Portugal Situation Report Saturday 20th March 2021

Introduction

Good morning – On Thursday we reported WHO statistics showing that Portugal had achieved the greatest decrease in new cases in Europe over a four week period, namely – 80.5% whereas for Europe as a whole there was an increase of 21.5%. The decrease was sustained over the last week, with Portugal decreasing 22.7% compared with European of +6%.

However, the situation in some European countries is worrying with large increases and in France, Germany and Poland, lockdowns are being re-introduced in some regions as cities to try and control this growth.

The more measures are relaxed, the greater potentially the risk increasing in Portugal. At present the Rt on the mainland is 0.79 and incidence of 80 per 100,000 compared to the government threshold of Rt 1 and 120 per 100,000 respectively.

All this means is that we have to be very careful that our actions do not undo the great work that has been done over the last 5 weeks. In particular, we must have due regards to social distancing, hygiene and the wearing of face masks. We simply cannot afford to relax these measures.

At government level there will be close monitoring of the situation. especially following each phase of the de-confinement plan, and the correlation between increased movement and any increases in new cases. At this stage enhanced testing is important.

Turning to the AstraZeneca debacle, Portugal will re-start the program after a short pause following the announcement on Thursday by the European Medical Agency, that there was no connection between the use of this vaccine and the severe cases of blood clots reported in a very few cases a week ago.

Some have opined that Portugal should not have paused the program with such an apparent low risk. However, turning the coin, if it had not done so and virtually all other EU countries had, I can imagine the outcry. Although the figures indicated a very low level of risk, the nature of the risks were severe. Also it is important to bear in mind the figures presented were from the company itself, so it was important to establish some form of independent verification to ensure the situation was not only unconnected but also it was not more widespread. Anyway, Portugal will resume the program on Monday with the Vaccine coordinator Admiral Henrique Gouveia e Melo stating that “we will be catching up with these four or five days without vaccination”.

Regarding sports, yesterday the Government decided not to take any chances and the Professional Leagues games will remain closed to the public at least until May, as well as the Portuguese GP and Formula 1 Grand Prix. In respect of the latter events. the de-confinement plan does not allow such major events to take place until after 3rd May with an audience present. This decision seems wise given the current situation and in line with the cautious approach that government is taking. Any exception for F1 would, in our view, be difficult to justify. This however came as a surprise to some including Regional Tourism Algarve and other entities as they did not receive any official communication from the Government regarding this decision. We await developments.

Turning to the weather, the beginning of Spring today should have light or cloudy sky, some wind and maximum temperatures varying between 8 and 20 degrees, according to meteorologist Ricardo Tavares of the IPMA. This is some good news, but with this we must take care concerning rural fires. On Thursday, there was the first significant fire of the year in Guarda district, requiring the deployment of nearly 200 fire firefighters supported by 5 aircraft/helicopters.

It is especially important if you are planning to burn debris, that the burn is registered and approval sought. We emphasise the importance of following the safety guidelines which are very clear. As you can see from our earlier post today, the situation in the Algarve is highly conducive to rural fires with some seven municipalities on VERY HIGH level.

Since the pandemic began in Portugal in March 2020, 13 states of emergency have been decreed, and between May and November 2020, there were three situations of calamity, three of contingency and two of alert, some of which in only a few regions. No wonder we have been busy!

With that have a Safe Day

Covid-19

On Friday Portugal reported another 11 deaths and 568 new cases of Covid-19 , according to the daily report of the Directorate-General for Health (DGS).

Confirmed cases: 816,623 (+ 568 / + 0.06 %);

Number of admitted: 789 (-28 /-4.7 %);

Number of ICU admitted: 182 (-5 /-2.6 %);

Deaths: 16.754 (+ 11 / + 0.06 %);

Recovered: 766,170 (+ 1571 / + 0.2 %).

Active cases: 33,699 (- 1014 / -2.9%)

Transmission rate R(t): Portugal 0.86 Mainland only 0.84

Incidence per 100,000 Portugal 87.2 Mainland only 75.7

Despite all this good news it is important not to let our guard down at this crucial time. Those in hospital and ICU remain high. This means complying with the rules in place, – wearing face masks, social distancing, hygiene and no social gatherings.

Health

Covid-19: Portugal with 87.2 cases per 100 thousand inhabitants and 0.86 transmissibility index.

Lisbon, 19th March 2021 (Lusa) – Portugal today has an incidence of 87.2 new cases of infection with SARS-CoV-2 per 100,000 inhabitants and the transmissibility index (Rt) is 0.86, according to the joint bulletin the Directorate-General for Health (DGS) and INSA.

According to official data, when only the territory of mainland Portugal is analysed, the incidence is 75.7 cases per 100,000 inhabitants and the Rt is 0.84.

The incidence refers to the number of new cases per 100 thousand inhabitants in the last 14 days.

These indicators are the criteria defined by the Government for the continuous assessment of the de-confinement process started on Monday.

On March 11th, at the presentation of the de-confinement plan, the Prime Minister, António Costa, warned that the reopening measures will be revised whenever Portugal exceeds the “120 new cases per day per 100 thousand inhabitants in 14 days” or whenever o Rt – the average number of secondary cases resulting from a case infected by the virus – exceeds 1.

The latest report on these indicators, released on Wednesday, found that Portugal had 90.3 cases of SARS CoV-2 per 100,000 inhabitants and a transmissibility index (Rt) of 0.84. Considering only mainland Portugal, the transmissibility index was 0.80 and the incidence was 79.1 cases.

INSA estimates that the Rt is 0.85 in the North, 0.86 in the Centre, 0.81 in Lisbon and the Tagus Valley, 0.82 in the Alentejo, 0.84 in the Algarve and 1.20 in the Azores. The report again fails to present data for the Madeira region, “due to the introduction of a large number of late notifications in the SINAVE database, which prevents a correct interpretation of the results”

Mass testing in some parts of Lisbon starts on March 31st.

