Azores Situation Report Wednesday 8th February 2023
From our colleague in the Azores
Government of the Azores will invest in the region’s Coastal Station
Created in 2003, the Coastal Station supports the fishing sector and recreational and commercial nautical activities, through weather information and warnings, closing and opening notices for authorized fishing periods or information on the prices of fish from fish auctions in the Azores.
It works in collaboration with the Maritime Authority, the Search and Rescue Centre of Ponta Delgada, the Guidance Centre for Urgent Patients at Sea, the Portuguese Air Force and the Azores Regional Civil Protection and Fire Service.
Manuel São João said that, “immediately, this service will have better interconnection of the Sea-Sea and Land-Sea communications circuits, all the computer hardware will be renewed and the long-range MF/HF radio coverage will be reinforced until around 400 miles”.
There will be complete modernization of the entire network of relays and antennas on several islands is planned, as well as the updating of the control station systems, the increase in coverage in areas that currently have limitations, namely the installation of a new VHF station on Terceira Island. and in Corvo, the installation of MF/HF on the island of Faial and the preparation of new digital communication systems for sending and receiving emails and automated meteorological information.
Body awaits funeral in the Azores for more than seven months.
A middle-aged man, who was found dead on June 30th last year, in the house where he lives, in the city of Horta, is still waiting for his funeral, more than seven months after his death.
The case was confirmed by the Public Relations office of Hospital da Horta, where the corpse has been stored in a cold chamber since the date of death, as no family member has claimed the body.
In addition, according to the same source, the corpse in question was autopsied on July 7th, 2022, by order of the Public Ministry, to try to determine the cause of death, but until today the Hospital has never received authorization to release the body and proceed with the funeral.
The body of this person, who was not a native of Faial and who had no relatives on the island, was moved more than once, due to a malfunction in the cold chambers of the Hospital, it has been stored in a cold container, outside that health unit, for most of the time.
This is not, however, the first case of a corpse waiting several months for a funeral on the island of Faial.
A citizen of foreign nationality, who also died in June last year, after a car accident, was also waiting for the body to be released by the Public Ministry, so that the family can carry out the funeral.
Ponta Delgada now has an urgent care service.
The Health Unit on the island of São Miguel will have an urgent care service at its headquarters in Ponta Delgada, aiming to free the hospital for hospital services.
The urgent care service in Ponta Delgada – which already operates in other municipalities on the island of São Miguel, is being built for situations of moderate or lesser severity.
Seven new doctors will reinforce the Regional Health Service and will be distributed across the island of São Miguel in areas that are most in need such as the Northeast, Povoação, Ginetes and Maia”, aiming to provide an ever closer, faster and more effective response within the scope of what primary health care is.
In addition to the urgent care service, the Health Unit on the island of São Miguel will promote complementary and extra daily consultations to relieve the pressure of the Hospital do Divino Espírito Santo.