Azores Situation Report Wednesday 16th June 2021

 

From our colleague in the Azores 

Task Force.

The President of the Government of the Azores said the possibility that the ‘task force’, which is mass vaccinating the population of the islands without a hospital, would also guarantee a reinforcement of the vaccination against Covid-19 in São Miguel.

“It was agreed that, depending on the speed with which vaccination in these islands advanced, we could take advantage of the availability of the ‘task force’ to also strengthen the vaccination team in São Miguel, which has a more worrying epidemiological expectation”, explained the Azorean chief executive, José Manuel Bolieiro.

The operation is called “Periferia”, which is taking place on the islands without a hospital.  The three islands with a hospital (São Miguel, Terceira and Faial) are also being targeted with increased vaccination, through of the teams of the Regional Health Service.

“The truth is that, thanks to the relief with the presence of the ‘task force’, we are already strengthening vaccination on the three islands where there is a hospital”, adding that, despite this, he expects to increase the pace of vaccination in São Miguel, the largest island in the archipelago, where the highest number of cases of infection is registered.

Despite this, he hoped that, by July 31st, the Azores could register a group immunity rate of around 70% of the Azorean population.

SATA 

The airline Azores Airlines, belonging to the SATA group, revealed that it will cancel 10 flights between Toronto, Canada, and the islands of São Miguel and Terceira, in the Azores, due to reduced demand.

In a press release, the Azorean public company states that “the majority of flights planned between the Azores” and Canada “will be maintained” but, as of June 24th, eight flights will be cancelled between Ponta Delgada and Toronto and two connections between Praia da Vitória and that Canadian city.

The connection between Frankfurt, Germany, and Ponta Delgada, São Miguel, will also be reduced, going to one flight a week (instead of two), on Sundays.

Azores Airlines also said that, since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, airlines “had no alternative but to permanently readjust the air operation”, due to “cancellation of reservations by travellers”.

The SATA group company also refers to having the “expectation” to see the “addition of reservations” for the month of August, if “some restrictions are lifted” by the destinations.

On June 7th, it was announced that the Azorean airline SATA would increase the number of flights and seats on some inter-island connections, in June, and on connections from Lisbon to Faial and Pico, between the end of July and September.

Covid-19 

12th June 2021 

27 new positive cases of Covid-19 were diagnosed in the Azores, one in Terceira and 26 in São Miguel, resulting from 2,772 tests carried out in reference laboratories in the Region. The case diagnosed in Terceira refers to a traveller, residing in Santa Cruz da Praia da Vitória, with a positive analysis on the 6th day. All cases diagnosed in São Miguel are in the context of community transmission.

The municipality of Ribeira Grande registered nine new cases (three in Rabo de Peixe, three in Maia, one in Matriz, one in Pico da Pedra and one in Ribeirinha). In the municipality of Ponta Delgada there were 16 new cases (four in São Pedro, three in São Roque, three in Fajã de Baixo, two in Livramento, two in Fenais da Luz, one in Pilar da Brittany and one in Candelária). In the municipality of Lagoa, a new case was diagnosed in Cabouco.

There was a total of 24 recoveries.

13th June 2021 

29 new Covid-19 positive cases were diagnosed in the Azores, one in Terceira and 28 in São Miguel, resulting from 2,433 tests carried out in reference laboratories in the Region. The case diagnosed in Terceira, in Santa Luzia, in the municipality of Angra do Heroísmo, has yet to be assessed. In São Miguel there was a case of a traveller, non-resident, with a positive analysis on the 6th day. All other cases are in the context of community transmission.

The municipality of Ribeira Grande registered 14 new cases (three in Rabo de Peixe, three in Ribeirinha, two in Maia, two in Pico da Pedra, two in Conceição, one in Matriz and one in São Brás). In the municipality of Ponta Delgada there were 11 new cases (four in São Pedro, two in Brittany, two in Livramento, two in Fajã de Cima and one in São José). In the municipality of Lagoa there were three new cases (two in Santa Cruz and one in Rosário).

There was a total of 27 recoveries.

14th June 2021 

30 new positive cases of Covid-19 were diagnosed in the Azores, one on the island of Terceira and 29 on the island of São Miguel, following 1,059 tests carried out in the reference laboratories of the Region. The case diagnosed on the island of Terceira, in the municipality of Angra do Heroísmo, parish of Santa Luzia, is still to be assessed. On the island of São Miguel, all cases are related to the context of community transmission.

The municipality of Ribeira Grande registered 21 new cases (three in Rabo de Peixe, 11 in Ribeirinha, four in Maia, two in Pico da Pedra and one in Matriz). There were four new cases in the municipality of Ponta Delgada (one in São Pedro, one in the Pilar da Bretenha, one in the Fajã de Baixo and one in São José). There are four new cases in the municipality of Lagoa (two in Cabouco, one in Santa Cruz and one in Água de Pau).

There were no recoveries.

15th June 2021 

22 new positive cases of Covid-19 were diagnosed in the Azores, one on the island of Faial, eight on the island of Terceira and 13 on the island of São Miguel, following 2,608 tests carried out in the reference laboratories of the Region.

The case diagnosed on the island of Faial, in the parish of Castelo Branco, municipality of Horta, concerns a traveller, resident, who tested positive upon arrival.

On the island of Terceira, the diagnosed cases concern eight travellers, non-resident, who tested positive upon arrival from a ship entering the port of Praia da Vitoria. Concerning the two cases mentioned in the reports of the last two days, following an epidemiological check, it has been found that those cases are related to the evacuations carried out to two crew members of a cargo vessel, and they are currently in hospital at the Santo Espírito Hospital of Terceira Island.

On the island of São Miguel, of the 13 new cases diagnosed, one refers to a traveller, non-resident, allocated to the parish of São Sebastião in the municipality of Ponta Delgada, who tested positive upon arrival. The other cases concern community transmission. Thus, the municipality of Ribeira Grande registered eight new cases (five in Rabo de Peixe, one in Maia, one in the Conceição and one in Ribeirinha). In the municipality of Ponta Delgada, there were two new cases (one in the Fajã de Baixo and one in São Sebastion). There were three new cases in the municipality of Lagoa (one in Santa Cruz and two in Água de Pau).

Also in the last 24 hours, there has been a total of 48 recoveries, and there are 12 patients in hospital, 10 in the Divino Espírito Santo Hospital in Ponta Delgada and two in the Santo Espírito Hospital of Terceira Island. None of these patients are in intensive care unit.

The archipelago currently has 320 active positive cases: 308 on the island of São Miguel, 10 on the island of Terceira and two on the island of Faial.

There are no active local transmission chains, and 203 have been extinguished so far.

There are 1,023 people under active surveillance today.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, 5,964 positive cases of Covid-19 have been diagnosed in the Azores and 5,477 people recovered from the disease. There were 33 deaths, 79 people who left the archipelago and 55 cases with history of previous cure.

To date, 541,608 tests have been carried out in the archipelago to detect SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes Covid-19 disease.

From December 31st 2020 to June 4th, 170,906 doses of Covid-19 vaccine have been administered in the Azores, corresponding to 101,900 people aged 16 years or more who received the first dose, and 69,006 people who received both doses, under the Regional Vaccination Plan.

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