Resolution of the Council of Ministers No. 2-A/2022

Summary: Amends applicable measures under the COVID-19 disease pandemic.

The recent evolution of the epidemiological situation in Portugal caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus and by the COVID-19 disease has given rise to a reality in which, despite the worsening of the indicators of incidence and transmission of that virus, the capacity to respond remains of the NHS, namely in terms of the capacity for admissions to intensive care units, which is due, in particular, to the high rate of vaccination of the population and strict compliance with the measures in force since December 1, 2021.

However, the uncertainty regarding the evolution of the virus and the COVID-19 disease pandemic and regarding the severity of the Ómicron variant requires caution and prudence in the adoption of measures that seek to combat the worsening of the epidemiological situation.

Thus, in view of the caution that the present situation requires, the Government maintains or extends some measures previously in force, adopting still other new measures. In particular, the rules that promote the reinforcement of testing are maintained, and measures to encourage the administration of the third dose of a vaccine against COVID-19 are also adopted.

Thus, the obligation to adopt the telework regime is extended until January 14, 2022, whenever the functions in question allow it and the employee has conditions to exercise them, pursuant to Decree-Law No. 79-A /2020 , of October 1st, in its current wording.

The allocation limit for publicly accessible spaces is maintained, and they must observe the indicative maximum occupancy rules of 0.20 people per square meter of area, with the exception of establishments providing services.

It is now admissible to carry out a test with a negative result, under the terms to be defined by the General Directorate of Health and the National Institute of Health Doctor Ricardo Jorge, IP, for the purposes of access to tourist establishments or local accommodation, to catering establishments and similar, to gambling establishments, casinos, bingos or similar, to bars, to other non-spectacled beverage establishments and to establishments with dance space, to certain events and, also, to gyms and gyms.

The closing of bars, other non-spectacled beverage establishments and venues with dance venues is extended until 22:00 on January 14, 2022, even though these establishments are located in tourist establishments.

For the purposes of accessing bars and clubs, certain events, residential structures for the elderly, integrated continuing care units of the National Network of Integrated Continuing Care and other residential structures and responses provided for in this resolution, and also for access to visitors to users hospitalized in health care facilities, the presentation of a test with a negative result is waived for those who demonstrate that they have been vaccinated for at least 14 days with a booster dose of a vaccine against COVID-19.

The special measures in terms of testing for the purposes of international flights are also extended until February 9, 2022.

Finally, the prohibition on the consumption of alcoholic beverages in open-air spaces with access to the public and on public roads is maintained, with the exception of the open terraces of restaurants and similar establishments duly licensed for that purpose.

So:

Pursuant to article 12 of Decree-Law no. 54-A/2021 , of 25 June, in its current wording, of article 13 of Decree-Law no. 10-A/2020 , of 13 of March, in its current wording, pursuant to the provisions of article 2 of Law No. 1-A/2020 , of March 19, in its current wording, Bases 34 and 35 of Law No. 95/ 2019 , of 4 September, of article 17 of Law no. 81/2009 , of 21 August, of no. 6 of article 8 of Law no. 27/2006 , of 3 July, in its current wording, and of paragraph g) of article 199 of the Constitution, the Council of Ministers resolves:

1 – Amend paragraphs 3 and 11 of the Resolution of the Council of Ministers No. 157/2021 , of November 27, in its current wording, which now read as follows:

«3 – To reinforce, without prejudice to the preceding paragraphs, that it is incumbent upon the security forces and services, the municipal police, the Food and Economic Safety Authority and the Authority for Working Conditions to monitor compliance with the provisions of this resolution and determine the reinforcement of inspection actions for compliance with the provisions of this resolution, whether on public roads, in commercial and catering establishments or in workplaces, through, in particular, the closure of establishments as provided for in the regime attached to this resolution.

11 – …

a) …

b) Until January 14, 2022, for the purposes of paragraph 2 of article 2 of Decree-Law No. 79-A/2020 , of October 1, in its current wording, are considered all municipalities in the continental national territory, as well as the extension of the application of this regime, with the necessary adaptations, to the direct and indirect administration of the State and the recommendation of its application to other public entities, without prejudice to the provisions of Dispatch no. 8053-A/2021 , of August 13th.»

2 – Amend articles 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 16, 17, 19 and 23 of the regime attached to the Council Resolution of Ministers No. 157/2021 , of November 27, in its current wording, which now have the following wording:

“Article 8

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4-the allocation of spaces accessible to the public must observe the indicative maximum occupancy rules of 0.20 people per square meter of area, with the exception of establishments providing services.