Lisbon, 19 March 2021 (Lusa) – The Lisbon City Council starts on March 31st a free mass testing plan, aimed at residents of parishes in the municipality with more than 120 cases of Covid-19 per 100 thousand inhabitants, it was announced today.

At a press conference in the City Hall, the mayor, Fernando Medina, said that the ten parishes initially covered by the municipal testing plan are Ajuda, Alvalade, Arroios, Estrela, Marvila, Olivais, São Vicente, Santa Clara, Santa Maria Maior and Santo António.

Residents over 16 years of age in these territories, who register more than 120 cases of infection per 100,000 inhabitants, will be able to schedule a rapid antigen test by telephone in one of the more than 100 pharmacies in the municipality that has already adhered to the testing plan, the mayor said.

Each citizen will be able to do two tests per month, said the Mayor, adding that the list of parishes covered will be updated every two weeks, according to the evolution of the number of infected with the new coronavirus, and will be available on the websites and social networks of the municipality and the National Pharmacy Association.

The objective is “to monitor the gradual deflation, setting up a mass testing system to prevent the transmission of the virus in the community and reduce contagions”, stressed Fernando Medina.

AstraZeneca Vaccine.

On Thursday, the European Medicines Agency concluded its preliminary review of the AstraZeneca vaccine and issued a statement with the following advice for those who have had the vaccine:

“Covid-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca is not associated with an increased overall risk of blood clotting disorders.

There have been very rare cases of unusual blood clots accompanied by low levels of blood platelets (components that help blood to clot) after vaccination. The reported cases were almost all in women under 55.

Because Covid-19 can be so serious and is so widespread, the benefits of the vaccine in preventing it outweigh the risks of side effects.

However, if you get any of the following after receiving the Covid-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca:

  • breathlessness,
  • pain in the chest or stomach,
  • swelling or coldness in an arm or leg,
  • severe or worsening headache or blurred vision after vaccination,
  • persistent bleeding,
  • multiple small bruises, reddish or purplish spots, or blood blisters under the skin,

Please seek prompt medical assistance and mention your recent vaccination”.

Whoever refuses to be vaccinated with AstraZeneca goes to the end of the line (and will not even be able to choose another vaccine)”

Portugal will resume vaccination against Covid-19 with the AstraZeneca vaccine. And whoever refuses to be vaccinated with this one loses their turn, goes to the end of the line and even then, they will not be able to choose and will be immunized with the vaccine that is available at the time.

“The principle in the vaccination process is not to choose the vaccine, because the approved vaccines are equally good and safe,” explains Vice Admiral Henrique Gouveia e Melo, coordinator of the task force for the national vaccination plan.

The vaccine was suspended in Portugal on Monday. However, there have already been reports of refusals from some people who demanded to be immunized with other vaccines.

“We explain that they will have to wait or wait for the allocation rule to change. We have already had doctors and dentists, for example, refusing, but the rule is simple: you can’t choose. It would be unacceptable. If people don’t accept the rule, and they have that right, they will have to wait. They will be vaccinated in the summer or after the summer”, explains José Luís Biscaia, executive director of the Health Centre Group of Baixo Mondego, to Público.

Also Diogo Urjais, president of the National Association of Family Health Units, says the same. “There have been rejections before and now there should be more. But refusing is impossible at the outset. The guideline is: the user does not choose the vaccine. We cannot eliminate the person from the list, what we say is that you will have to wait, at the risk of not being vaccinated. ”

Review of the legal framework for health emergencies.

The Minister of Home Affairs says that the legal framework for health emergencies will have to be revised after the pandemic. In an interview, Eduardo Cabrita also says that the deflation must be done with prudence.

Eduardo Cabrita says that the legal framework for responding to health emergencies will have to be revised, since the

State of Emergency was designed for other types of situations, and reveals that he has already asked the Ombudsman for a contribution on this matter.

“Now that this situation is overcome, we have to review this entire legal framework, starting with the law of the State of Emergency framework, which was designed primarily for situations of a coup d’état or a serious disturbance of public order and not for a framework of health response”, he said

The minister stressed that “the ability to have an adequate response” has been proven by crossing the law of the State of Emergency, the basic law of civil protection and the law of public health surveillance.

“But I agree that a review of this whole picture is necessary,” he said, stressing that “the good crossover” of these laws has been used, which has allowed “in essence to achieve the objectives” of combating the pandemic, although not have been designed for health emergency situations.

Fenprof calls “national fight action” for April 17th.

Fenprof’s secretary general states that the “national action of struggle” serves to demand from the Government “dialogue, negotiation and solutions” to the problems of teachers.

The National Federation of Teachers (Fenprof) will promote a “national action of struggle” on April 17th, in Lisbon, to demand from the Government “dialogue, negotiation and solutions” to the problems of teachers, the secretary-general announced today.

Mário Nogueira said at a press conference in Coimbra that the National Federation of Teachers will also claim “respect for teachers and educators”.

“It is Fenprof’s intention not only to demand dialogue from the Government (…), but also to denounce in the geopolitical space temporarily chaired by Portugal, the problems that are experienced in education, which affect teachers,” said Mário Nogueira, in an allusion to the Portuguese presidency of the Council of the European Union (EU).

The national concentration is scheduled for April 17th, Saturday, at 15:00, in the space adjacent to the Centro Cultural de Belém (CCB), in Lisbon, where, since January, “some of the most important events” of the rotating presidency have been held the EU.

The problems of teachers, according to Mário Nogueira “result from the fact that the so-called social dialogue, in our country, is little more than export product not consumed internally”.

Other news

Guimarães Hospital implants the worlds’ smallest pacemaker for the first time.

Guimarães, Braga, 19th March 2021 (Lusa) – The Cardiology Service of Hospital de Guimarães, in the district of Braga, implanted for the first time the smallest ‘pacemaker’ in the world, today announced that hospital unit.

