Portugal Situation Report Wednesday 11th May 2021
Good morning – We start with the good news from yesterday and that is that the vaccination process is advancing faster than anticipated. Self-scheduling for people over 60 started ahead of time and on the first day more than 40 thousand registrations were made.
Yesterday was one of the D-days of the vaccination process against Covid-19, reaching 4 million doses being administered on the mainland. Thus, mainland Portugal already has more than 36% of the adult population with a dose of the vaccine taken and 14% with the complete process.
Other encouraging news was the Prime Minister stating yesterday that he received “good news” from the executive chairman of Pfizer about developments in the production and distribution of vaccines against Covid-19, as well as about pricing policies for developing countries. In his message, the Prime Minister also reiterated his idea of extending the supply of vaccines against Covid-19 to all countries in the world.
“We will only be protected when we are all protected,” he added.
This strategic vision is essential in combatting Covid-19, as it reflects the principal that security is only as good as its weakest link. If there remain countries highly vulnerable to the spread of Covid-19 because they have made little or no progress concerning vaccinating their people due to lack of vaccines, then potentially we all remain exposed.
The third positive news is that last night the Council of Minister decided to lift the health cordon in the parishes of São Teotónio and Longueira/Almograve, in the municipality of Odemira, with immediate effect given the positive evolution of the epidemiological situation verified in those parishes. Residents and workers in these parishes have suffered greatly since the health cordon was imposed, so the fact that the improving situation now allows this to be removed is very welcoming news.
A reminder that the current deadline for land cleaning is the 15th May 2021. However, at issue is a resolution of the Assembly of the Republic that recommends the Government extends the deadline for clearing forest land, from May 15 to May 31. This is according to a diploma published on April 30 in the Diário da República, disregarding the extension already determined until 15th.
In response to the Lusa agency, the cabinet of the Minister for the Environment and Climate Action, João Matos Fernandes, said that the parliament’s recommendation to extend the deadlines until May 31 implies that “the municipalities, which are the entities responsible for ensuring that of all fuel management work in place of the defaulting owners and other forest producers, have to carry out this work during the month of June”.
“Considering the history of fires from previous years, namely those of 2017 that occurred in June, and the weather conditions that were registered at the date of the extension approved in March, the Government considered the extension of deadlines until May 31 to be counterproductive”, informed the Ministry of Environment and Climate Action.
We recommend that people do not wait for any possible further extension and comply with the 15th May deadline. The fines for non-compliance can be hefty.
With that reminder, please have a Safe Day.
Headlines
Government decrees end of sanitary fence in Odemira
Prime Minister António Costa affirmed that “the lifting of the health cordon has been decreed from 00:00 on 12 May” (midnight 11th/12th May) in the parishes of São Teotónio and Longueira/Almograve, in the municipality of Odemira.
In Odemira, after the signing of protocols with the objective of responding to the housing needs verified in the municipality, the Prime Minister highlighted the decision taken during an extraordinary Council of Ministers, carried out electronically.
The Communique of the Council of Minsters states that “given the positive evolution of the epidemiological situation verified in those parishes, largely due to the implementation of mechanisms to mitigate the difficulties that the high degree of mobility and the dynamics inherent to that geographical area created in the fight against spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, the Government decided to change the circulation restriction measures that had been in force since April 30”.
This resolution shall enter into force at 00:00 on 12 May 2021.
DGS Covid-19 Report
On Tuesday Portugal recorded one death and 268 new cases of Covid-19, according to the daily report of the Directorate-General for Health (DGS).
Confirmed Cases: 840.008 (+ 268 / + 0.03 %)
Number of admitted: 257 (-20 /-7.22 %)
Number of ICU admitted: 71 (-2 /-2.74 %)
Deaths: 16.994 (+ 1 / + 0.01 %)
Recovered: 801.306 (+ 661 / + 0.08 %)
Active cases: 21,708 (-394 /-1.78%)
Safe Communities comparisons/trends show that the number of deaths was below last weeks’ average; it was the 13th consecutive day below 500 infections in 24 hours, a scenario that has not occurred since in August and September 2020 and recovered cases for second day more than double new cases. In hospital the number of Covid-19 patients was the lowest for over a year since 27th March 2020; the number in ICU the lowest since 22nd September 2020 and active cases – moderate decrease, lowest since 21st September 2020.