Article 9

[…]

1 – Access to tourist establishments or local accommodation establishments, regardless of the day of the week or time, depends, upon check-in:

a) The presentation, by customers, of the EU COVID Digital Certificate admitted under the terms of Decree-Law No. 54-A/2021 , of 25 June, in its current wording;

b) The presentation, by customers, of proof of vaccination attesting to the complete vaccination schedule pursuant to paragraph 2 of article 4 of Decree-Law No. 54-A/2021 , of 25 June, in its current wording, for at least 14 days, with a vaccine against COVID-19 with marketing authorization pursuant to Regulation (EC) No. 726/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council, of March 31, 2004, whose recognition has been determined by the order provided for in paragraph 2 of article 5 of Decree-Law No. 54-A/2021 , of 25 June, in its current wording;

c) The presentation, by the customers, of proof of laboratory testing with a negative result, and this test must comply with the requirements set out in subparagraphs i) or ii), as applicable, of subparagraph b) of paragraph 1 of article 4. of Decree-Law No. 54-A/2021 , of 25 June, in its current wording; or

d) The performance, by the clients, of a test with a negative result, under the terms to be defined by the DGS and by the National Institute of Health Doctor Ricardo Jorge, IP (INSA, IP).

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Article 10

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1 – Access to catering establishments and similar, regardless of the day of the week or time, depends on:

a) The presentation, by customers, of the EU COVID Digital Certificate admitted under the terms of Decree-Law No. 54-A/2021 , of 25 June, in its current wording;

b) The presentation, by customers, of proof of vaccination attesting to the complete vaccination schedule pursuant to paragraph 2 of article 4 of Decree-Law No. 54-A/2021 , of 25 June, in its current wording, for at least 14 days, with a vaccine against COVID-19 with marketing authorization pursuant to Regulation (EC) No. 726/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council, of March 31, 2004, whose recognition has been determined by the order provided for in paragraph 2 of article 5 of Decree-Law No. 54-A/2021 , of 25 June, in its current wording;

c) The presentation, by the customers, of proof of laboratory testing with a negative result, and this test must comply with the requirements set out in subparagraphs i) or ii), as applicable, of subparagraph b) of paragraph 1 of article 4. of Decree-Law No. 54-A/2021 , of 25 June, in its current wording; or

d) The performance, by customers, of a test with negative result, under the terms to be defined by the DGS and by INSA, IP

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Article 11

[…]

1 – Access to gambling establishments, casinos, bingos or similar, regardless of the day of the week or time, depends on:

a) The presentation, by customers, of the EU COVID Digital Certificate admitted under the terms of Decree-Law No. 54-A/2021 , of 25 June, in its current wording;

b) The presentation, by customers, of proof of vaccination attesting to the complete vaccination schedule pursuant to paragraph 2 of article 4 of Decree-Law No. 54-A/2021 , of 25 June, in its current wording, for at least 14 days, with a vaccine against COVID-19 with marketing authorization pursuant to Regulation (EC) No. 726/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council, of March 31, 2004, whose recognition has been determined by the order provided for in paragraph 2 of article 5 of Decree-Law No. 54-A/2021 , of 25 June, in its current wording;

c) The presentation, by the customers, of proof of laboratory testing with a negative result, and this test must comply with the requirements set out in subparagraphs i) or ii), as applicable, of subparagraph b) of paragraph 1 of article 4. of Decree-Law No. 54-A/2021 , of 25 June, in its current wording; or

d) The performance, by customers, of a test with negative result, under the terms to be defined by the DGS and by INSA, IP

2 – …

Article 12

[…]

1 – Access to bars, other drinking establishments without a show and establishments with a dance space, regardless of the day of the week or time, depends on:

a) The presentation, by customers, of the EU COVID Digital Certificate in the modalities of test or recovery certificate, as provided for, respectively, in paragraphs b) and c) of paragraph 1 of article 4 of Decree-Law no. 54-A/2021 , of 25 June, in its current wording;

b) The presentation, by the customers, of another proof of laboratory testing with a negative result, and this test must meet the requirements set out in subparagraphs i) or ii), as applicable, of subparagraph b) of paragraph 1 of article 4 .º of Decree-Law No. 54-A/2021 , of 25 June, in its current wording; or

c) The performance, by customers, of a test with a negative result, under the terms to be defined by DGS and by INSA, IP

2 – …

3 – …

4 – Until 10:00 pm on January 14, 2022, bars, other non-spectacled beverage establishments and venues with dance venues are closed, even if these establishments are located in tourist establishments.

