Algarve Situation Report Wednesday April 28th
Covid-19: Aljezur asks the Government to review contagion accounting criteria.
The Mayor of Aljezur, asked the Government to revise the formula for accounting for contagions by Covid-19 and to take into account the particularity of each municipality.
After an extended meeting of the civil protection commission this afternoon, José Gonçalves told Lusa that temporary workers “are not counted” in the population of about 5,800 inhabitants of the municipality, a value that serves as the basis for calculations of the confinement rules , but “if they become infected, they are included”.
“We need to change this. It is an injustice. The contagion situation is not addressed in this way” he stated.
In Aljezur, “14 infected people” are needed for the municipality to reach the level of 240 cases per 100 thousand inhabitants in 14 days, a value from which there is a greater restriction on the lack of definition.
In the bulletin released last Friday, the municipality of Aljezur recorded 501 cases per 100 thousand inhabitants in 14 days, referring to the period between 07 and 20 April.
On March 11, at the presentation of the de-confinement plan, the Prime Minister, António Costa, warned that the reopening measures will be revised whenever Portugal exceeds “120 new cases per day per 100 thousand inhabitants in 14 days” or whenever the R(t) – the average number of secondary cases that result from a case infected by the virus – exceeds 1.
Formula 1 has already arrived at the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve, in Portimão.
The biggest motorsport competition has already arrived in Portugal, for the third race of this year. The teams’ trucks and motorhomes already fill the parking lot of the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve and the paddock for the Formula 1 Heineken Grande Prémio de Portugal, which takes place this weekend.
The first two races of the 2021 season were marked by intensified competition between Max Verstappen, a Red Bull driver, and Lewis Hamilton, of Mercedes.
Both with 1 victory conquered in the season so far, everything indicates that next Sunday we will see a very intense race.
In his last race in Portugal, Hamilton became the driver with the most victories in F1 history, in the year he won his 7th world title.
This weekend could be marked by another record for Lewis Hamilton, who could become the first F1 driver to reach 100 pole positions.
Algarve Situation Report Saturday 24th April 2021
PS Algarve wants more tests and vaccination in critical counties
President of the Socialist Party (PS) Algarve and socialist deputies want more tests and vaccination in municipalities with more than 120 and 240 cases per 100 thousand inhabitants.
The president of the PS Algarve Federation, Luís Graça and the Socialist Party deputies elected by the Algarve, asked the government for exceptional measures to mitigate and combat the pandemic in the municipalities where there are more than 120 and 240 positive cases per 100 thousand inhabitants, as well as support to companies that, after reopening their business, may have to close again.
In a meeting this Monday, April 19, with the Secretary of State responsible for the coordination of COVID-19 in the Algarve and the Regional Health Administration on the pandemic situation and the vaccination process in the region, the parliamentarians Luís Graça, Jamila Madeira, Joaquina Matos, Ana Passos, and Francisco Oliveira recalled that the Algarve is a safe region, where globally the Rt index is below 1, considering that the outbreaks verified in some municipalities need a more prompt and incisive action by the authorities in order to quickly stop the transmission of the virus by the community.
In this sense, they propose, as in Lisbon, the creation of a special coordination commission in the municipalities where there are more than 240 cases per 100 thousand inhabitants.
Ryanair will operate Belfast and Faro route this summer
Low-cost airline Ryanair announced today that it will operate this summer the route between George Best airport in Belfast and Faro airport.
Ryanair has reduced rates for all new bookings made before June 30 this year, for travel until October 31 this year, the low cost airline said in a statement.
Belfast Airport’s Aviation Development Officer, Ellie McGimpsey, said he was “excited” about re-establishing the connection between Faro and Belfast, the statement said.
MotoGP Grand Prix in Portimão generated almost 7 million euros of media return in national media
The MotoGP Grand Prix returned to Portugal, more specifically to the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve, in Portimão, and returned to arouse strong media interest around the race: the event that took place on Sunday, April 18, generated almost 1,600 news in Portuguese media.
According to the Clipping Media monitor service, of the Marktest Group, in the week between April 14 and 20, 1,599 news items were identified in the Portuguese media, which represented a financial return of 6.632 million euros.
Media monitor’s analysis finds that the vast majority of the news was published in online media (1,135), at a great distance from the press (67 news), radio (101) and television (296).
Even so, it was television that led the media return associated with the competition: the 296 news items identified on national channels translate an estimated return of more than 4.3 million euros, which means two thirds (66%) of the total financial return that the event spawned in the Portuguese media.
Tavira will exempt payment of rent for municipal housing until the end of the year
The municipality of Tavira will exempt, until the end of the year, 570 tenants from paying municipal housing rents.