Health
Vaccines
Covid-19: Vaccine 4 million in Portugal administered to a user in Póvoa de Varzim
Póvoa de Varzim, Porto, 11 May 2021 (Lusa) – Portugal today reached the mark of four million vaccines against Covid-19 administered to the population, with the inoculation of a user in Póvoa de Varzim, Porto district, announced the Ministry of health.
The number was reached with the vaccination of Maria Helena Lordelo, 64 years old, born in Póvoa de Varzim, who received the drug at 12:30, administered by nurse Ana Denise Silva, in the vaccination center of the town.
Speaking to the Lusa agency, the Secretary of State for Health, Diogo Serras Lopes, underlined the acceleration of the vaccination process, at a time when more vaccines are beginning to be available to the population without being administered.
“It took more than two months to inoculate the first million vaccines, 33 days for the second, 19 days for the third. Now, we have reached 4 million in just 14 days. This is the evidence that our efforts to protect the greater number of Portuguese in the shortest period of time are having an effect “, revealed the minister.
According to information from the Ministry of Health, of the four million vaccines administered in Portugal, about 2.9 million are first doses and 1.1 million are second doses, including the 18 thousand vaccines from Janssen already administered, whose vaccination schedule is only you need a dose to be complete.
Thus, mainland Portugal already has more than 36% of the adult population already with a dose of the vaccine taken and 14% with the complete process.
The ministry predicts that, if this rate is maintained, all people aged 60 or over will be vaccinated, with at least one dose, by the end of May, with some regions of the country already having people who are aged between 50 and 60.
António Costa says he received “good news” from Pfizer on vaccine prices and production.
The Prime Minister said today that he received “good news” from the executive chairman of Pfizer about developments in the production and distribution of vaccines against Covid-19, as well as about pricing policies for developing countries.
This conversation was disclosed by António Costa in his official account on the social network Twitter.
“I spoke today with the executive president of Pfizer, Albert Bourla, who gave me good news about the evolution of the capacity of production and distribution of vaccines and about the price policy for developing countries”, wrote António Costa.
In his message, the Prime Minister of Portugal, the country that is President of the Council of the European Union until June, also reiterated his idea of extending the supply of vaccines against Covid-19 to all countries in the world.
“We will only be protected when we are all protected,” he added.
On Saturday, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced a new contract to purchase up to 1.8 billion doses of vaccines against Covid-19 from BioNTech-Pfizer, by 2023.
“The Commission has approved a contract for 900 million doses, plus 900 million optional, with BioNTech and Pfizer,” said Von der Leyen, adding that “other contracts and other vaccine technologies will come”.
The contract with the German and American laboratories, allies in the production of anti-Covid-19 vaccines, provides for deliveries starting this year and until 2023.
The new contract, which is endorsed by the Member States of the European Union, will involve not only the production of vaccines, but also the guarantee that all essential components must come from the EU.
EU has not renewed vaccine order from AstraZeneca for after June.
The European Union (EU) has not yet renewed the contract with AstraZeneca for the supply of vaccines against Covid-19 after June, the European Commissioner for the Internal Market, a spokesperson said today after a new 
contract with Pfizer was announced.
“We have not renewed the contract [with AstraZeneca] until after the month of June. We see, we will see what happens,” said Commissioner Thierry Breton, speaking to France Inter/France Info.
On Saturday, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced a new contract to purchase up to 1.8 billion doses of vaccines against Covid-19 with BioNTech-Pfizer, by 2023.
“The Commission has just approved a contract for 900 million doses, plus 900 million optional, with BioNTech and Pfizer,” announced Von der Leyen, adding that “other contracts and other vaccine technologies will come”.
