Portugal Situation Report Saturday 19th June 2021
Introduction
Good morning – This will be a shorter newsletter than usual simply because of the huge volume of work and enquiries we have encountered over the last 3 days. I will come to that later.
We start however with the excellent news that Noah the child age 2 years who went missing from his home in Proença-a-Velha was found 30 hours later after an extensive search by the GNR and emergency services and members of the public.
This shows the use of social media at its best, with literally hundreds of people volunteering to help find Noah and sharing information which might help in locating his whereabouts. What was obvious to me was the very quick response by the GNR, the extensive deployment of their resources and equipment and particularly the quality of the press information by the GNR spokesman. The latter has not always been the case in previous missing person cases, but on this occasion is was timely and relevant. We thank the over 1300 who shared the information from our Facebook page.
On the subject of work it has been a very busy period having to deal with, translate, promote and explain an increasing number of often lengthy and sometimes complex legislation. In the last few days, we have dealt with travel restrictions to and from the Lisbon Metropolitan area; incidence and transmission rates; air travel regulations; the covid digital certificate; various weather warning and incidents; the Council of Ministers Resolution; nation testing strategy changes, to name but a few.
We would suggest in particular to keep up to date with our travel pages, in particular the Air Travel last where there have been a number of changes in the last few days, especially concerning the negative testing of arrival passengers, namely: 1. To allow entry into Portugal people must present either a TAAN or Antigen test negative. The time limit on these is now up to 72 hours for the TAAN or up to 48 hours for the antigen test, from departure time. Also the rules surrounding child tests has been revised. Children below the age of 12 years no longer are required to take the test when travelling with adults/parents.
The second important point is that after a few teething problems the Digital covid certificate which will eventually help people travel in and around Europe easily is now available to be downloaded on the SNS24 site. https://www.sns24.gov.pt/
Our engagements on Facebook over the last week surpassed one hundred thousand, more than for instance the Public Security Police and our post reach was nearly quarter of a million. We thank you therefor for taking an interest in our work and sharing the important key messages.
Lastly please check if you have not already done so the post currently pinned to the top of our Facebook page concerning the de-confinement or those municipalities that are at the 1st May de-confinement phase as well as the measures for the remainder of the country.
Please be reminded that there is a travel restriction now in effect from 1500 hrs yesterday to 0600 hrs on Monday 21st prohibiting those leaving or entering the Lisbon Metropolitan area, with exemption such as work. The GNR last night stated that most motorists are complying with these rules.
We also noticed an increase in the number of enquires which we have tried our best to answer. With numbers approaching several hundred over the last few days, we once again need to remind people to study the documents provided first before asking a question. We are in a situation where a certain amount of self- reading and research is required, and much of this can be done through our website.
Please have a Safe weekend
Headlines
Costa says Europe was wrong to let each country define vaccine administration
The prime minister today considered that Europe “has done wrong” in letting each country define the conditions for administering vaccines, arguing that it is “absurd” to have a European Medicines Agency and each national agency to define its rules.
When we are going to discuss the future of Europe, one lesson we must learn from this pandemic is that, if Europe was right to act together in the purchase of vaccines, then it was wrong to leave each country free to define the conditions for using vaccines and restrictions”, stressed António Costa.
The prime minister was speaking to Portuguese journalists in the Belgian city of Bruges, where he participated in the closing ceremony of the 2020-21 academic year of the College of Europe, whose ‘patron’ was former head of state and government Mário Soares.
Considering that it is “a bit absurd” to have a European Medicines Agency (EMA) and “afterwards each national agency defines its rules”, António Costa gave examples of the differences in criteria that exist in the European space, stressing that there are in cases where the vaccines are administered “without any restrictions, in others there are definitions according to gender, in others according to age”.
“None of this makes sense, what makes sense is that, just as we did well in buying together, we could do well in defining common rules because, obviously, technical knowledge has no borders and there is no technical knowledge in a country that justify a decision different from other countries”, said António Costa.
In this sense, the prime minister said that he “hopes” that “clear progress is made in the Europe of health”, namely “strengthening the competences of the EMA” so that, in the future, “these decisions are taken on a European scale” and everyone is ” under the same conditions”
President of the Republic answer question on constitutional powers
The President of the Republic remarked yesterday that the Government “had acted in accordance with its competence” in the measures for the Metropolitan Area of Lisbon due to the pandemic, stressing to rule out “a retreat” regarding the state of emergency.
“My position is the same, it is up to me to declare the state of emergency, and I see no reason to retreat from the state of emergency, because of what I have said several times: number of deaths, number of care intensive, number of hospitalized, which remains far, far below the limit that justified the state of emergency for the time it lasted”, replied Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa.
