Algarve Situation Report Wednesday 15^th December 2021

COVID-19: Algarve Regional Health Authority Advises against events, parties and dinners that promote the gathering of people

This regional recommendation is in line with the “common sense” that has already been requested by Graça Freitas, general director of Health

The Algarve Regional Health Authority advises against, “with immediate effect”, the holding of events, parties and dinners that “promote the agglomeration of people” due to the situation of the pandemic.

In a communiqué, issued this Monday, December 13, and signed by Ana Cristina Guerreiro, Regional Health Delegate, it is explained that the “current national and regional epidemiological situation is characterized by a high degree of uncertainty, bearing in mind the dynamics of circulation of several viruses in the winter months and the emergence of a new strain of concern for SARS-CoV2”.

Added to this is the fact that, “regardless of full compliance with all public health measures, the risk of transmission is real and cannot be eliminated.”

This is because, according to the Algarve Regional Health Authority, “cases/outbreaks related to social events that promote the aggregation of people continue to occur, given the circulation of infected people, with or without symptoms, even with an effort of prior testing”.

Therefore, it is requested that those who carry out events “during the pandemic, even within the limits of the legal framework”, should consider “the risk”.

For the rest, this regional recommendation is in line with the “common sense” that has already been requested by Graça Freitas, general director of Health, during the festive season.

The Northern Regional Health Administration has also given similar advice. 

Loulé Municipality distributed 6,000 reusable masks to 1st Cycle students in the municipality

At a time when many of the Covid-19 infections have arisen in children and young people, the Municipality of Loulé has distributed more than 6000 masks to schools.

According to the Municipality in a statement, each student in the 1st cycle of the public school system was offered two reusable children’s masks. “The initiative aimed to strengthen the protection of the little ones and remind that the pandemic is not over and that it is imperative to reinforce care to prevent its spread”, adds the municipality.

 In total, 3000 students from public schools in the 1st cycle of the municipality were benefited. This is yet another action that joins others already implemented in schools since the beginning of the pandemic, highlighting, for example, the creation of the Solidary Education Line, measures to support distance learning or the joint preparation with ABC and the groups of schools, of the “Adaptation Strategy of the Educational Community of the Municipality of Loulé in Times of the COVID-19 Pandemic.

VRSA mourns the death of former mayor Alfredo Graça

He led the municipality’s destinies for six years.

The municipality of Vila Real de Santo António (VRSA) issued a note in which it expresses “the deepest regret” for the death of Alfredo Graça, Mayor of Vila Real de Santo António between January 1980 and January 1986.

Alfredo Graça took office at the Vila Real de Santo António City Council in January 1980, following the second municipal elections of 1979, elected by the APU coalition between the Portuguese Communist Party, of which he was a militant until the end of his life, and the MDP /CDE

“The six years he spent his municipal mandate were intense years of dedication to work, applying avant-garde thinking at a time when local authorities had practically no political and financial autonomy”, praise the VRSA municipal officials.

During his presidency, he was responsible for the construction of a Municipal Master Plan (PDM), the eighth to be implemented in Portugal, and developed important urban planning initiatives, valuing not only the quality of buildings, but also urban planning. .

“Alfredo Graça carried out his mandate under difficult conditions. A law on local finance had just been approved and the local authorities still did not have sufficient financial means for the great needs of the population, namely in water supply, in the construction of sewage networks and in the construction of roads and paths», recalls the Chamber Municipality of VRSA.

During his years of governance, initiatives linked to social housing and support for families also stand out, having led processes such as the change from the municipal market to a strategic area of ​​development or the creation of general guidelines for the PDM and the Sports Complex.

He was also responsible for strengthening ties with neighbouring Spain, through the twinning with Ayamonte. «For its important legacy», the municipality «decrees two days of municipal mourning, which are fulfilled today and tomorrow, and puts the flag at half-mast during this period».

To the bereaved family, colleagues and friends, the municipality extends its most heartfelt condolences and a profound message of solidarity. The windward team also expresses its deepest condolences.