The contract with the German and North American laboratories, allies in the production of vaccines against Covid-19, foresees deliveries from this year and until 2023.
The AstraZeneca vaccine has been delayed in delivery, prompting the EU to file a lawsuit against the laboratory. Some cases of blood clots have also led to restrictions on the use of this vaccine.
A European Commission spokesman said at the end of April that the lawsuit was filed because “some of the terms” of the contract negotiated between AstraZeneca and the European Commission “have not been respected” and the pharmaceutical company has not presented a “strategy” credible to ensure timely delivery of doses “.
Testing
More than half a million tests in schools since the resumption of classroom teaching.
Continuing the testing process in public and private sector education and teaching establishments, a further 26,000 tests for the detection of SARS-CoV-2 were carried out in the last week for teaching and non-teaching staff in Pre-School Education, the 1st cycle, of the so-called “Full-Time School” and to secondary school students and workers, from the municipalities with an incidence rate of more than 120 cases per 100 thousand inhabitants in the last 14 days (April 28 list), as determining the basic orientation of this process.
In 26 thousand tests carried out in the education and teaching establishments of these 35 municipalities, 30 positive cases were registered, that is, a positivity rate of 0.12%, maintaining the levels that have been verified since the beginning of the process of testing carried out by the Ministry of Education.
The next stage of the testing process takes place next week, again in the education and teaching establishments of the municipalities with the highest incidence in Covid-19, covering teaching and non-teaching staff in the 2nd and 3rd cycles of basic education.
Since March 15, the day that the classroom activities started in stages, more than half a million tests were carried out on Covid-19, with a positive rate of 0.13%.
The Ministry of Education welcomes the fact that it undertakes a large-scale testing process that is significantly contributing to the increase in testing levels in the country.
Marcelo wants to know what’s going on with the application of the informal caregiver status.
Caminha, Viana do Castelo, 11 May 2021 (Lusa) – The President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, expressed his concern today about the “very small” number of people who achieved the status of informal caregivers, stressing that he wants to understand what is happening about the law.
In Caminha, on the sidelines of a visit to a forest clearing action, Marcelo expressed his belief that there are “many more” informal caregivers than those who have obtained the status.
“It is an issue that concerns me a lot. I think there are far more informal caregivers than those who are registered. I don’t know if there are tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands, but just look at families that have informal family caregivers or others. And I am concerned when a law is made and in the end there are 2000 or 3000 informal caregivers who meet the requirements”, he said.
The President said that he will soon meet with associations representing informal caregivers, to understand what is happening with the law.
He stressed that “the law itself was promising”, stressing that it is necessary to understand if there are any problems in its application.
“If the question is because there is no money, because it costs money, because it takes time, because it is difficult to solve labour problems or with Social Security, assume that”, he said.
For Marcelo, it is necessary to understand whether or not there are conditions to fully apply the law to all who deserve it or whether it is a “purely bureaucratic issue” that strangles access “to the departure”, allowing the entry of 2000 or 3000 leaving out many others who “do the same thing”.
Enforcement
Odemira parishes of São Teotónio and Longueira – Almograve.
Yesterday morning, GNR controlled the access of about 1,000 workers to the health cordon in two parishes in the municipality of Odemira and rejected the entry or exit of 83, who did not present negative tests to Covid-19.
These data refer to the period between 5:00 am and 10:00 am, at the four checkpoints installed in the sanitary fence of the parishes of São Teotónio and Longueira-Almograve, the source of the Territorial Command of Beja of the GNR told the Lusa agency.
The GNR controlled the entry and exit of the health cordon for work reasons for a total of 1,006 people for work reasons, of whom 668 were seasonal workers from companies operating in the two parishes targeted by the measure enacted by the Government and 338 were workers from other sectors and professions.
“The entry or exit of 83 workers was rejected because they did not present a negative SARS-CoV-2 test [to the new coronavirus] at the time of inspection or were not included in the lists sent to the Regional Directorate for Agriculture and Fisheries in Alentejo”, highlighted the GNR.
