child restraint system, it took place between April 4th and 10th throughout the mainland and resulted in 646 administrative offenses .

In total, 557 were for lack or incorrect use of seat belts and 89 for lack or incorrect use of seat belts and/or child restraint system, he adds.

In this operation, the military of the Territorial Commands and the National Traffic Unit (UNT) inspected 17,158 drivers.

Portugal will “soon” send more than 99 tons of medical and military material

The Defence Minister reaffirmed “Portugal’s solidarity and support for the Ukrainian resistance against Russian aggression”.

Portugal will “soon” send more than 99 tons of medical and military material to Ukraine, Defense Minister Helena Carreiras said on Monday in a note on the social network Twitter.

In the publication in which the minister appears with the Ukrainian ambassador to Portugal, Inna Ohnivets, in a photograph, it can be read that “Portugal’s support for the Ukrainian resistance against Russian aggression” is reaffirmed.

Last Wednesday, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, João Gomes Cravinho, had said, upon arrival at a NATO meeting in Brussels, which Portugal had already sent between 60 and 70 tons of war material to Ukraine and would send more “in a near future”.

Economy

Inflation hits highest level in March since June 1994

The year-on-year change in the consumer price index (CPI) was 5.3% in March.

“The year-on-year change in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) was 5.3% in March 2022, a rate higher by 1.1 percentage points (pp) than that observed in the previous month”, as it is the “highest value since June 1994”, released the INE, thus confirming the values ​​predicted in the quick estimates released at the end of March.

The underlying inflation indicator (total index excluding unprocessed food and energy products) also accelerated, registering a change of 3.8% (3.2% in February).

The variation of the index for energy products increased to 19.8%, compared to 15% in the previous month, which corresponds to the highest value since February 1991.

In turn, the index referring to unprocessed food products changed by 5.8%, compared to 3.7% in February.

The monthly change in the CPI was 2.5% (0.4% in the previous month and 1.4% in March 2021), while the average change in the last twelve months was 2.2% (1.8% in February).

Regarding the harmonized index of consumer prices (HICP), there was a year-on-year change of 5.5%, representing the highest value since the beginning of the HICP, in 1996.

This rate is 1.1 percentage points higher than in the previous month and 2.0 percentage points lower than the value estimated by Eurostat for the Euro area, “mainly reflecting considerable differences in the behaviour of energy goods prices, in particular electricity “, pointed out the INE.