In a statement, the hospital says that the device is the size of a capsule and is implanted in a minimally invasive manner, replacing traditional ‘pacemakers’ (cardiac stimulators).

“Until now, only Centro Hospitalar Lisboa Ocidental (Hospital Santa Cruz) and Centro Hospitalar Universitário São João (Porto) had carried out this type of interventions”, he adds.

The device is used for the treatment of patients with high-grade atrioventricular block (AVB), a condition in which the electrical signals between the heart chambers (the atria and the ventricles) are blocked.

This situation can result, among others, in syncope or sudden death.

Currently, patients with AV block are treated with a ‘pacemaker’, implanted in the upper part of the chest, subcutaneously, to which small electrical wires (electrodes) are connected, which are placed, through the veins, inside the heart, thus allowing that the electrical connection between the atria and the ventricles is re-established.

“This new ‘pacemaker’, the smallest in the world, does not need the electrodes, being placed directly inside the right ventricle, through a small access through the right femoral vein. Thus, there is no traditional surgical scar, and the risks associated with the traditional technique, such as infections or damage to the electrodes, are still significantly reduced.

The first procedure at Hospital de Guimarães took place on Wednesday and the patient has already been discharged.

Portugal received 8 migrants rescued by humanitarian ships.

This Thursday Portugal received 8 migrants rescued by humanitarian vessels off the Italian coast, which will be welcomed in the municipalities of Maia and Bragança. The citizens come from Liberia, Cameroon, Guinea-Bissau, Bangladesh and Nigeria and join the 224 that Portugal has welcomed, in recent years, rescued in the Mediterranean.

Portugal has responded positively to all emergency situations that result from rescues at sea. Reception and integration have been a priority of the Government, in a continuous effort between the central State and local authorities, as well as public and private entities, which has been recognized by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), by the Organization International Organization for Migration (IOM), the European Union and the Council of Europe.

Portugal was the 6th European country that received the most refugees under the EU’s Relocation Program, receiving 1,550 refugees from Greece (1,190) and Italy (360) between December 2015 and April 2018 – which were welcomed by 97 counties.

Within the scope of the Portuguese commitment to the European Commission to relocate up to 500 unaccompanied minors, there are already 78 minors in the country. According to data from Brussels, this month of March, Portugal is the 4th Member State that has received the most unaccompanied minors, after Germany, France and Finland.

Under the Administrative Agreement signed between the Ministry of Internal Administration of Portugal and the Greek Ministry of Migration and Asylum, which provides for the transfer of 100 beneficiaries / applicants for international protection in a pilot phase, a family of 3 has also arrived. Portugal also received 142 asylum seekers under the agreement between the EU and Turkey, between June 2016 and December 2017. This year it also received 5 unaccompanied minors from Greece.

Under the UNHCR Resettlement Program, 672 people have already been welcomed in our country, coming from Egypt and Turkey and with different nationalities (from Syria, Iraq, Ethiopia, Sierra Leone, Sudan, South Sudan, Eritrea, and Somalia). All of these citizens benefit from the Refugee Status granted by order of the Minister for Internal Administration, and hold a Declaration proving the International Protection Status while they await the issuance of the Refugee Residence Permit, under the terms of the Asylum Law.

Portugal Situation Report, Wednesday 17th March 2021

Introduction

It is all about Risk

Good morning. Today’s introduction is all about risk – in this case in three areas. The first of these is the decision by Portugal to what is now described (by the vaccination co-ordinator), as “a pause” for a short while in the administering of the AstraZeneca vaccine, following reports of 37 cases of severe blood clots in people overseas, discovered sometime after they had received the vaccine. This was taken as a precautionary measure and follows similar moves in 12 other countries. AstraZeneca said there have been 37 reports of blood clots out of more than 17 million people vaccinated in the 27-country EU and Britain. If correct, the chances of you having a blood clot are one in every 629,620. The drug maker said there is no evidence the vaccine carries an increased risk of clots.

As of the time of reporting, no connection between the two has been established and in fact evidence so far is that the incidence of clots is much lower than would be expected to occur naturally in a general population of this size.

Nevertheless, there has been considerable worry on social media, questioning why the pause/suspension is needed if the risks are so low and the impact this may have on the rollout, at a time when all efforts need to be made to accelerate the process. Naturally there are many thinking that this is a political decision. However, if Portugal had continued and the rest of Europe had not I guess there would be many questioning if Portugal was putting people at risk.

The Prime Minister has explained the importance of “people understanding what is happening”: “the suspensions are only provisional and even today [Tuesday] the World Health Organization is discussing the known data, the European Medicines Agency will pronounce until the end of the week. It makes sense to suspend for three or four days so that the process can continue later”.

This is why understanding risk is important and even if a connection was established, just 37 cases out of 17 million people vaccinated, it means that the risk is far outweighed by the far higher risk of contracting Covid-19 by not being vaccinated. It is important to be guided by science not social media hysteria.

Another topic of risk this time in the rate of transmission Rt. We should not have Rt above 1, although the likelihood is that this is impossible to achieve permanently. At some point we will have few cases resulting in this threshold being exceeded. So the objective is clear: we must do everything to maintain a low incidence. To do this we cannot let our guard down and we must have an accurate “perception of risk” at all times especially what actions increase risk and those that mitigate risk.

Things normally start to go wrong when this perception is lost. It is very important to be aware of the risks and that there will be consequences if our behaviour changes in a way that is not conducive to minimizing risk – social gatherings, for instance.

In the de-confinement plan, presented on Thursday by the Prime Minister, the relaxation of measures in the reopening on April 5th and 19th and on May 3rd will be reviewed, whenever Portugal exceeds “120 new cases per day per 100 thousand inhabitants in 14 days” or whenever the transmissibility index (Rt) of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, exceeds 1. Latest figures show a case rate of 90 per 100,000 and an Rt of 0.79.

The last risk area is fire risk. This is the time of year when many people in rural areas will be undertaking controlled burns of heaped and piled rubbish and, mainly farmers, are undertaking the controlled burning of scrub land.

