Minister of State and of the Presidency, announcement at end of the Council of Ministers meeting 17th June 2021
“The epidemiological situation in the country has been deteriorating.
An incidence of 1.5 and an R(t) of 1.13”, announced Mariana Vieira da Silva, Minister of State and of the Presidency, at the end of the weekly meeting of the Council of Ministers this Thursday, 17 June, to report on the update of the municipalities that advance and retreat in the levels of confinement.
“Apparently, there is a greater prevalence of the Delta variant in this territory and also in the Alentejo region. We await more data and the sequencing work that the National Institute of Health Doctor Ricardo Jorge does.
The high number of cases in Lisbon has led the Government to decide to apply an extraordinary measure to the Metropolitan Area of Lisbon (AML – Alcochete; Almada; Amadora; Barreiro; Cascais; Lisboa; Loures; Mafra; Moita; Montijo; Odivelas; Oeiras; Palmela; Seixal; Sesimbra; Setúbal; Sintra; Vila Franca de Xira) in restricting mobility, prohibiting circulation both in and out of the AML throughout the weekend.
The traffic restrictions apply only to circulation to and from the Metropolitan Area of Lisbon. In other words, circulation between municipalities within the Metropolitan Area will continue to be permitted. The travel restrictions will start at 15h00 this Friday, 18th June and will finish at 6 am Monday 21st June.
It is difficult to take these measures, but it is a condition that we believe is essential at this time to avoid spreading the situation in Lisbon to the whole country.
Based on data on incidence by municipality as of June 16, changes were introduced with regard to the municipalities covered by each of the decontamination phases:
The municipalities of Albufeira, Arruda dos Vinhos, Braga, Cascais, Lisbon, Loulé, Odemira, Sertã and Sintra are subject to the high risk measures of 1 May.
The municipality of Sesimbra applies the very high risk measures, dated 19 April;
The rules of phase 1, of June 10, apply to all other municipalities, namely the municipality of Vale de Cambra, which is moving towards decontamination.
Minister Mariana Vieira da Silva says there is a “very large number” of municipalities on alert compared to those recorded in last week’s assessment. Most of these municipalities are in the Lisbon region:
- Alcochete
- Águeda
- Almada
- Amadora
- Barreiro
- Grândola
- Lagos
- Loures
- Mafra
- Moita
- Montijo
- Odivelas
- Oeiras
- Palmela
- Sardoal
- Seixal
- Setúbal
- Sines
- Sobral de Monte Agraço
- Vila Franca de Xira
The restriction on circulation “is not a measure to control the pandemic”, says Mariana Vieira, adding that it will not be this decision that will bring the numbers down in the Metropolitan Area of Lisbon (AML). “It is an attempt to contain in this territory, not spreading to the rest of the country what is happening in Lisbon,” she says. “It is much more a measure to protect the rest of the country, than a measure to contain the pandemic in the AML,” she says.
Depending on the evolution, the situation now may mean, warns Vieira da Silva, that the country will not move forward in the deconfinement plan next week, as was foreseen in the plan announced by the government at the beginning of the month.
The minister also announced that the Council of Ministers has decided that the digital certificate can replace the presentation of tests in events where tests are mandatory. “There is a diversity of tests at lower prices,” recalled the minister, praising the possibility of there being events with tests, so that otherwise would have been banned.
SOURCE: PÚBLICO