This decision by the municipality follows a set of exceptional and temporary measures to minimize the impact of the crisis that is reflected in the social fabric.
“The economic and social vulnerability of families comes from the loss of jobs and, consequently, a drop in household income”, says the local authority.
“The financial health of many companies, particularly in the tourism sector, has been considerably affected, putting hundreds of jobs at risk and a significant number of families have seen their monthly budget drop dramatically,” he adds.
In view of this reality, the municipality “considers it essential to reinforce support in terms of social action”, assuming that the recovery of household income will be slow and progressive.
“The growing demand for social responses of primary necessity led to the duplication of face-to-face assistance, with a particular focus on the level of food aid, as well as assistance in supporting essential expenses (water, electricity, and medication, among others)”, he concludes.
Algarve Situation Report, Wednesday April 14th 2021
Schools in the Algarve with 13 outbreaks and 42 classes in isolation – authorities.
The Algarve has 13 outbreaks of Covid-19 in day care centres, kindergartens and elementary schools, with 42 classes in isolation, a total of 101 people involved, including students and staff.
According to the regional health delegate, compared to previous periods, there is now “a greater incidence in children”, with infected children who “managed to make more than 20 secondary cases”, transmitting the virus within the classroom and to their families.
“We noticed at this stage, as of March 15, that there were more positive children than there would have been in previous situations. We attribute this to a possibility that the virus [now] has a greater appetite for younger age groups”, underlined Ana Cristina Guerreiro at a press conference in Loulé.
However, despite the increase in the number of cases in schools, the official stressed that the sites of transmission of the new coronavirus “continue to be, in most cases, inside homes”, with “whole” families infected, partly because if you “lost your fear” of the disease.
According to Ana Cristina Guerreiro, there is also an increase in the number of children infected and showing symptoms, although it is a mild symptom, characterized by “diarrhoea, cough and rhinorrhoea [excessive runny nose]”.
Regarding the outbreak in two schools in the parish of Montenegro, in Faro, Ana Cristina Guerreiro said that the epidemiological situation is “contained” and that children and their families in isolation, although over the 14 days of isolation, new cases may arise related with this outbreak.
https://www.algarveprimeiro.com/d/Covid-19-escolas-no-algarve-com-13-surtos-e-42-turmas-em-isolamento-autoridades/37713-1
PSP ends illegal party in Faro that involved 18 people.
The Public Security Police (PSP) went yesterday to a residence in the city of Faro, where a private party was supposedly taking place.
On the Facebook page of the Faro District Command of the PSP, it is read that when the agents arrived at the place, they encountered a private party, in which the door of the residence was open, “with a group of about 18 citizens, 5 women and 13 men, of different nationalities, mostly students, many of them completely drunk, with food scraps and bottles of drinks scattered on the floor and tables.”
In addition to ending the party, the PSP identified 16 people, 16 administrative offences were recorded for failure to comply with the duty of home collection, and a news report was prepared sent to the court because there were indications of the practice of a crime of common danger. Two more charges were also raised to the promoters of the event.
Pina condemns “unnecessary alarmism” that harms the Algarve.
Comments on the pandemic situation in the Algarve “are unfair and incorrect” laments António Miguel Pina.
At the regional press conference on the epidemiological situation in the Algarve, which took place on Monday, April 
12, António Miguel Pina, president of AMAL – Intermunicipal Community of the Algarve, wanted to clarify that “some comments on the lack of testing capacity in the region are not true, they are unfair and incorrect”.
“There is a great capacity and there is even a great capacity that powers it”, he stated, giving as an example the Portimão City Council, which due to the outbreak in the civil construction sector made “more than five thousand tests”.
The important question, according to the Mayor of Olhão, “is to remove some alarmism in communication, which occurred in the last week, regarding the image of the Algarve. Almost half of the cases in the region originated in just two outbreaks. Everything indicates that the situation of these outbreaks is controlled, as a result of the great work of public health and the City Council of Portimão. We hope that by the end of the week the situation will calm down, but this is a message that needs to be conveyed”.
The President of AMAL added that “the country looked at the Algarve in the last week and wondered what was going on here. What happens is what will happen in the rest of the country and we will get used to living in these small waves. Two outbreaks appear, it increases significantly, a lot of tests are done, we control and it decreases. You can come back later. It is necessary to be calm and not enter into unnecessary alarmism”.
https://barlavento.sapo.pt/algarve/pina-condena-alarmismo-desnecessario-que-prejudica-o-algarve
Mayor of Vila Real de Santo António arrested on suspicion of corruption.
Mayor of the municipality was not in the premises and was detained. At issue is the sale of land to the construction company. PGR reported that four people were arrested on suspicion of corruption, undue receipt of advantage and abuse of power in the intermediation of a real estate business in Monte Gordo.