We say “controlled” because it is a fact that, in a typical year, over half of such burns became “out of control” and lead to a fire where firefighters and other emergency services are deployed.

As the weather becomes dryer and warmer (as it is today) the risk increases, so it is important to be aware of what regulations are in place and how to register a burn or seek authorisation, as the case maybe. If these are not followed there are heavy fines.

Lastly, we have to once again remind a few people concerning the use of our Facebook Page. The page is there to provide the best sourced information in the area of safety and security to help people enjoy quality of life, especially in these difficult times. Although there are many challenges we will come through these. The last thing anyone needs is to be confronted with negativity which will not make people feel any better.

We therefore request people to read the “About Us” section on the use of our Facebook page, particularly with regards to unsourced comments and claims, personal argument, fake news and unrelated provocative comments, which detract from the topic and creates more work for us as ‘administrators’. We will remove these in the interests of the majority of readers, who are seeking accurate information and informed content. If the small minority wish to engage in personal argument there are Facebook groups available more suited for this purpose. “Words do Matter” so please bear in mind the feelings of others when commenting.

Finally, a reminder that the new State of Emergency law is now in effect and we have consolidated the measures and the de-confinement plan into a single page on our website which can be downloaded here. We hope you find this useful.

Finally a Happy St Patrick’s Day – Stay Safe

Headlines

“I’m with you, I also got the AstraZeneca vaccine. I look forward to the second dose”: Costa asks for calm

“I am with you, I also took the first dose of the vaccine. I look forward to the second. ” That was how António Costa ended a short statement to journalists this Tuesday in Porto. At issue is the temporary suspension of the AstraZeneca vaccine, announced less than 24 hours ago. The Prime Minister appealed for calm, recalling that he himself had been vaccinated with the therapy from the British pharmaceutical company.

“All the scientific evidence shows that the vaccine is safe and effective. I say this with the peace of mind that I am being vaccinated with the AstraZeneca vaccine. I already took my first dose and I am waiting for the second one in May”, he started by saying. “I hope that everything will be clarified and my conviction is that everything will be clarified. The available scientific information shows this and the Governments, including ours, have taken a preventive decision”, he continued.

The Prime Minister considered it important that “people understand what is happening”: “the suspensions are only provisional and even today [Tuesday] the World Health Organization is discussing the known data, the European Medicines Agency will pronounce until the end of the week”. It is based on this calendar that António Costa says he believes that by the end of the week there should be a final decision.

“It makes sense to suspend for three or four days so that the process can continue later”, he defended, appealing to calm from those who have already been vaccinated and the patience of those who now have the vaccination process delayed for a few weeks.

Covid-19 DGS

DGS reported yesterday the latest figures concerning Covid-19 with continuing downward trends namely:

Confirmed Cases: 814.897 (+ 384 / + 0.05 %)

Number of admitted: 955 (-41 /-4.12 %)

Number of ICU admitted: 213 (-18 /-7.79 %)

Deaths: 16.707 (+ 13 / + 0.08 %)

Recovered: 762.961 (+ 1173 / + 0.15 %)

Active cases: 35,229 (- 802 / -2.2%)

This is analysed as:

– Second lowest deaths since 17th October; third lowest new cases since 1st September; recovered 3 times new cases and for 44 consecutive days, the number of recovered patients exceeds that of new infections.

There are also the lowest number in hospital since 13th October and 5832 less compared to number in hospital 1st Feb; lowest in ICU since 23rd October 2020 a decreased by 75.3% since 1st February’ Lastly the number of active cases lowest since 14th October, decreasing for 40 consecutive days and over 146,394 since 31st January

Despite all this good news it is important not to let our guard down at this crucial time. Those in hospital and ICU remain high. This means complying with the rules in place, – wearing face masks, social distancing, hygiene and no social gatherings.

Health

Covid-19. New pandemic monitoring bulletin to be published every Friday.

The Directorate-General for Health (DGS), in collaboration with the National Institute of Health Doctor Ricardo Jorge (INSA), will start to publish a weekly monitoring report on the evolution of Covid-19 every Friday. According to DGS, this bulletin “will include the indicators described in the Red Lines document”, prepared by the group of experts and which lists a series of parameters considered essential to monitor the evolution of the pandemic in Portugal.

DGS confirms that these indicators will be: the incidence at 14 days, the national R (t) and by region, the number of patients in Intensive Care Units at national level, the proportion of national positivity (that is, the percentage of results positive in the total of tests performed), the proportion of case isolation and tracking of contacts by region, and also the proportion of virus variants considered most worrying (also by region).

Of these indicators, the incidence, the Rt and the number of beds in intensive care were considered by the experts to be the three main parameters.

In addition to this new report, the risk matrix that the Prime Minister presented last Thursday will be released daily, “with the situation report of Covid-19, which will be updated on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, when updating the R (t) ”, details the DGS.

In the document ‘on the red lines’, presented at the last meeting at Infarmed and meanwhile publicly released, the group of experts argued that the proposed indicators should be “widely publicized”, as read in the report. “The epidemiological situation and the indicators mentioned here must be accompanied by the periodic issuance of a risk assessment document for qualitative interpretation and also be able to feed the correct risk communication by the authorities and political actors”.

Until now, Rt was only released once a week by INSA (on Friday). However, the indicator was already calculated every two days, although it was only released internally.

Deaths from Covid-19

Covid-19 / One year: More than half of all deaths in Portugal have occurred since January.

The number of deaths from Covid-19 in Portugal from the beginning of the year to 10 March amounts to 9,642, which corresponds to 58% of the total fatalities since the beginning of the pandemic, according to data officers.

In 2020, 6,993 deaths were recorded from Covid-19, but the 5,805 deaths in January – the most tragic month in Portugal so far – added to 3,558 fatalities in February and 279 in the first 10 days of March, mean that 2021 account for more than half of the total for this period (16,635).

