Portugal Situation Report Wednesday 13th October 2021
Introduction
Good morning – It was announced last week the travellers from the UK to Portugal, who have a NHS Covid-19 pass will be able to enter Portugal without a negative test result, in other words the same as for those with an EU Digital Covid Certificate.
This was published on the Gov.UK travel advice page. To date there has been no announcement from the Portuguese side, and we doubt if there will be one given that this has already been covered under “reciprocity”.
Yesterday Brits in Portugal Facebook page updated their previous post stating “that whilst most airlines are applying this correctly, we have received some reports of passengers still being asked to show test results. We have followed this up urgently with carriers and Portuguese Tourism and Border authorities and expect this situation to be regularized shortly. In the meantime, it is recommended that you check directly with your airline ahead of travelling for confirmation”.
An important reminder concerning beach safety particularly so in taking a dip in the sea. There have been several accidents this month where people have got into difficulties whilst swimming. Fortunately they were rescued. It is important to follow that flags regarding entry into the sea and at all times even if conditions appear safe, beware of rip currents and action to take if you do get dragged in one of these.
A reminder that on 5th November 2021 government will be conducting the annual “A Terra Treme” Earthquake awareness exercise throughout the country. This, as the title suggests, is to create awareness of the earthquake risk in Portugal and should a major earthquake occur, what action to take.
This is important as although the potential of a major earthquake taking place are low, the effects could be considerable in terms of destruction, injuries and possible loss of life.
Safe communities Portugal is a partner for “A Terra Treme” and in the lead up to the event we will be publishing various awareness material. Usually around half a million students participate in the exercise as well as many businesses. It only takes less than 5 minutes involving practicing the safety precautions “Drop, Cover, Hold On”.
We will also be covering awareness of tsunamis and action to take should this occur.
I will be talking more about this as well as beach safety on Solid Gold Sunday on KissFm radio this coming Sunday 17th October.
With that please have a good day.
Headlines
Portugal is now Europe’s vaccination frontrunner
The Financial Times (FT) reported in detail recently that a former submarine commander has almost single-handedly instilled confidence in a vaccination programme that had a faltering start in Portugal.
Vice Admiral Henrique Gouveia e Melo, the former submarine commander who has become a quiet hero of Portugal’s fight against COVID-19, could not stop his voice cracking with emotion when he was greeted by a prolonged ovation at a crowded vaccination centre. “I couldn’t help it,” said the grey-bearded vice-admiral, who heads the country’s vaccination task force, referring to the moment. “People were . . . saying to me “we’re with you”.
A week earlier, he won plaudits for his handling of an anti-vaccine protest, calmly telling angry demonstrators that “the real killer is the virus” as some in the placard-waving crowd shouted “murderer” at him. Such protests have been rare in Portugal. An overwhelmingly positive response from the public to Gouveia e Melo is one of several factors that have made the country a frontrunner in the global race to vaccinate against Covid.
About 83% of its population are already fully vaccinated and 86% have received at least one dose (as of 28 September), which meant it remarkably achieved one of the highest vaccination rates in the world alongside the likes of the United Arab Emirates and Singapore.
Pedro Simas, executive director of the Católica Biomedical Research Institute in Lisbon, believes the strong public adherence to the programme has its roots in Portugal’s first national vaccination plan in 1965. “It was tremendously successful and people have understood and trusted the benefits of vaccination ever since,” he said. Marta Temido, health minister, said Portugal’s national health service, has always had a strong focus on primary care. “Our doctors and nurses have been at the heart of a strategy based around large-scale vaccination centres in which the support of the military and municipalities has been vital,” she told the Financial Times.
Covid-19 Situation Tuesday 12th Portugal 2021
Confirmed Cases: 1.076.358 (+ 719 / + 0.07 %)
Number of admitted: 345 (-11 /-3.09 %)
Number of ICU admitted: 56 (-2 /-3.45 %)
Deaths: 18.056 (+ 8 / + 0.04 %)
Recovered: 1.028.465 (+ 1041 / + 0.10 %)
Active cases: 29,837 (-330 /-1.09%)
TRENDS
New daily cases higher than last week’s daily average (600)
Number of deaths higher than yesterday, but below last week’s daily average and remaining in single digits.
Welcome decrease in hospitalisations after a moderate increase yesterday
Large number of recoveries for one day.
Health
Nurses unions to strike
The nurses’ unions scheduled a strike for the first week of November and a rally on the 28th of this month in front of the Assembly of the Republic.
The decision was taken by all the unions that represent nurses in a meeting that began on Monday afternoon and ended this morning, the president of the Nurses Union, Pedro Costa, told Lusa.
The concentration of nurses and all unions, in front of the Assembly of the Republic, aims to claim the rights of nurses, with the delivery of the petition: “Nurses demand career unfreezing and performance assessment equal to nurses in the Autonomous Region of Madeira”.
Despite the measures announced, Pedro Costa stated that “the capacity for dialogue” between the unions and the Government has not been exhausted.
“For this reason, a national strike was decreed for the first week of November, which we want to announce on Friday. In a way, we are giving the Government some time here to be able to speak out,” he added. The union leader stressed that “the strike always has a dual responsibility”: “responding to the fair demands of nurses, but at the same time valuing the population’s access to health care”.
