“Nobody knows when this second wave will emerge”, underlined Paulo Morgado, guaranteeing that none of the services dedicated to combating covid-19 will be deactivated”.

The President of the Regional Health Administration (ARS) of the Algarve today warned of the possibility of a second wave of covid-19 coinciding with the flu period, stressing that the authorities are already preparing preventive measures.

“The second wave [of the pandemic] may coincide with the next flu is one of our concerns and we are already working to prevent the next winter”, namely, through the vaccination of more people, said Paulo Morgado.  According to that official, who was speaking at the weekly press conference of the District Civil Protection Commission, in Loulé, the authorities are “on the alert” for a possible second wave, which, joining “the flu wave creates a ‘stress’ health services ”.

“Nobody knows, nor does anyone have a way of predicting when this second wave will emerge”, he stressed, guaranteeing that none of the services in operation and in preparation in the Algarve dedicated to combating covid-19 will be deactivated.   However, the results achieved so far in the region give the president of the ARS confidence that health services will be able to respond to a second wave, “also because society is also much more prepared”.

Asked about the reinforcement of health professionals scheduled for the summer, Paulo Morgado said that health authorities intend to use “all legal mechanisms” at their disposal so that there is a reinforcement, assuming that the number of health professionals in the region is “Deficit”.

“The final model is still lacking in terms of response for the summer, but mobility is not excluded. We will try to create this extra mechanism in addition to direct contracting ”, he stressed, noting that“ the number of tourists is expected to be much lower than last year ”.

At the time, the regional delegate of Health of the Algarve stated that the situation in the region is, at this moment, “much calmer”, without community transmission, although there are still 162 infected people recovering at home.

With regard to rural communities of migrants, where some outbreaks of the disease have emerged, the situation is “very positive”, with most of the infected people already recovered, said Ana Cristina Guerreiro.

The president of the District Civil Protection Commission, António Pina, reinforced the idea that the mayors of the region want to “intensify the inspection actions” and will ask the security forces to be “even more active” during the deconfinition phase. “The municipalities will have all their capacity to inspect public spaces, sports and restaurants”, concluded the president of the Algarve Intermunicipal Community (AMAL).  Source – Lusa.