The data was requested by Lusa to the Directorate-General for Health (DGS), on the day that marks the first year of the first death in Portugal caused by the new coronavirus, on March 16th, 2020.

At the same time, the entity led by Graça Freitas specified that, since the beginning of the pandemic up until the 12th of March, there were 4,611 accumulated deaths in Portugal by Covid-19 of people residing in homes (deaths occurring within homes or in hospitals), of which 802 in the North, 1,263 in the Centre, 1,909 in Lisbon and the Tagus Valley, 526 in the Alentejo and 111 in the Algarve.

Covid-19: 40,000 workers from 4,000 day care centres will be tested this week.

Azambuja, Lisbon, 16th March 2021 (Lusa) – About 40,000 workers from 4,000 day care centres across the country are going to be tested at Covid-19 this week, in a process whose start was announced today in Azambuja (Lisbon) by the Minister of Labour, Solidarity and Social Security.

Ana Mendes Godinho watched the testing of some of the employees of the Centro Social Paroquial da Azambuja, which reopened on Monday, within the scope of the first measures of deflation, the valences of day care, pre-school and Leisure Activities (ATL).

According to the minister, the testing of professionals who work in day care centres and as nannies aims, in addition to preventing contagion with the new coronavirus, to give “confidence and also tranquillity” in the resumption of teaching activities after almost two months of confinement due to the rapid growth of cases SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Stressing the satisfaction she saw in the children, educators and assistants in this matter, Ana Mendes Godinho said that it is necessary to thank and value “all the people who have not stopped at the service of others”, as well as the “great capacity” of the social sector and its employees, who “have always been on the ground, on the front line, working for children and the elderly”.

The minister stressed that day care testing comes in addition to the integrated monitoring and prevention program in homes, in an effort to reach the various dimensions of social responses.

Vaccines

Brussels, 16th March 2021 (Lusa) – The European Commission announced today that it has reached an agreement with BioNTech-Pfizer for the early delivery of 10 million doses of the Covid-19 vaccine, which will thus be available as early as the second quarter.

In a statement released in Brussels, the community executive explains that these 10 million doses are part of the batch of 100 million doses contemplated in the second contract with BioNTech-Pfizer, whose delivery was scheduled for the third and fourth quarters of 2021.

“I know how critical the second quarter is for the development of vaccination strategies in the Member States. These 10 million advance doses raise the total doses of the BioNTech-Pfizer vaccine in the second quarter to 200 million. This is excellent news, as it gives the Member States room for manoeuvre and possibly compensates for gaps in deliveries ”of other vaccines, commented Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

This anticipation of the delivery of 10 million vaccines for the months of April, May and June has yet to be approved by the Member States.

The announcement of the agreement between the European Commission and the German pharmaceutical company BioNTech and its North American partner Pfizer takes place one day after several Member States, including Portugal, decided to suspend the administration of the AstraZeneca vaccine as a “precaution”, due to the formation of blood clots in some of the vaccines.

Currently, there are four vaccines against Covid-19 approved by the European Medicines Agency (EMA): BioNTech-Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca and Janssen (Johnson & Johnson group).

Johnson & Johnson signs agreement to produce vaccine in Germany

The American company Johnson & Johnson and the German IDT Biologika today closed an agreement for the production of vaccines in Germany, a protocol welcomed by the German government at a time when Europe faces delays in the delivery of these drugs.

The agreement, which will allow Johnson & Johnson to use “for three months” the facilities on the German territory of the IDT Biologika laboratory for “bottling and packaging”, will “increase the reliability of deliveries” of the vaccine in the European Union (EU), said the German Economy Minister, Peter Altmaier, in reaction to the protocol.

The American group Johnson & Johnson, through the European subsidiary Janssen Pharmaceutica NV, developed a vaccine against the Covid-19 disease in a single dose, which received, last week, the ‘green light’ from the competent European authorities to begin distribution and use in the community space.

It is the fourth vaccine against Covid-19 authorized in the EU.

Suspension of AstraZeneca vaccine.

The Director-General of Health yesterday appealed for those who have received the AstraZeneca vaccine to remain calm and guaranteed that no adverse reactions like those identified in other countries have been reported in Portugal.

“If you have been vaccinated, stay calm. These reactions are extremely rare and in our country no phenomena similar to those found in other countries have been reported”, said Graça Freitas, in a joint press conference with the National Medicines Authority (Infarmed) and the vaccination plan task force.

According to the Head of the Directorate-General for Health (DGS), “although the adverse reactions mentioned are extremely serious, they are also extremely rare”, and the cause and effect between this vaccine and blood clots in other countries has not been identified.

“Although the causal link between the vaccine and these reactions has not been identified, on the precautionary principle it was decided to pause vaccination with the AstraZeneca vaccine,” he said.

Addressing people who have already received the AstraZeneca vaccine in Portugal, Graça Freitas also called for them to remain alert to symptoms of feeling unwell for a few days.

“Above all, if this bad feeling is accompanied by bruising or skin haemorrhages, do not hesitate and consult a doctor”, stressed Graça Freitas, while ensuring that the Ministry of Health and Infarmed “maintain all confidence in vaccination against Covid-19” and called on everyone to continue vaccinating according to the planned schedule.

According to Graça Freitas, the vaccines of this pharmaceutical company that Portugal has already received are “stored in conditions and are not wasted”, waiting for the European Medicines Agency (EMA) to inform if it can be administered “with the safety profile”, comparing the benefits with the risks.

Covid-19. Vaccination coordinator says delay is recoverable in “five or six days”.

Vice Admiral Henrique Gouveia e Melo says that it is up to the authorities to explain the change, in just 24 hours, of the decision by DGS and Infarmed on the security of the continuity of the administration of the vaccine of AstraZeneca in Portugal.

The coordinator of the vaccination plan against Covid-19 avoids expressing a position on the temporary suspension of administration of the AstraZeneca vaccine, but says he is confident of resuming the vaccination process in “five or six days”.