The parishes of Longueira-Almograve and São Teotónio have had a health cordon since April 30, due to the high incidence of Covid-19, mainly due to cases among workers in the agricultural sector, many of them immigrants.
Last Thursday, in a Council of Ministers, the Government decided to maintain the sanitary fence, but with “specific conditions for access to work”.
Other news
Confirmation of prison sentence for pharmacist who defrauded SNS by 1.3 million.
The Porto Court of Appeal confirmed the six-year and six-month prison sentence to a pharmacist in Póvoa de Lanhoso who, in collusion with five doctors, swindled the National Health Service (SNS) of 1.3 million euros.
Clinicians were sentenced to suspended sentences between five and three years in prison. The company that owns the Pharmacy São José will have to pay a fine of 70 thousand euros.
The scheme ran from January 2012 to October 2015 and focused on a pharmacy in Póvoa de Lanhoso. Rosa Maria Costa, owner and clinical director of Farmácia São José, and the five doctors combined a scheme that went through fraudulent prescriptions.
Doctors used data from patients or pharmacy customers appointed by the pharmacist to prescribe drugs with expensive acquisition costs and with a high rate of SNS reimbursement (above 90%). The receipts were handed over to the pharmaceutical company that presented them to the NHS for payment of the state contribution as if they had actually been filled. The court estimated that over the more than three years of the scam, the state was defrauded of 1.360 million euros.
On November 23, 2020, the Porto Court sentenced Rosa Maria Costa to six years and six months in prison for qualified fraud, document forgery and active corruption and the commercial company to pay a 700-day fine at 100 euros per day, in a total of 70 thousand euros. The defendant and Farmácia São José appealed, but on 28 April, the Porto Appeal Court upheld the referred judgment in its entirety, the Porto Attorney General announced on Monday.
Five doctors were also convicted of qualified fraud, document forgery and passive corruption. Four had suspended sentences between four and six months and three years. One of the doctors, Abílio Pinto, had been sentenced to five years and six years in prison, but the Appeal judges partially upheld his appeal and reduced the sentence to five years in prison, the execution of which will be suspended for the same period, upon payment of 109 thousand euros to the NHS.
Region Reports
Madeira
Madeira Situation Report, Wednesday 12th May, by our Special Correspondent Daniel Fernandez.
Covid-19 update
There were 51 new Covid-19 cases, 74 recoveries and no deaths from Covid-19 in Madeira since the previous Madeira Situation Report.
On Saturday, there were 12 new Covid-19 cases (from 1 passenger who had arrived from Romania, 2 passengers who had arrived from the Lisbon and Tagus Valley Region and 9 cases of local transmission) and 23 recoveries. The number of patients in hospital increased to 17, 3 of whom were in intensive care.
On Sunday, there were 10 new Covid-19 cases (all cases of local transmission) and 13 recoveries. The number of patients in hospital remained the same (17, 3 of whom in intensive care).
On Monday, there were 11 new Covid-19 cases (from 1 passenger who had arrived from France, 1 passenger who had arrived from the Lisbon and Tagus Valley Region and 9 cases of local transmission) and 17 recoveries. Although the number of patients in hospital decreased to 17, the number of patients in intensive care increased to 5.
And on Tuesday, there were 18 new Covid-19 cases (from 1 passenger who had arrived from Central Portugal and 17 cases of local transmission) and 21 recoveries. The number of patients in hospital decreased to 11, 4 of whom were in intensive care.
There were 227 active cases on Tuesday, of which 11 had been imported while the other 216 cases had been a result of local transmission. As of Tuesday, there had been 9,134 cases, 8,836 recoveries and 71 deaths.
On Tuesday, there were 23 patients in isolation in a dedicated hotel, 193 patients in isolation in their own accommodation and 11 patients in Covid-19 units, 4 of whom in intensive care.
On the same day, there were 55 suspected cases under epidemiological investigation and analysis, which were all linked to patients who tested positive for Covid-19, to calls made to the SRS24 helpline, to referrals by SESARAM (Madeira Regional Health Service) and to airport screening.
