Situation Report Azores Wednesday 15th June 2022  

From our colleague in the Azores

Covid-19 

In the seven days from Friday 3^rd June until Thursday 9^th of June there were 3885 new positive cases of Covid-19 registered in the Azores, and a total of 6,179 tests performed. 4,076 people have recovered, and two deaths have been recorded with the total at 114 There are a total of 4,235 active cases, 190 fewer than last week.

There are 63 patients in the region’s hospitals as of 9^th June and 30 patients are in hospital because of Covid only. There are 2 patients in the ICU.

101812 people in the region have had Covid, that’s over a third of the population.

Rescued in the Azores two sailboat crew members adrift 

The Portuguese Navy this morning rescued two crew members of a sailboat that was adrift due to “several anomalies”, off the island of Faial.

According to the statement from the Navy, through the Ponta Delgada Maritime Search and Rescue Coordination Center (MRCC Delgada), in conjunction with the National Maritime Authority (AMN), “assistance was coordinated to two crew members, who were aboard the sailboat ‘Zambla’, flying the French flag, this morning, at 01:05 am, on the 13th of June”.

The Navy said that the vessel was off the island of Faial, 3.5 nautical miles, the equivalent of about six kilometres, southeast of the port of Horta, and “was adrift due to various anomalies”.

“The captain of the port of Horta acted on the spot, sending elements from the Horta Lifeguard Station to the vessel. The sailboat was towed, for reasons of navigation safety, having docked, at 03:47, at Marina da Horta, with the two crew members”, concludes the Navy.

Maritime Police recovered decomposing body off the island of Santa Maria 

A body in a high state of decomposition was collected this Sunday by the Maritime Police about 25 nautical miles (about 46 kilometres) from Vila do Porto, on the island of Santa Maria, revealed the National Maritime Authority.

In a statement, that entity clarifies that the local command of the Maritime Police of Vila do Porto received, at 12:04, “through a coastal fishing vessel” the alert for the corpse, which, “apparently”, will be from a man.

The Maritime Authority explains that “the body was collected and transported by elements of the Maritime Police to the port of Vila do Porto, where death was declared by the Health Delegate”.

The Public Prosecutor’s Office was also contacted, and the body was later transported to the Medico-Legal Office of the Santa Maria Health Centre by members of the Azores Regional Civil Protection and Fire Service.

Graciosa Health Unit will have three more doctors and two nurses 

The Health Unit on the island of Graciosa, in the Azores, will have three more doctors, two of whom are in general and family medicine, an internist and two nurses.

 

Situation Report Azores Wednesday  1^st June 2022  

From our colleague in the Azores

Covid-19 

In the seven days from Friday 20th of May until Thursday 26th of May there were 4889 new positive cases of Covid-19 registered in the Azores, and a total of 9,279 tests performed. 4,516 people have recovered, and no deaths have been recorded with the total remaining at 111.  There are a total of 4,926 active cases, 380 more than last week.

There are 24 patients in the region’s hospitals as of Thursday 26^th May and none in the ICU.

98,069 people in the region have had Covid, that’s over a third of the population.

Ponta Delgada hospital with 70 inpatients breaks record since the beginning of the pandemic 

The Divino Espírito Hospital (HDES), in Ponta Delgada, revealed that it has 70 patients hospitalized with covid-19, the highest number since the beginning of the pandemic, which is causing a “huge load” on the unit’s services.

On Monday 30^th May there were 70 ‘covid’ patients hospitalized in our wards and this is the largest number of ‘covid’ patients we have had so far, in hospital. They are spread over four wards,” said the HDES communication office.

The board of directors of the largest hospital in the region emphasizes that “it is monitoring the evolution of the situation daily”, admitting that it is “undeniable” that covid-19 “is having a huge load” on the unit’s services.

“The moment capacity is sufficient. In the future, the necessary and appropriate measures will be taken in view of the number of hospitalizations that arise”, reads the written position of the HDES.