“If the pause is not too long, we will resume the pace we were having with the AstraZeneca vaccine and we will recover this pause very quickly, which is a pause of five, six days … whatever is necessary to clarify the doubt that exists in this moment “, Vice-Admiral Henrique Gouveia e Melo said in an interview to the Lusa agency.

With around 400 thousand vaccines from AstraZeneca received, 230 thousand already administered and 170 thousand kept in storage, the person responsible for the vaccination plan expressed his confidence in a quick clarification of the situation, which could occur “in five, six days” and the resumption of the vaccination in that same period.

The admiral guaranteed, however, that Portugal’s decision went through a “pause” and not a suspension.

“It is not a suspension, it is a pause. There is nothing to indicate that there will be a suspension of the vaccine. There is a pause to assess the data in a precautionary manner, avoiding continuing to vaccinate until there is greater certainty about what happened and the cases that have been described as being severe cases of reaction, where it is not possible to understand whether it is a reaction or not to the reaction to the vaccination. As long as this has not been clarified, vaccination has been put on hold” he explained.

Economy

CTT’s profits fall 43% in 2020 to 16.7 million euros.

CTT’s profit fell 42.9% last year, compared to 2019, to 16.7 million euros, in a year marked by the Covid-19 pandemic, the Correios de Portugal announced.

Revenues rose 0.7% to 745.2 million euros in the period under analysis, according to information available on the website of the Portuguese Securities Market Commission (CMVM).

Income before taxes, interest, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) fell 10.8% to 90.5 million euros.

Tourism

Covid-19: Tourist accommodation with losses of 80% in January – INE.

The National Statistics Institute (INE) today confirmed the drop of 78.3% of guests and 78.2% of overnight stays in January, which led to a drop in income of more than 80%.

INE confirmed the data that had been advanced in the quick estimate made on March 1st, with the tourist accommodation sector registering 308,400 guests and 709,900 overnight stays in January, which corresponds to year-on-year decreases of 78.3% and 78.2%, respectively and which compare with the December records, with decreases of 71.2% and 72.6%.

In the first month of the year, the income recorded in tourist accommodation establishments, in turn, reached 33 million euros in total and 24 million euros in relation to the room, corresponding to losses of 81.2% and 80.8%, respectively (-73.9% and -74.4% in December, in the same order).

The net bed occupancy rate (9.4%), in turn, decreased by 19.7 percentage points (against the decline of 18.7 percentage points in December).

The domestic market (weight of 60.1%) contributed with 427.0 thousand overnight stays, which represented a decrease of 60.3% (-54.2% in December).

Overnight stays in foreign markets decreased by 87.0% (-83.2% in the previous month) and reached 282.9 thousand.

In January, 54% of tourist accommodation establishments were closed or there was no movement of guests (52.3% in December).

Portugal Situation Report, Saturday 13th March 2021

Introduction

On Thursday there were some important developments with the announcement by the Prime Minster, following the meeting of the Council of Ministers; namely the outline of the long awaited de-confinement plan, which, as expected, will be undertaken in several phases starting 15th March 2021.

Also the Council of Ministers gave details of the extension of the State of Emergency which will commence 17th March to 23:59 hrs on the 31st March.

We have translated these measures and plans into English and published these through Facebook with links to our website.

The de-confinement plan has generally well been received. Thankfully, as it appears at present (without seeing the details in the decree law) the phased de-confinement, subject to bi-weekly risk assessments is relatively simple to understand, being based on two simple risk indicators; namely Rt (rate of transmission) and the number on cases per 100,000. There has been however an increase in Rt yesterday reported at 0.80. This is likely as a result of increased movements of people erven though there has so far been no relaxation of restrictions. Although this is still below 1.0, this is something that government and experts will be monitoring closely.

With the implementation of the de-confinement plan, there will be an increase in movements by the public, resulting in an increased increasing risk of contagion. It is essential therefore, in order not to undo what has been achieved in decreasing the level of new cases, daily deaths, as well as those in hospital and ICU to levels not seen since October last year, to continue to follow the rules in place.

This means; wearing face masks, social distancing, hygiene and no social gatherings.

An unexpected development yesterday was the announcement, effective immediately, to allow the public to purchase from Pharmacies and other places that sell medicines, without a prescription, the rapid Covid-19 tests as a nasal swab, which can be undertaken in your home. These will start to be sold in Pharmacies today.

AstraZenena vaccine is in the news for the wrong reasons. It was reported yesterday that serious allergies are expected to be added to the list of possible side effects of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine, after the identification of likely links to these reactions in the United Kingdom, the European Medicines Agency warned today (EMA). This update is based on a study of 41 reports of anaphylaxis seen in about five million vaccinees in the UK, said the agency, in the summary of its committee that assesses the risks of the drugs.

On Thursday, the European regulator indicated that it was investigating a problem related to the formation of blood clots following a few people who had been vaccinated, after Denmark’s health authority announced today it was suspending using the vaccine as a precaution. A move followed by eight other countries. The UN World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday that it was aware of blood clot concerns linked to “a specific batch” of AstraZeneca/Oxford Covid-19 vaccine, but maintained that to date, no-one has died from any coronavirus vaccine.

The AstraZeneca vaccine is one of the three vaccines against the SARS-CoV-2 virus approved so far by the EMA and, as such, in use in Portugal.

Yesterday was again good news concerning the key Covid-19 figures, namely: the lowest daily death rate since 20th October 2020; 4th lowest daily new cases since 5th October; recovered nearly 10 times new cases and 40 consecutive days, the number of recovered patients exceeds that of new infections.

In hospital, it is the lowest number since 17th October. Covid-19 Patients 5,823 less compared to number in hospital on 1st February; lowest in ICU since 29th October 2020 – decreased by 69.2% since 1st February and a 10% reduction in active cases. Number of active cases lowest since 19th October, decreasing for 38 consecutive days and over 135,000 since 31st January.