There were 10,662 travellers under monitoring by the health authorities. Monitoring is being carried out through the ‘MadeiraSafe’ app. There were also 662 people, who had contact with positive cases, being monitored by the health authorities of several Madeira municipalities and of Porto Santo.
As for Covid-19 testing on passengers who had arrived at Funchal and Porto Santo airports, 197,184 samples had been collected until Tuesday (at 15h30). By Tuesday, 400,940 samples from RT-PCR tests had been processed and 52,640 antigen rapid tests had been carried out in the Autonomous Region of Madeira.
The SRS 24 helpline (Regional Health Service – 800 24 24 20) received 366 calls from Friday to Tuesday. Overall, it has received 48,361 calls.
The Covid-19 mental health helpline (Linha de Acompanhamento Psicológico da Direção Regional de Saúde – 291 212 399 – available every day from 09h00 to 21h00), which was set up to provide emotional and mental support to anyone in Madeira received 10 calls from Friday to Tuesday. Overall, it has received 3,482 calls.
https://funchalnoticias.net/2021/05/08/12-novos-casos-de-covid-19-23-recuperados-103-suspeitos/
https://funchalnoticias.net/2021/05/09/10-novos-casos-de-covid-19-13-recuperados-120-suspeitos/
https://funchalnoticias.net/2021/05/10/11-novos-casos-de-covid-19-17-recuperados-62-suspeitos/
https://funchalnoticias.net/2021/05/11/18-novos-casos-de-covid-19-21-recuperados-55-suspeitos/
Covid-19 vaccination update
On Saturday, at 11h40, the 100,000th Covid-19 vaccine inoculation took place. João Baptista, 76 years old, was administered the 100,000th vaccine dose. He had not expected this. He was inoculated with the 2nd vaccine dose. Pedro Ramos (Madeira’s Health and Civil Protection Secretary) was at Madeira Tecnopólo to witness and to celebrate this milestone. A video of this short ceremony can be watched on the followed link:
As of May 9th, 104,185 Covid-19 vaccine doses (76,5011st doses & 27,684 2nd doses) had been administered in the Autonomous Region of Madeira. This means 30.1% of the population has received the first dose of a vaccine and 10.9% of the population has been fully vaccinated.
In the previous week, 12,888 vaccine doses (7,601 1st doses & 5,287 2nd doses) were administered.
The plan for this week is to continue inoculations throughout the Region, with a special focus on people who have priority and on Tourism professionals.
Parish of Ribeira Brava delivery of masks, alcohol gel and thermometers to institutions.
The parish (Junta de Freguesia) of Ribeira Brava delivered surgical face masks, alcohol gel (big bottles and spray) and thermometers to a school and police station. A total of 1,250 surgical face masks for students and staff, 15 packs of alcohol gel (spray), 45 litres of alcohol gel and 3 thermometers. And the police station received face masks, alcohol gel (big bottles and spray) and 1 thermometer. The local parish leadership said it was always aware of the situation in the parish and will always intervene whenever necessary and in partnership with local entities. It has already spent over €20,000 providing support to institutions, schools, fire stations, the police (PSP), associations and care homes.
Big increase in demand for flights to Madeira.
Demand for travel to Madeira has greatly increased since the announcement that Portugal will be on England’s green list for travel. For instance, Jet2 has scheduled flights from 9 airports in the UK, starting at the end of June. Summer bookings of Jet2 flights and Jet2holidays holiday packages to Madeira and Faro increased 600% in the first 24 hours since this announcement. And easyJet added 20,000 seats on flights between Portugal and the UK, with prices starting at €29,99, due to strong demand since the announcement. Flights between Bristol and Funchal are included in the list of extra seats.
https://www.jm-madeira.pt/regiao/ver/128091/Reservas_da_Jet2com_cresceram_600_para_Faro_e_Madeira
Road closures.