The head of state was speaking to journalists in New York, where he is to accompany the reappointment of António Guterres for a second term as secretary-general of the United Nations and was confronted with the measures decided by the Government.
Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa said that “the Government acted in accordance with its competence”, with the Constitution and the law “very clear”: “It is up to the Government to manage in a time when there is no state of emergency”.
The decree of a state of emergency is a competence of the President of the Republic.
“Each one has their powers. I have already clarified in which cases, beyond the limits, a retreat through the state of emergency would be justified. We are far from that, there is a high number of cases, but, fortunately, without the projection in intensive care patients and the dead that justified the state of emergency a few months ago,” he said.
Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa underlined that “the President sees no reason to change his opinion regarding the state of emergency”.
Covid 19
The Covid-19 situation report for Friday 18th June recorded
Confirmed Cases: 862.926 (+ 1298 / + 0.15 %)
Number of admitted: 391 (+ 27 / + 7.42 %)
Number of ICU admitted: 94 (+ 6 / + 6.82 %)
Deaths: 17.061 (+ 4 / + 0.02 %)
Recovered: 818.440 (+ 686 / + 0.08 %)
Active cases: 27,425 (+ 608 /+ 2.22%)
Safe Communities comparisons/trends: showed that deaths were above last week’s average; new daily cases were slightly higher than yesterday and second highest daily increase since 21st February 2021 and almost double last weeks’ daily average; of these 66% (862) were in Lisbon and Vale do Tejo – similar percentage to Wednesday.
In hospital there was a moderate increase compared to Wednesday with the highest total since 22nd April. Covid-19 Patients reduced by 6455 compared to number in hospital 1st February 2021.In ICU there was a small increase after Wednesday’s decrease, and highest total since 25th April 2021. A point to note is that in active cases there was a large increase. Highest total since 29th March 2021.
Health
Vaccinations
Task force: Vaccinated with first dose of AstraZeneca must wait for SMS or phone call
People who have taken the first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine should wait to receive an SMS or call to schedule the second dose, a source at the ‘task force’ told Lusa today.
The Lusa agency today questioned the ‘task force’ for the vaccination plan on whether they have started calling people to receive the second dose of this vaccine, after the Minister of the Presidency, Mariana Vieira da Silva, announced on Thursday that they were going to start calling up these people due to the shortening of the interval between the two doses from 12 to eight weeks.
In response, the source said in writing that “the vaccination plan is being adapted in order to comply with the recommended interval between doses” in the standard released on Thursday by the General Directorate of Health.
As such, he added, “people who have taken the first dose of AstraZeneca vaccine should wait to receive an SMS or phone call to schedule the second dose.”
The update of standard No. 003/2021 of the DGS changes the interval period between doses of Vaxzevria vaccine, known as Astrazeneca.
Health
Latest Incidence and transmission rates
The R(t) rises to 1.14 in the entire national territory and 1.15 in the mainland: in both cases, they are the highest values recorded since March 15 , when its public release began – and the record had already been beaten on Wednesday. The transmissibility index was, on Wednesday, 1.12 in the entire national territory and 1.13 in the continent.
The incidence also rises: it is now 100.2 in the national territory and also on the continent, increasingly closer to the red line, which is fixed at 120. The indicators were 91.0 and 90.5, respectively, in the second Thursday, and from 96 and 84.2 to 15 March, at the beginning of the de-confinement process. Portugal currently has eight municipalities with more than 240 cases of covid-19 per 100,000 inhabitants. Unsurprisingly, Lisbon is one of them. The others are Albufeira, Grândola, Odemira, Sesimbra, Sertã, Sardoal and Ribeira Grande, in the Azores.
In the space of a week (since the last epidemiological update made by the Directorate-General for Health), Lisbon went from 222 new infections in 14 days to 306. Ribeira Grande, in the Azores archipelago, with the highest incidence for several weeks, increased from 524 cases to 494.
The report sent this Friday to newsrooms, which refers to the period from 2 to 15 June, also indicates that, in addition to the eight mentioned, there are 32 more municipalities with more than 120 cases per 100,000 inhabitants.
In total, the country has, therefore, 40 territories above the limits set by the Government, which may imply permanence or even retreat in the measures of decontamination.
In the Algarve a total of 11 municipalities have the same incidence rate compared to 8th June, four remain the same and one has decreased.
The Delta variant, associated with India and more contagious, should be predominant in Portugal in the coming weeks, indicates the Covid-19 red line report from the Directorate-General for Health (DGS) and the Ricardo Jorge National Health Institute (INSA).
“The Alpha variant, associated with the United Kingdom, was the dominant variant during the month of May, and it is estimated that the Delta variant (B.1.617.2 or associated with India) may overlap with this one in the coming weeks”, states the document known this Friday.