Further good news came last night when Germany announced the removing of Portugal from the list of “countries with a high incidence of mutations in the coronavirus, with effect from next Sunday”, according to a note from the Portuguese Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the social network Twitter. This follows a similar move by Switzerland a few days earlier. With the massive decreases in cases in Portugal to levels below most of Europe, let’s hope this sets the lead for other countries to take similar action.

With that please have a Safe weekend

Headlines

The President of the Republic commented yesterday that the plan of gradual de-confinement announced by the Government represents a “very reasonable and very prudent balance”, talking about convergence between the Assembly, the executive, the parties and the experts.

“It seems to me that a very reasonable and very prudent balance has been reached between what was the position of the experts, the parties and what the Government was studying and what the President of the Republic thought,” said Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa.

“[The plan] allows several things to be confirmed: first, coincidence and convergence, not only institutional but also strategic, which has involved the President of the Republic, the Assembly of the Republic and the Government, which continues and will continue until end of the pandemic”, he said.

And, secondly, “the plan is until May, which is good because it is not too long and is flexible in the indicators chosen in the way they are linked with the measures, to safeguard an idea that seemed important to me, from Easter with confinement ”, added Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa.

Classifying the plan as “positive”, the Head of State welcomed the idea of ​​it foreseeing “a confined Easter”.

For the Head of State, another important part of the plan is the “idea of ​​a progressive opening, permanently accompanied by economic and social activities and the priority given to the schools”.

“It is prudent to make this balance [because] we never know what is happening in the circulation of people and the virus and this opening in Portugal is to be done gradually and that looks at what is happening in Europe, where a significant part has a panorama more negative than positive”, argued Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, comparing the situation in the country with others, such as Italy, in which a reinforcement of restrictions was announced.

Covid-19

The daily report from DGS yesterday once again shows a continued decline in all key areas

Confirmed cases: 813,152 (+ 577 / + 0.07 %);

Number of admitted: 1,046 (-56 /-5.08 %);

Number of ICU admitted: 266 (-7 /-2.56 %);

Deaths: 16,650 (+ 15 / + 0.09 %);

Recovered: 749,770 (+ 5574 / + 0.75 %).

Active Cases: 46,732 (-5012 / -9.6%)

IMPORTANT NOTE:

Despite all this good news it is important not to let our guard down at this crucial time. Those in hospital and ICU remain high. This means complying with the rules in place, – wearing face masks, social distancing, hygiene and no social gatherings.

Health

Covid-19: Serious allergies among the possible side effects of the AstraZeneca vaccine.

In a statement released today, EMA announced that it “recommended an update of the product information to include anaphylaxis and hypersensitivity (allergic reactions) as side effects”.

“This update is based on a study of 41 reports of anaphylaxis seen in about five million vaccinees in the UK,” said the agency in the summary of its committee that assesses the risks of the drugs.

12th March 2021 (Lusa) – “After a careful study of The Hague, serious allergies are expected to be added to the list of possible side effects of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine, after the identification of likely links to these reactions in the United Kingdom, the European Medicines Agency warned today (EMA).

The European Medicines Agency clarified that anaphylaxis, which translates into severe allergic reactions, was already a “known side effect, although it rarely occurred with vaccines”.

Information about the vaccine from the Anglo-Swedish pharmaceutical company, AstraZeneca, states that citizens who receive it should be monitored at least 15 minutes after its administration, in case of allergic reactions.

Rapid tests from Pharmacies.

Rapid antigen tests to screen for Covid-19 will go on sale in pharmacies and can be purchased without justification or a prescription from today 13th March 2021.

The procedure is similar to that of the PCR test, but less invasive – just insert the swab via the nasal or oral route – and the result is then received in the next 10 to 30 minutes.

For Public Health Doctors this measure is a good step to implement the strategy of mass testing, but they leave a warning, since the sale of rapid tests in pharmaceuticals cannot be seen as a carte blanche excuse for a life without care.

Until now, rapid antigen tests have cost about 20 euros. For now, the price at which they will be sold for use by the general population is not yet known.

Screening tests start Tuesday at public and private schools.

Nurseries, pre-school and 1st cycle schools will reopen on Monday 15th March and the following day the testing campaign in those public and private schools begins.

More than 50,000 public school workers as well as employees of private establishments begin testing for Covid-19 on Tuesday, the Minister of Education announced this Friday.

The day care centres, pre-school education and the 1st cycle reopen its doors on Monday and the following day start testing the campaign in those public and private schools.

“This new (testing) exercise begins on Tuesday with more than 50 thousand workers in the public system, plus workers from the private sector,” said Minister Tiago Brandão Rodrigues, during a press conference to present support measures to the sectors of Economy, Labour, Culture and Education.

According to Tiago Brandão Rodrigues, there will be a “sweep of all workers”, but “workers will not be tested at the entrance to find out whether or not they can enter the school”.

The testing campaign, he said, is more “a supplementary measure to slow the spread of the disease (Covid-19)” in a school setting.

“There was between 0.1% and 0.2% positivity in the tests” already done in the school community.

The screening tests are accompanied by the vaccination of teachers against Covid-19 and other older measures such as the use of a mask, the distance between students or the circuits of circulation within schools.

Tiago Brandão Rodrigues underlined the work done in schools to ensure that they are safe spaces, reminding of the test results to the school community that started on January 20th and involved about 65 thousand students.

Covid-19. Rt in Portugal Rises 0.8.

Updated this Friday, the value refers to an average between March 3rd and 7th and is already above the 0.78 referred to on Thursday. Contrary to what the Prime Minister said, the transmissibility indicator is not published every two days.

The indicator of transmissibility of the infection (the so-called Rt) is 0.84, according to the report published this Friday by the Dr. Ricardo Jorge Institute (INSA), referring to the period between March 3rd and 7th. The value is already above the 0.78 (between 1st and 5th March) mentioned by the Prime Minister on Thursday, when presenting the de-confinement plan. What this value means is that for now, as it is below 1, the number of cases continues to fall, but the closer it is to 1, the slower the descent.