Article 13

[…]

1 – …

2 – Without prejudice to the provisions of paragraph 4, access to events of any nature, as well as shows, depends on:

a) The presentation, by the participants, of the EU COVID Digital Certificate admitted under the terms of Decree-Law No. 54-A/2021 , of 25 June, in its current wording;

b) The presentation, by the participants, of proof of vaccination attesting to the complete vaccination schedule pursuant to paragraph 2 of article 4 of Decree-Law No. 54-A/2021 , of 25 June, in its current wording, for at least 14 days, with a vaccine against COVID-19 with marketing authorization pursuant to Regulation (EC) No. 726/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council, of March 31, 2004, whose recognition has been determined by the order provided for in paragraph 2 of article 5 of Decree-Law No. 54-A/2021 , of 25 June, in its current wording;

c) The presentation, by the participants, of proof of laboratory testing with a negative result, and this test must meet the requirements set out in subparagraphs i) or ii), as applicable, of subparagraph b) of paragraph 1 of article 4. of Decree-Law No. 54-A/2021 , of 25 June, in its current wording; or

d) The performance, by the participants, of a test with a negative result, under the terms to be defined by the DGS and by the INSA, IP

3 – …

4 – …

5 – The DGS defines the number of participants from which it is considered ‘large events’, as well as the number of participants up to which, in events of the nature referred to in the previous number, the presentation of a Digital Certificate is waived COVID of the EU, in the form of test or recovery certificate, proof of a test with a negative result or of the performance of a test, in which case the provisions of paragraph 2 shall apply.

6 – …

7 – …

Article 16

[…]

1 – Access to gyms and gyms depends on:

a) The presentation of the EU COVID Digital Certificate admitted under the terms of Decree-Law No. 54-A/2021 , of 25 June, in its current wording;

b) The presentation of proof of vaccination attesting to the complete vaccination schedule pursuant to paragraph 2 of article 4 of Decree-Law No. 54-A/2021 , of 25 June, in its current wording, there is for at least 14 days, with a vaccine against COVID-19 with marketing authorization pursuant to Regulation (EC) No. 726/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council, of March 31, 2004, whose recognition has been determined by the order provided for in paragraph 2 of article 5 of Decree-Law No. 54-A/2021 , of 25 June, in its current wording;

c) The presentation of proof of laboratory testing with a negative result, and this test must meet the requirements set out in subparagraphs i) or ii), as applicable, of subparagraph b) of paragraph 1 of article 4 of the Decree- Law No. 54-A/2021 , of 25 June, in its current wording; or

d) The performance of a test with a negative result, under the terms to be defined by the DGS and by the INSA, IP

2 – Compliance with the provisions of the preceding paragraph is granted to workers in spaces or establishments, as well as to any suppliers or service providers that enable the operation of the same.

Article 17

Exceptions to the rules on submission of certificates and tests

1 – (Previous body of the article.)

2 – For the purposes of the provisions of paragraph 1 of article 12, paragraph 4 of article 13, paragraph a) of paragraph 1 of article 14 and article 15, it is whoever demonstrates to have been vaccinated for at least 14 days with a booster dose of a vaccine against COVID-19 is exempted from presenting a negative test, considering as such a dose of a vaccine against COVID-19 administered in addition to the complete vaccination schedule as defined in no. 2 of article 4 of Decree-Law no. 54-A/2021 , of 25 June, in its current wording.

Article 19

[…]

1 – Airlines should only allow passengers to board flights with destination or stopover in mainland Portugal upon presentation, at the time of departure, of proof of carrying out a nucleic acid amplification test (TAAN) or rapid antigen test (TRAg) for professional use to screen for SARS-CoV-2 infection with a negative result, carried out within 72 or 48 hours prior to the time of boarding, respectively, the airlines being responsible for verifying the existence of the aforementioned test receipt at the time of departure, without prejudice to the provisions of paragraph 16.

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Article 23

[…]

1 – Until February 9, 2022, for the purposes of international flights, the provisions of paragraph 2 of article 19 shall not apply, being required the presentation of a test pursuant to paragraph 1 of the same article or of a Certificate Digital COVID of the EU in the modalities of test or recovery certificate, provided for, respectively, in subparagraphs b) and c) of paragraph 1 of article 4 of Decree-Law no. 54-A/2021 , of 25th June, in its current wording.

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9 – …»

3 – Add to the regime attached to the Resolution of the Council of Ministers No. 157/2021 , of 27 November, in its current wording, Article 12-A, with the following wording:

“Article 12-A

Consumption of alcoholic beverages

The consumption of alcoholic beverages in open-air spaces with public access and public roads is prohibited, with the exception of the open terraces of restaurants and similar establishments duly licensed for that purpose.”

4 – Revoke:

a) Paragraph d) of no. 2 of the Resolution of the Council of Ministers no. 157/2021 , of 27 November, in its current wording;

b) The chapter sees articles 24 to 28 of the regime annexed to Resolution of the Council of Ministers no. 157/2021 , of 27 November, in its current wording.

5 – Determine that this resolution enters into force at 00:00 on January 10, 2022.

Presidency of the Council of Ministers, January 6, 2022. – The Prime Minister, António Luís Santos da Costa.

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