As of June 16, 157 cases of the Delta strain have been identified. At this point, “there is already community transmission of this variant, more evident in the region of Lisbon and Vale do Tejo (LVT)”.
113 cases of the Beta variant associated with South Africa were also identified, with community transmission of this variant, and 146 cases of the Gamma variant associated with Manaus.
Adverse reaction to vaccinations
More than 7,500 suspected adverse reactions to vaccines against covid-19 have been reported in Portugal, including 51 cases of death in the elderly, which may not be related to the inoculations, according to an Infarmed report released this Friday.
“The cases of death occurred in a group with a median age of 78.5 years and do not necessarily presuppose the existence of a causal relationship with the administered vaccine, as they may also result from the normal patterns of morbidity and mortality of the Portuguese population” , highlights the “Pharmacovigilance Report – Monitoring the Safety of Vaccines against covid-19 in Portugal”.
From the beginning of the vaccination campaign on December 27, 2020 until last Sunday, 7576 reports of adverse reactions (ADR) were registered, out of a total of 7,371,032 administered doses, 3032 (40%) classified as “serious” and 4544 (60%) as non-serious. “If a case contains more than one ADR (the most frequent situation), it is enough for one of these adverse reactions to be classified as serious for the whole case to be serious as well”, he stresses, explaining that this classification follows the criteria of the World Health Organization, but it is made by the notifier, whether this is a health professional or a user.
Covid-19: Specialist says it is necessary not to rule out the ability of pharmacies in vaccination
Lisbon, Jun 19, 2021 (Lusa) – The former president of Infarmed believes that the most important thing to stop the pandemic is to guarantee the rapid vaccination of the greatest number of people in the shortest amount of time and that it is necessary not to discard the capacity of pharmacies. “It’s an important aspect. It is not to be ruled out, in principle, and pharmacists will certainly be prepared to enter the process”, he told Lusa Helder Mota Filipe, stressing: “pharmacists do not insist on being involved just because they are involved and, therefore, should be part of the solution”.
Regarding the growing number of infections in the Lisbon region, the professor at the Faculty of Pharmacy of the University of Lisbon stated that, at the moment, “a situation is still poorly characterized”.
“What is most important is to ensure rapid and urgent vaccination of the greatest number of people and to guarantee this vaccination, two things are needed: first, the vaccines, which at this point seems to be no longer a problem (…), then, to use all the installed capacity in order to guarantee the greatest number of people vaccinated in the shortest period of time”, he defended.
Asked about this matter, Helder Mota Filipe said: “I feel that from the beginning there is a difficulty, I don’t say of organization, but of passing on the message about what is being organized and, therefore, it is important for the preparation of pharmacies”.
“Pharmacists need to know what role is assigned to them and when and that this is not just a moment’s notice,” he added.
About the fact that the age group of new cases and hospitalized is now younger and about the different pressure this makes on the National Health Service, the specialist said: “The percentage of serious illness is lower, but if we increase the number of the infected population, the number of cases of serious illness will increase anyway”.
Despite this growth being at a slower pace, Helder Mota Filipe underlined the importance of protecting non-covid-19 patients, who have already suffered from the interruption of care activity at the most critical time of the pandemic.
Travel to and from the Lisbon Metropolitan area
Newsroom, June 18, 2021 (Lusa) – Most motorists are complying with the rules prohibiting movement to and from the Lisbon Metropolitan Area (AML), showing valid justification for entering and leaving that territory, the GNR told the Lusa agency today. On Thursday, the Government decided to ban the movement to and from the AML on weekends, from 15:00 today, due to the increase in covid-19 cases in that territory.
Speaking to Lusa, GNR captain Luís Canhoto explained that, on Highway 1 (A1), in the south-north direction, next to the Alverca tolls (Lisbon), there is a traffic flow “much less than a sixth -Normal afternoon”.
“It reveals some notion on the part of people of these measures that have now been imposed and it has also translated into that the cars that we have been inspecting, all of them, present a valid reason to circulate to and from the Metropolitan Area of Lisbon”, said the captain during the afternoon.
According to Luís Canhoto, people who have been stopped are going home, after a day’s work, and there have also been cases of motorists who come from medical appointments and from vaccination against covid-19. “There have been these types of reasons that legitimize circulation to the Lisbon Metropolitan Area”, he stressed. Captain Celso Pereira, who is located next to the service area of Alcácer do Sal (Setúbal), on Highway 2 (A2), north-south, highlighted the fact that there are no traffic queues.
“The operation is running normally, there are no traffic queues, there is nothing, it is normal. It’s like a normal Friday”, he added.