Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa spoke to the country, in an Easter message that is not tradition, but that is related to the exceptional period that Portugal is going through, with the state of emergency in force until April 17th.

The President of the Republic considered the renewal of the state of emergency practically guaranteed until the 1st of May, but considers it premature to think about a fourth renewal until the middle of next month.

“It depends on what the situation is, on how much we won this fight in April,” he told reporters at the Palace of Belém. “We have to do the monitoring day by day, because we want our recovery to be continuous and without risk of relapse, which is always more difficult “, he stressed.

Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa repeated the idea that it is necessary to win April to see a light in May, but under one condition: “If we want perspectives in the month of May, we must guarantee, until the end of April, a decrease in absolute numbers of the infection “. For that, he stressed, “we cannot slack or let our guard down”.

The President of the Republic thanked the “effort of the Portuguese to have a different Easter” and to deprive themselves of the “company of family members”.

The President stressed that, considering all the measures imposed, “there are no perfect proposals” but that the “possible solution” has been sought.

“We are on the eve of formalizing the [second] renewal of the state of emergency. We hope and are working to make it as smooth as possible, but a realistic assessment will only be made at the end” of that period, added the head of state.

Next Wednesday, after a new technical session on the evolution of the Portuguese situation, the President will hear the Government on the proposal to renew the state of emergency once more, which will have to be voted on in parliament on Thursday.