Algarve Situation Report Saturday 19th June 2021
Third of all cases in the Algarve are foreigners
A third of covid-19 cases in the Algarve are foreigners, mostly tourists, said today the regional Health delegate, asking that the formula for calculating the incidence rate be revised.
Since June 1st, there have been a total of 456 positive cases in the region, of whom 34% were people of other nationalities, with a higher incidence in the British (46%), French (10%) and Brazilians (9%), revealed Ana Cristina Guerreiro at a press conference.
According to the official, there are municipalities where cases involving foreigners, whether residents or tourists, represent more than 50% of the total, with Albufeira in first place (65%), Aljezur (57%) and Tavira (54%).
The number of covid-19 cases in the Algarve has tripled in the last week, from an average of 26 cases per day, until the beginning of this week, to 84, in the last three days, putting the incidence rate of the disease at 117 cases per 100,000 inhabitants.
For the regional Health delegate, the calculation of the number of cases on the resident population “is a mistake”, since the usual population “is much smaller than what we have at the moment or we will have in July and August”.
Ana Cristina Guerreiro revealed that she had already given the “alert” to “all higher structures”, suggesting that the solution could be to “calculate the incidence “with the estimated population present at that time” in the municipality.
“This number of cases, which is in the numerator of foreign nationalities and national passer-by, which we also have, is not in the denominator and, therefore, it is a wrong calculation”, he said, noting that the number of infected tourists is counted, without having in count its total value.
The Health delegate thus joins the mayors of the region, who are demanding a change in the calculation formula, namely the mayors of Loulé and Albufeira, who today asked for a count of tourists so that the calculation is proportional to the real number. of people who are in the counties.
Asked by journalists about the recent increase in the number of cases, the official admitted that the opening of the region to tourists, on May 17, may justify the increase that appeared on June 15, stressing, however, that it may also be related to “with a more contagious variant”.
Ana Cristina Guerreiro informed that the report of the National Institute of Health Doctor Ricardo Jorge indicated “three cases of the delta variant three weeks ago” in the Algarve, with no more records, but that “100 samples were sent a few days ago for evaluation”, still without results.
Covid.19: Mayor of Loulé and businessmen call for urgent revision of the formula for calculating new positives
The Municipality of Loulé this afternoon invited the media to a press conference on the decision of the Council of Ministers to include the Municipality of Loulé in the list of municipalities that will not advance to the next phase of deconfinement, as it presents an incidence rate, more than 120 cases per 100,000 inhabitants in the last 14 days.
Held next to the Aquashow Hotel at Semino in Quarteira, the press conference that brought together the Mayor of Loulé, Presidents of Parish Councils and businessmen of the municipality, conveyed to the Government and health authorities that the adopted formula for case accounting positive of Covid.19, is not being applied correctly, because it is not adapted to the reality experienced in municipalities with strong tourist dynamics.
Although the prime minister defended that the detected cases of national tourists should be registered in the county of official residence, Vítor Aleixo told journalists that this is not happening and in that sense, he demands that the national cases detected in the county and therefore in the region, are actually attributed to the county where the people reside and not where they are detected, as in the cases counted to foreign visitors who are in hotels, they should count as the county’s population.
The mayor explained that what is happening, penalizes municipalities with more tourism, as is the case of Loulé, where the resident population is around 70,000 inhabitants, but in the peak season of tourism, the population triples and with it, also triples the number of positive cases.
With this calculation formula, the official even says that the Algarve will not be able to rise during the summer, because the number of tourists will increase in the coming weeks and the ratio is being poorly calculated, affecting other municipalities in the region. In this context, he called for an urgent review of this calculation.
COVID-19: Albufeira feels wronged and discriminated against by the government
José Carlos Rolo, Mayor of Albufeira, demands a review of the criteria for calculating the COVID-19 incidence.
Following the government’s recent decision, Council of Ministers Resolution 76-A/2021, of 17 June, «it is with deep sadness that Albufeira considers itself discriminated against by the criteria of a government that once again does not consider the current reality of region, especially in a municipality that depends so much on tourism».
The municipal executive considers that the calculation per 100,000 inhabitants «is totally unfair for the municipality of Albufeira, taking into account that the number of residents that is used by the government is not adequate and should not be applied, as tourists are not considered as a population but a gift: if a positive case occurs, it is, contradictorily, included in the counts».
“This artificially inflates a ratio that is so important for deciding our immediate future. This fact was addressed by me in one of the face-to-face conversations I had with the secretary of State for Tourism Rita Marques, as well as with the president of the Algarve Tourism Region João Fernandes and other regional authorities, in order to resolve the situation that is very damaging our region», writes José Carlos Rolo in a statement sent to the newsrooms.
At the moment, «about twice as many residents may be in the municipality of Albufeira, who should be included in the DGS criteria. Therefore, the figures mentioned, at this moment, show that the county has a much higher number of residents/tourists than the number considered for the purpose of calculating the COVID-19 incidence».