“We are currently not valuing the human value” of the NHS, which impedes the recovery of the national health system, he told Lusa.
The measures announced by the unions follow on from the lack of response to a claim submitted to the Ministry of Health on September 21 by the seven unions.
Some requirements included in the document include “the hiring of nurses who are in a precarious situation”, an “appropriate performance assessment for the profession”, the “correction of point-counting problems” and “equal conditions for nurses with individual employment contracts and contracts in public functions”.
Hospital visits with fewer restrictions
The General Directorate of Health (DGS) updated Guideline 038/2020, which defines the recommendations for companions and visits to hospital units.
The Guidance states that the Boards of Directors of Hospitals, Hospital Centers and Local Health Units, in conjunction with the PPCIRA Local Coordination Group (GCL-PPCIRA), should facilitate visits to inpatients and adapt the Visiting Regulation accordingly .
Under current legislation, visitors must present a valid EU COVID Digital Certificate or, alternatively, a negative result in a test for SARS-CoV-2: rapid antigen test (TRAg) performed up to 48 hours before, self-test on day and on site and under supervision of a responsible person or PCR test up to 72 hours before the visit.
Infection prevention and control recommendations must continue to be respected, namely the physical distance between visitor, user and health professionals; respiratory tag; correct use of surgical mask; and frequent hand hygiene. The number of visitors per hospitalized user must also be adjusted to ensure effective compliance with infection prevention and control measures.
The document also determines that users admitted to the health services of the National Health Service are entitled to religious assistance, regardless of their religion.
Covid-19: WHO experts consider co-administration of flu vaccines and covid-19 “acceptable”
The limited data on co-administration of inactivated vaccines (produced from inactivated virus) against seasonal influenza with that of covid-19 did not show an increase in adverse events,” indicate the recommendations of the Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE) in immunization programs released today, which do not yet constitute WHO guidance on co-administration of vaccines.
According to the advisory group’s opinion, taking into account that the priority age group to receive the seasonal flu vaccine is also considered at risk for more serious covid-19 situations, the co-administration of the two vaccines “is acceptable” and will allow to immunize a greater number of people against both diseases.
On Friday, the Director-General of Health announced that she plans to combine flu vaccination and the administration of the third dose against covid-19, to simplify the two processes, a possibility that was awaiting WHO guidance.
“It would be great for people, because it is much more comfortable to go and vaccinate themselves once with two inoculations and it is also much easier for our nurses, for our logistics and for our services”, explained Graça Freitas, at a conference in press.
Matosinhos students sent home. Parents against ARS Norte decision
The health delegate’s decision is generating controversy among those in charge of educating students at the Quinta de São Gens Basic School, in Matosinhos.
Matosinhos health delegate sent more than 300 students from the Quinta de São Gens Basic School to prophylactic isolation, after an employee tested positive for Covid-19.
Parents are disgusted with the decision they consider to be “overkill” and question how the rest of the year will go as SARS-CoV-2 continues to circulate.
For this reason, they decided to deliver, to the General Directorate of Health, a petition with 216 signatures.
To TVI24, ARS Norte said that the decision was taken as a “precautionary measure”.
The educational action assistant, who works in the cafeteria and is also a supervisor at recess, was considered a “risk contact” for at least more than 300 students at the school. At the moment, only fifty continue to attend classroom classes.
For students who are in prophylactic isolation for 10 days, online classes are available. Only the first year does not have this option.
The children concerned are between 6 and 10 years old, so they are not included in the national Covid-19 vaccination plan.
Students have already started to be tested for the disease and, so far, there has been no record of positive cases.
Other news
Rail Safety
Alpha/Accident: Security is “Critical Concern” for IP and it’s Important to Hear – Government
Lisbon, 12 Oct 2021 (Lusa) – The Government is analysing the final report on the derailment of the Alfa Pendular in Soure, said today the Minister of Infrastructure, stressing that “security is a crucial concern for Infraestruturas de Portugal (IP)”, which should be heard.
“We are still doing the analysis of the report ourselves. […] Apparently, it is not true that IP has not taken the measures that were determined in the past, and that is why it is important to listen to IP”, said Pedro Nuno Santos, who was heard in the parliamentary committee on Economy, Innovation , Public Works and Housing.
“Security is a crucial concern for IP, which is not to say that we still don’t have much to do,” added the official.
According to the final report of the Office for the Prevention and Investigation of Aircraft Accidents and Railway Accidents (GPIAAF), which the Lusa agency had access to on October 1st, the derailment of the Alfa Pendular train, in the village of Soure, which caused two deaths and 44 injured, were due to human error, but the investigation also blames Infraestruturas de Portugal (IP).
The train, with 212 passengers and heading south-north, bound for Braga, derailed in the afternoon of July 31, 2020, after colliding with a catenary conservation vehicle (VCC), which had entered the track, seconds earlier, close to the locality of Matas, causing the death of two IP workers, who were at the VCC, and 44 injured, three of them serious.
