Algarve Situation Report Wednesday 21st July 2021

This week we have seen a continued rise in Covid-19 cases across the Algarve. The General Directorate of Health (DGS ) today pointed out the existence of 29,967 cases of  coronaviruses  in the Algarve, 199 more than yesterday, and the region totals 378 (+1) deaths since the beginning of the pandemic.  In the daily update of the epidemiological situation in the municipality of São Brás de Alportel, on Monday, there were 69 (+6) active cases, 469 (+17) recovered, 137 (-3) people under surveillance and 12 deaths.

According to the latest status report released on Sunday by the Castro Marim City Council, the county has 14 active cases, 410 recovered and 2 deaths.  In Tavira there were, on Monday, 61 (+1) cases of coronavirus, 170 (-5) in isolation, 1699 (+5) recovered and 29 deaths, according to the municipality’s Facebook page.  In Alcoutim, the municipality registered on Saturday, 5 active cases.

According to the Facebook page of the municipality of Vila Real de Santo António, there were, on Monday, 47 (+2) active cases, 1343 (+5) recovered and 19 deaths. According to the municipality of Loulé, on Saturday, the county had 766 active cases, plus 64 recovered, 66 deaths and 12,130 administered vaccines. In Portimão there were, on Monday, 406 (+44) active cases and another 41 recovered, according to a Facebook publication by the municipality, while Aljezur had on Thursday 4 active cases, 133 recovered and 1 death.

The district capital, Faro, registered, on Monday, 635 (+39) active cases, 3807 (+9) recovered and 56 (+1) deaths, according to the Facebook page of the City Council. According to the Albufeira City Council, the county had, on Monday, 842 (+40) active cases, 2927 (+2) recovered and 45 deaths. Through its Facebook page, the municipality of Silves reveals that on Friday there were 191 active cases, 1435 recovered and 12 deaths, while in Lagos there were 296 (+17) active cases on Monday, 1701 (+19) recovered and 29 (+1) deaths. In Lagoa there were, on Monday, 148 (+10) active cases of coronavirus, 834 (+5) recovered and 15 deaths and Monchique had on Wednesday 7 active cases, 179 recovered and 11 deaths.

The lifting by the United Kingdom of the quarantine imposed on travellers from Portugal is a “step forward” for tourism and the Algarve hotel industry is “expectant” regarding the impact of the measure on reservations, according to the main regional hotel association. “The measure is yet another step towards lifting restrictions, which in practice have impeded and continue to impede travel, and we are somewhat expectant about the impact this could have on increased demand from tourists British,” said today, to the Lusa agency, the President of the Association of Hotels and Touristic Enterprises of the Algarve (AHETA), Elidérico Viegas.

The association leader said that it is “still soon” to know how this measure will impact demand, because, he recalled, “some of the previous restrictions continue to be maintained, namely the requirement, two days after returning to the United Kingdom, to do a PCR test”.

“Our country has not yet lifted restrictions on the entry of British tourists with the two doses of the vaccine, which is a pity, and it continues to require a test to enter Portugal”, exemplified Elidérico Viegas, considering that this restriction “also de somehow, it could be lifted”.

“Our perspectives point to having an occupation in the months of July and August that could be around 60%, still far from the usual 100% that occurred before the pandemic”, he estimated.

The President of AHETA stressed that these predicted occupancy rates are “more or less identical” to last year and lamented that the “predictions of having a much better summer than last year” are being “compromised by the restrictions that have been coming to be announced and by the recommendations of countries that are very important in the tourist demand of the region, such as Germany, Netherlands or Ireland”.

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