The Ponta Delgada hospital also advances that the number of emergency room occurrences “has also broken records” due to covid-19 and “all kinds of pathologies”.

“HDES is living an exceptional time, even when we talk about this pandemic”, stresses the hospital administration.

On Thursday, the HDES announced the suspension of visits to inpatients due to the increase in the number of cases on the island of São Miguel.

On Friday, in the last weekly update on the epidemiological situation, the Regional Health Authority indicated that there were 24 people hospitalized with covid-19 in the Azores: 14 patients in Ponta Delgada, three in Horta and seven in Angra do Heroísmo. None were in intensive care.

Seven islands in the Azores under yellow warning due to rain and thunderstorms 

The islands of the central and eastern groups of the Azores will be under yellow warning from Monday due to sometimes heavy rain, which can be accompanied by thunderstorms, the IPMA said in a statement today.

Man arrested for attempted murder in Ponta Delgada 

The Judiciary Police, through the Criminal Investigation Department of the Azores, proceeded to the arrest of a man, due to strong indications of the practice of the crime of murder, in the attempted form, with a 42-year-old man as the victim.

According to a statement from the Judiciary Police, the “facts took place in Ponta Delgada, on the island of São Miguel, in a context of altercation potentiated by the consumption of alcohol and other psychoactive substances, which culminated in a violent attack by the accused against the victim, producing wounds in the thoracic region, using a sharp-edged object”.

The detainee, 39 years old and with a criminal record, was presented to the competent judicial authorities, “having been applied the coercive measure of preventive detention”.

 

Situation Report Azores Wednesday 25th May 2022

 From our colleague in the Azores   

Covid-19 

In the seven days from Friday 13th of May until Thursday 19th of May there were 991 new positive cases of Covid-19 registered in the Azores, and a total of 9,718 tests performed. 3,826 people have recovered, and one death has been recorded bringing the total to 111.  There are a total of 4,546 active cases, 991 more than last week.

There are 24 patients in the region’s hospitals and none in the ICU.

93,180 people in the region have had Covid, that’s over a third of the population.

REGIONAL HEALTH DIRECTORATE, 2^nd Dose of the Booster vaccine for COVID-19 

Starts this Monday in Terceira and Santa Maria islands, the administration of the 2nd dose of reinforcement of the vaccine against Covid-19.

In the following days, the same will happen in the remaining islands, so that next week, the process will cover the entire archipelago.

Immediately, the 2nd booster dose is intended for people aged 80 or older, and residents of Residential Structures for the Elderly (ERPI), including people who have recovered from infection with SARS-COV-The primary purpose of administration currently is to protect against severe illness and death from COVID-19 in these most at-risk and vulnerable populations.

Entrepreneurs from São Jorge want “immediate liquidity support” for companies 

Businesspeople from São Jorge, in the Azores, today claimed “immediate liquidity support” for companies on the island that have been affected by the seismic volcanic crisis, justifying that the situation “has had immediate repercussions on the local economy” and could continue.

Monkeypox virus belongs to less aggressive strain 

Microbiologist João Paulo Gomes said that the Monkeypox virus circulating in several countries, including Portugal, where it is not endemic, belongs to a less aggressive lineage originating in West Africa.

“This is the least severe form of the virus”, the researcher at the National Institute of Health Doctor Ricardo Jorge (Insa) told Lusa, in Lisbon, where the team he directs sequenced the Monkeypox genome at the origin of the recent outbreak, making Portugal the first country to do so.

João Paulo Gomes, responsible for the Genomics and Bioinformatics Nucleus at the Insurgent Disease Department, where the work was carried out, added that the virus currently circulating in countries where it is not endemic is of the virus lineage circulating in West Africa, where is endemic, but less aggressive.

There is a second lineage of Monkeypox, from Central Africa, where it is also endemic, which is more aggressive.

