Azores Situation Report Wednesday 19th June 2024
Recorded increase in the number of hospitalizations of patients with Covid-19
Regional Health Director says there was a “slight increase” in the number of hospitalizations, especially in São Miguel
The number of hospitalizations of patients with Covid-19 has increased in recent months on the island of São Miguel.
“Reporting to an analysis of the last three, four months, there has been an increase in hospitalizations today, but it will be properly monitored, and subject to constant analysis and monitoring”, confirmed the regional director of Health, Pedro Paes.
“We are unable to determine the reason for this slight increase”, said the official, although it is true that this “is a time of festivities, a time of greater mobility of people, given summer tourism”.
Yesterday, at the Ribeira Grande Health Centre alone, 10 patients were hospitalized with Covid-19 (half of the total number of patients hospitalized with the disease in the Region), with one still at CUF and four at Casa de Saúde Nossa Senhora da Conceição, which plus another three at Hospital da Horta and two at Hospital da Ilha Terceira.
The regional director of Health explained that some of these admissions are from a population that already resides in the institution, such as Casa de Saúde de São Miguel. And, on the other hand, there is no data “on the increase in mortality or severity of the disease itself”.
“What we can guarantee is that professionals are working with all safety conditions, and hospitalized users have safety conditions, whether those hospitalized with active Covid-19 infection or other hospitalized users”, he highlighted the person responsible, explaining that safety is guaranteed through individual protection and transmission prevention measures.
The regional director of Health calls on the population to adopt individual protection measures, already known to everyone, so that Covid-19 disease infection can be contained, namely measures such as cleaning and disinfecting hands, taking care of roads airways, and if you are sick, avoid closed areas with crowds of people.
Glex Summit brings together 120 explorers in the “natural laboratory” of the Azores
The Glex Exploration Summit brings together around 120 international explorers and scientists on the island of Terceira, in the Azores, with the archipelago considered a “natural laboratory for the production of knowledge” and a possible location for an underwater research station.
“The Azores are a natural laboratory for the production of knowledge and science and this mix between science, makers and technology that allows one party to help the other is what Glex is”, stated Manuel Vaz, founder of Expanding World, which organizes the summit, in statements on the sidelines of the opening session of the Glex Summit, which runs until Wednesday in Angra do Heroísmo.
The fifth edition of the summit organized by Expanding World, curated by The Explorers Club, from New York, takes place for the third consecutive year in the Azores and for the second on the island of Terceira.
“We are in the most obvious place on planet Earth to be holding a summit where all areas feel at home, from the oceans to volcanology and space. This is the perfect place where the old world and the new world meet”, he highlighted.
In the 2023 edition, the first lunar simulation mission in Portugal was announced, which took seven “astronauts” from various countries to Gruta do Natal, on the island of Terceira, where they stayed for six nights and seven days.
According to the organizer, the opening of the meeting with a speech by aquanaut and ocean conservationist Fabien Cousteau, promoter of the Proteus project, which aims to create underwater research stations, is “a clear sign of future cooperation”.
“If there are space stations, why are there no stations underwater?”, he asked, arguing that “there are certainly conditions to implement the project in the Azores.
Asked on the sidelines of the event about the potential of the archipelago for the installation of a future underwater station, Fabien Cousteau simply said that “the Azores have the potential for many things”, but admitted that the North Atlantic is one of the locations in view in the Proteus project. .
“The Atlantic Ocean is of primary importance. The Proteus project is not for a single habitat. We started with the idea of one, but the demand and interest is to have several ‘habitats’ strategically placed in different parts of the world, of course the North Atlantic being one of those places”, he added.
The aquanaut expects to install the first underwater scientific research station in Curaçao, in the Caribbean, at the end of 2026.
“We can take the laboratory to the bottom of the sea, instead of bringing samples to the surface. Thus, the samples are not corrupted, information can be generated immediately and all this to create innovations, new approaches, new ways of thinking and understanding what is happening in a place we know nothing about”, he highlighted.
Among this edition’s guest speakers are names such as entomologist Sammy Ramsey, biologist Martina Capriotti, volcanologist Jess Phoenix, conservationist Morad Tahbaz, cultural activist Ihor Poshyvailo and peace activist Aziz Abu Sarah.
Also participating are aerospace engineer Sabrina Thompson, polar researcher Kirstin Schulz, NASA astronaut Nicole Mann, and INESC-TEC researcher Ana Pires, who was commander of the Camões mission, in Gruta do Natal.