Traffic will disrupted today, from 09h30 until 21h00, at Estrada Monumental (parish of São Martinho), due to the felling of two trees on the stretch of road between Travessa do Valente and Largo da Paz.
The stretch of road at E.R. 231, between the junction at Rua Capitão Pinto Correia and the junction at at Rua da Marinheira, will remain closed to traffic until June 13th. A diversion for traffic will be through Rua João Augusto Ornelas and Rua da Marinheira.
Algarve
Algarve Situation Report, Wednesday 12th May.
Tourism – President of AHETA believes in a good summer but cannot make up for the losses of 2020.
The British government’s announcement on the green list of countries, where it is allowed to travel without restrictions, including Portugal, has led to a “rain” of reservations at hotels in the Algarve.
It is well known that the British have a predilection for our country and the proof of that is in sight. As confirmed by Elidérico Viegas – President of the Association of Hotels and Tourist Enterprises of the Algarve (AHETA), said “this is great news, because it results in enormous satisfaction for hoteliers and tourist entrepreneurs in the Algarve, with good expectations for this summer, since in addition to the domestic market, we will now have tourists from our largest supplier, the United Kingdom”. Despite the expected recovery, the representative of the association says that it will still not be a year equal to 2019, “but surely it will be a better year than 2020, since it will bring together Portuguese and foreign tourists”.
The President of AHETA recalls that the opportunity is to take advantage, “all of our competitors were left out of the “green map”, such as Spain, Greece and Turkey and this brings a competitive advantage to our region, even more at this stage”.
The good news was expected at any time, due to the efforts of the Portuguese in the last few months, but also due to the number of vaccinations carried out in Portugal, however, he says that it is necessary to continue the effort to control the pandemic, “reducing the cases of infection, with the rhythm of vaccinations on the rise, in a process that must advance as quickly as possible to achieve group immunity”.
On the possibility of this summer being able to compensate for the losses of last year, Elidérico Viegas speaks of an unlikely scenario: “I understand that in this matter, what has been lost is lost, it is worth remembering that we have been in deficit for a year and a half, we entered the late summer of 2019 in the low season, we caught the pandemic in March and we had more than a year of deficient management. We have good expectations for the tourist season this year, for example last year when the air corridors were opened 10 days, it resulted in a substantial increase in demand from the English, it is necessary that the agents involved in the tourism business, transporters, retailers , airline operators, among others, quickly prepare to respond to requests”.
Former Alderman of the Chamber of Loulé and President of the Junta de Almancil dies with Covid-19.
João Martins, former councillor of the Chamber of Loulé and President of the Almancil Parish Council, died this Tuesday, May 11, victim of Covid-19. He was 72 years old and was admitted to intensive care at Hospital de Faro.
The South Information, Vítor Aleixo, President of Loulé Câmara, lamented “deeply” the death of this former alderman, in the executive who led the council from 2013 to 2017.
“It is a very big loss that leaves us very dismayed,” he said.
The political trajectory of João Martins, who was a social security inspector, is directly linked to the parish of Almancil, where he held the positions of President of the Parish Assembly (from January 1990 to December 1993), executive secretary of the Parish Council de Almancil (from January 1994 to December 1997) and president of the Almancil Parish Council (from January 1998 to October 2013).
He was a founding partner and President of ASCA (Social and Cultural Association of Almancil) and chaired the 1st Congress of the Parish of Almancil (May 2004), the Organizing Committee for the Conventions of Portuguese Communities in the World and the Commission for the Commemorations of the 30th Anniversary of 25 de Abril, among other initiatives carried out in this Parish, namely as a member of the commission that chaired the creation of the coat of arms of the Parish of Almancil.
Covid-19: ACRAL survey finds that Algarve companies “can’t take” another summer equal to 2020.
Algarve businesspeople “can’t take another summer equal to 2020, with the pandemic “severely” affecting 8.8 out of 10 companies, reveals a survey released today by the Association of Commerce and Services of the Algarve Region (ACRAL).