“The accident was not due to any technical anomaly, having established as the most likely explanation for the undue overtaking of signal S5 [red] by the VCC an error by the crew in the identification of the signal that related to the line the train was on, having it was understood that signal S3 with a green appearance was applied to them for the passage of fast train no. 133 [Alfa Pendular]”, concluded the GPIAAF.
State Budget – Internal security grows 8% with budget of 2,311 million euros
Lisbon, October 12, 2021 (Lusa) – The amount foreseen in the State Budget proposal for 2022 for internal security is 2,311 million euros, representing an 8% increase compared to the estimated budget execution for 2021.
“The budget program for internal security shows, in the 2022 budget, a total of 2,311.6 million euros of total consolidated revenue and total consolidated expenditure allocation, which exceeds the estimated execution by the end of 2021 by 8%”, refers to the proposal for the State Budget for 2022 (OE2022) delivered on Monday to the Assembly of the Republic.
The Government’s proposal states that, of the total consolidated expenditure allocation, personnel expenses have greater weight, which “represent 76.5% of the total consolidated expenditure, with 1,767.9 million euros of allocation, highlighting the structure of the payroll of the security forces and services, distributed between the National Republican Guard (GNR), with 842.3 million euros, and the Public Security Police (PSP), with 787.5 million euros.
The document gives an account of the appropriations for investment expenditure, whose caption for acquisitions of capital goods amounts to 152.8 million euros, of which 53.2 million euros relate to the Law on the Programming of Infrastructure and Equipment of Forces and Services Security, and 40.9 million euros related to budgeted funds under the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR).
“We also highlight the purchase of goods and services, with 239.1 million euros, of which 114 million euros are allocated to the security forces, intended to finance the current activity of these entities”, reads the proposal.
The OE2022 for the Ministry of Internal Administration highlights the specific allocation for pensions and reforms carried out by the GNR, with 106.5 million euros, and by the PSP, with 55.1 million euros, fully financed by tax revenues.
The proposal also states that the GNR will have 39.8 million euros in health expenses and the PSP 35.3 million euros, which are fully covered by its own revenue.
Last month The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), Visit Portugal and the city of Reguengos de Monsaraz organized the 5th UNWTO Global Conference on Wine Tourism on 8-10 September 2021 in Reguengos de Monsaraz (Alentejo), Portugal.
Portugal is “one of the few European countries” that has “an action plan” aimed at wine tourism and betting and investing in this sector “is a path” that the country is “treading”, highlighted the Secretary of State, in Monsaraz.
While the Portuguese undoubtedly consume more than their fair share of wine, (on average, 55 litres annually for each of the country’s 10 million people), a large proportion of those sales come from tourists from countries like the UK. With the pandemic grounding planes everywhere, this has shifted the balance of sales abroad.
The Government’s proposal on the use of video surveillance systems by security forces and services, which will allow police officers to use cameras on their uniforms, called ‘bodycams’, will be discussed in parliament today.
Turning to rural fire prevention; Safe Communities has prepared a feature on safety concerning the burning of debris and scrubland, which will appear in this week’s edition of the Algarve Resident out tomorrow 7th October. It is a fact that failure to follow safety advice in the burning of cut and piled waste and extensive burning of uncut scrubland, thus allowing them to become out of control, is the cause of around half of all rural fire, so far this year. Now we are out of the critical period, when people start undertake such burns, it is more important than everyone to ensure all the safety precautions are taken.
The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine against the new coronavirus is “highly effective” in preventing hospitalizations within at least six months after being taken, advances a study published today by the scientific journal The Lancet.
The Government’s proposal on the use of video surveillance systems by security forces and services, which will allow police officers to use cameras on their uniforms, called ‘bodycams’, will be discussed in parliament on Wednesday.
The group, about half made up of women and girls, should come to Portugal with the support of the Portuguese government, said the institute’s founder, who is a refugee in Melbourne, Australia.
The implementation plan however, in Portugal in getting people fully vaccinated as soon as possible worked extremely well and although there were occasionally setbacks along the route, Portugal came through and is now in top place in the world in terms of completed vaccination rates. This is an incredible achievement and one that Portugal and, in particular the Vice Admiral and his team, should be rightly proud off.
On a different topic, yesterday the Judicial Police issued a phishing alert regarding emails that were being sent widely falsely using their name. We published this on our Facebook page. This is a good example of the lengths cyber criminals go to in order to obtain your personal data and access to your bank account! Always be cautious when receiving emails from those who you do not know and/or with offers too good to be true. Simply delete and do not reply. Do not click on any links.
The Prime Minister also said that the fact that Portugal “has acquired, over decades, a culture of vaccination”, contributed to making it the country in the world with the highest percentage of people vaccinated against Covid-19. He also highlighted the role of the European Union in the centralized purchase of vaccines, preventing a “huge dispute between Member States” from taking place.
The Public Ministry (MP) charged 67 crimes of mistreatment, 17 of them aggravated by resulting in death, against a former president and a service director at Lar do Comércio, in Matosinhos. In a process in which the institution itself is also accused, the MP says that the omission of care for elderly people admitted to the home between January 2015 and February 2020 is at stake.