According to Insa experts, who have already sequenced the Monkeypox genome of 10 infected people, the outbreak virus detected this month “is most closely related to viruses associated with the export of Monkeypox virus from Nigeria to several countries in 2018 and 2019, namely the United Kingdom, Israel and Singapore”.

João Paulo Gomes said that “potentially this is a single introduction” of the virus, imported, “which originated chains of transmission that later spread to several countries”.

The researcher stressed that the virus at the origin of the current outbreak “appeared very recently”, but “is evolving” rapidly, “accumulating genetic mutations”, when, due to “inherent characteristics”, Monkeypox “is a virus that typically has a lower mutation rate”.

“In theory, it evolves more than we expected. Eventually we will be able to realize that these genomic characteristics may be associated with greater transmissibility, we still don’t know”, he underlined, pointing out genomic sequencing as a “fundamental tool to support the decision of public health”.

According to João Paulo Gomes, “it is important that all countries sequence, release the genetic sequences” of the virus and “make a public sharing” of the data “so that the history of this outbreak can be quickly constructed, understand which country of origin was, understand where [the virus] was introduced in Europe and the rest of the world and what was the chronology in terms of spread across the various countries”.

The microbiologist considers that “there is no cause for concern”, but “above all, a reason to act, to block the chains of transmission, to carry out strong surveillance and quickly dismiss all suspected cases”.

“There is no doubt that over the next few weeks we will see a very aggressive evolution of this situation, but the characteristics of the transmission of the virus do not predict that its containment will be very difficult”, he maintained, remembering that “direct, very close contact ” for transmission to occur between people.

 

Azores Situation Report Wednesday 18^th May 2022

From our colleague in the Azores

Covid-19 

In the seven days from Friday 6^th of May until Thursday 12^th of May there were 3,842 new positive cases of Covid-19 registered in the Azores, and a total of 8,777 tests performed. 3,208 people have recovered, and one death has been recorded bringing the total to 110.  There are a total of 3,555 active cases, 646 more than last week.

There are 11 patients in the region’s hospitals and none in the ICU.

88,369 people in the region have had Covid, that’s about a third of the population.

Sailing Boat Rescued 

Four crew members, one of them injured, who were aboard a sailboat off Almoxarife beach, in Faial, were helped in the early hours of Monday, due to the worsening weather, revealed the Navy.

According to a statement, the vessel “Toga”, flying the Swedish flag, was off Almoxarife beach, two nautical miles, the equivalent of four kilometres, northeast of the port of Horta, island of Faial, and, ” after an attempt to approach the port without success, given the weather conditions, he gave the alert via radio”.

The crew assistance operation was coordinated by the Ponta Delgada Maritime Search and Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC Delgada), since 10:07 pm on Sunday, indicated the Navy.

One of the crew of the sailboat “Toga” needed help and medical assistance, having been evaluated by the Centre for Guidance for Urgent Patients (CODU-MAR).

According to the Navy, the crew member had “a possible fracture in the right arm and chest trauma” and had to be evacuated.

The operation was coordinated by the Captain of Porto da Horta, with Marina da Horta and Portos dos Açores, to help the vessel.

Due to weather conditions, and “because there are no safety conditions to carry out the rescue of the injured crew member”, the sailboat had to be towed.

According to the Navy, it docked at 1:35 am on Monday, at the Porto da Horta Marina and the crew member was transported to the Hospital.

MRCC Delgada, the National Maritime Authority, CODU-MAR, Marina da Horta and Porto dos Açores were involved in this operation.

Earthquake felt on Terceira Island 

An earthquake measuring 2.6 on the Richter scale was felt on Monday, on Terceira Island.

According to a statement from the Azores Seismo volcanic Information and Surveillance Centre (CIVISA), at 19:52, an earthquake with magnitude 2.6 on the Richter scale was registered, with an epicentre about 11 km east-northeast of Cabo da Praia, in Terceira Island.

According to information from CIVISA, the earthquake was felt with maximum intensity III on the Modified Mercalli scale, in Santa Cruz and Agualva (Praia da Vitória municipality).