Of the associates who responded to the survey with the theme “Impact on the local economy: effects caused by Covid-19”, the majority (92%) have micro-enterprises with “less than 10 workers” and 66.7% belong to commerce.
“If by chance, the summer of 2021 is equal to or worse than the summer of 2020, the winter season can be extremely dramatic for the future of the sustainability of companies in the Algarve”, warned the President of ACRAL, Paulo Alentejano, quoted in a statement association.
The same source asked the Government to adopt “different measures” that can “guarantee the survival of the Algarve’s business fabric and avoid a social crisis in the Algarve to the limit”, a region that has been strongly affected by restrictions on tourism.
“In view of the current situation, 88% of the companies responded that they were seriously affected by losses accumulated in the last months”, quantified ACRAL, stressing that the assessment made of the current situation is “very bad” and “70% of the respondents” felt “in 2021 a worsening of the situation”.
ACRAL pointed out as one of the reasons for the lack of confidence of these entrepreneurs “the sharp drop in revenues” due to the “low demand for products and services after confinement” caused by the “drastic” decline in demand.
“In accordance with the data obtained from the referred survey, it is concluded that 66.7% of the respondents correspond to companies in which commerce is the main activity, 16% relate to services and 16% to hotels and restaurants” reported the Algarve business association.
Regarding expectations for the next 12 months, “72% of respondents do not foresee any improvement” and, therefore, had to control costs, postpone or cancel investments or dismiss workers, a situation that implied an “increase in the dismissal rate” and unemployment in the region.
“Regarding the restrictions enacted by the Government, 97% of the respondents agree with the measures imposed in terms of health, however, their establishments have been seriously affected by the restrictions applied in their sectors of activity and, although a large percentage are aware of the support made available by the Government and having adhered to them, 94% consider that the State support is not corresponding to the needs”, said the ACRAL.
GNR arrested a 54-year-old man for drug trafficking yesterday in the Parque da Fronteira in Castro Marim.
According to a statement from that security force, it was through a patrolling action that the military verified the presence of a vehicle, “about 100 meters from the control point, in the direction of Spain – Portugal, which was standing at the side of the road, the driver having left it and showing suspicious behaviour “. As they approached the vehicle, the military found that the individual had two black bags in his possession, “which he tried to conceal outside the road.”
In the sequence, the same statement reads that the military approached the suspect and found that the bags contained a narcotic product inside, with the suspect trying to escape, “having been immediately arrested by the military”.
In the same action, 1,922 doses of cannabis were seized; 880 euros in cash; a vehicle and two mobile phones.
The detainee who was constituted accused is being present at the Faro Judicial Court, for the application of coercion measures.
Azores Report
Situation Report Azores – 12th May 2021 – From our colleague in the Azores.
Covid-19
The Regional Health Authority has said that in the last four days the number of new positive cases of Covid-19 resulting from 5,623 tests is 86. These tests were carried out in reference laboratories in the Region, in private laboratories with conventions, in the Regional Health Service, through rapid tests (mass screening), in the laboratory of Terceira University and by means of tests carried out in the scope of occupational medicine.
São Miguel registered most of the cases with 81. Flores had 2 and Terceira 3.
There have been some recoveries, 57 in total. All of them on the island of São Miguel.
12 patients are hospitalized, all at the Hospital do Divino Espírito Santo, in São Miguel, with one in intensive care. There are currently 774 people under active surveillance.
As of today, the Region has 214 active positive cases, 199 in São Miguel, 9 in Flores, 4 in Terceira and 2 in Santa Maria.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, 5,085 positive cases of Covid-19 have been diagnosed in the Azores, and 4,720 people have recovered from the disease. 31 died, 79 left the archipelago and 43 presented proof of previous healing. There is an active chain, in Flores, and 201 chains have already been extinguished.
Between December 31st, 2020 and May 6th, 87,077 doses of vaccine against Covid-19 have been administered in the Azores, corresponding to 59,347 people aged 15 years and over, with the first dose and 27,730 people with both doses, within the scope of the Regional Vaccination Plan.