INSA explains that since February 10th, there has been a “stabilization of Rt with a slight increase” from 0.61 to 0.84 (the value of March 7th), “which suggests a slowdown in the downward trend in incidence of SARS-CoV-2”.

Since the end of May last year, this indicator has been made public once a week by INSA. Contrary to what António Costa indicated, although INSA calculates the Rt every two days, this report is not made public: it is only shared internally with the Government and other institutions.

Education

Measurements, tests, exams and access with the same rules as last school year.

In view of the resumption of activities on a non-face-to-face basis and aiming to contribute to a framework of justice and equity, it was necessary, as in the academic year 2019/2020, to proceed with the approval of a set of exceptional and temporary measures of response to the Covid-19 pandemic in the scope of basic and secondary education, for the academic year 2020/2021, regarding the assessment and certification of learning.

In this way, the educational community is given stability, security and certainty as soon as possible in the face of the unpredictability resulting from the evolution and impact of the pandemic.

The decree-law, approved this Thursday in the Council of Ministers, establishes:

The cancellation of the calibration tests and the final tests of the 9th year cycle.

Access to higher education, which is the responsibility of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education, and the completion of secondary education is done in exactly the same terms as in the past academic year.

Students finish secondary school with an internal classification, that is, they do not take exams for completion and certification.

Students register and take only the entrance exams they want.

In order to continue the diagnosis of learning that may have been lost, which is essential for planning future measures, a study is carried out sample, for which the measurement instruments are expected to be used on the scheduled dates.

Economy

It was in early March 2020 that the government approved the first measures to deal with Covid-19, when it was not yet considered a pandemic by the World Health Organization. This would only happen ten days later.

According to the survey carried out by the Technical Budget Support Unit (UTAO), the government adopted 110 measures (or set of measures) to combat the Covid-19 pandemic. The entity that provides support to the deputies of the Budget and Finance Committee divided between the emergency phase and the stabilization phase, following the designation of the executive.

During the first period, which continued until the end of June, 50 measures were adopted. The second will run until the end of 2020, during which 60 initiatives to combat Covid-19 were approved.

In between, there were many setbacks and successes in the measures, as was the case with support for self-employed workers or managing partners who were excluded from the first immediate aid package to maintain income. And many were already recaptured at the beginning of this year with the return of the second general confinement, after that of the spring of last year, as is the case of the simplified lay-off.

According to the figures reported in the budget execution for December last year, the Covid-19 measures had an estimated cost of 4.6 billion euros, which is equivalent to about 2.2% of the gross domestic product (GDP) ). In addition to this figure, this year’s costs, up until the end of January, amounted to 258 million euros, resulting in a total of 4.8 billion euros.

The largest share of this “cost” comes from the expense side of 3.4 billion euros, but there is also unpaid revenue, both tax and contributory. On this balance sheet are more than 1.4 billion euros.

In this figure, only measures with “budgetary expression in public administrations” are taken into account, that is, which aggravate the deficit. The Directorate-General for Budget does not account for “measures to support the financing of the economy that have no impact in terms of budgetary accounting.

Covid-19: Lisbon campaign hospital activity suspended as of Tuesday.

Lisbon, 12th March 2021 (Lusa) – The clinical activity of the field hospital at Estádio Universitário, in Lisbon, will be suspended as of Tuesday, the Mayor announced today, guaranteeing that the infrastructure “remains ready to reopen at any time”.

In a publication on social networks, Fernando Medina (PS) says he hopes that the equipment “is no longer needed”, but he points out that it could reopen “if so justified”.

The mayor also said that a team of operatives from the Lisbon Firefighters Regiment carried out this morning the decontamination of the space.

On March 1st, 11 patients were hospitalized with Covid-19 in the campaign hospital in Lisbon, according to António Diniz, coordinator of the space.

Taking stock of the first month of activity (between 23rd January and 23rd February), the official said, at the time, that the field hospital received 148 patients.

The structure coordinator also mentioned that eight hospital centres and hospitals in Lisbon used this equipment, at a time when the Covid-19 pandemic worsened.

Last year, during the first confinement, the infrastructure had already been prepared, but it was never used.

Portugal Situation Report Wednesday 10th March 2021

Introduction

Good morning – Yesterday was certainly highlighted with the inauguration of Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa upon his second term as President of the Republic. Following a short ceremony he delivered a speech at the Assembly of the Republic highlighting those in the community who need support most during these difficult times: “the homeless, those without adequate housing, and those of his age or older who live in homes or at home in solitude or guarded by formal or informal caregivers”.

He mentioned that “We will have to rebuild people’s lives,” says Marcelo. “It is more than returning to 2019”, defends the President for whom it is necessary “good management, transparency and efficiency” in public management.

“There will only be real reconstruction if poverty decreases,” says Marcelo, assuming social cohesion as one of his missions.

It was a passionate and well received speech addressing the hardships many people face during this pandemic.

Since our last report on Saturday the general downward trend in hospitalisations, those in ICU, daily deaths has continued, although the number of new cases continues to fluctuate. There are positive signs, but although the Rt rate at 0.74 is currently the lowest in Europe, it has risen from 0.61 since mid-February.

The Minister of Health, Marta Temido, highlighted the three most important threats presented at the meeting on the epidemiological situation of Covid-19 in Portugal on Monday as i) “the increase in the risk of transmission”, ii) the situation of the variants and iii) the change in the confinement index “despite the legal context being the same” (in other words increasing movements of people).

At that meeting a plan for a five point criteria for de-confinement was proposed by experts based on different levels in municipalities, but with rates much lower that previously reflecting the reality of the current situation. This includes the resuming of face to face learning in schools. The President of the Republic, as is usual, will therefore listen to all the stakeholders involved before sending a draft decree as a framework to the Assembly of the Republic this week. The Council of Ministers will meet on Thursday to decide the measures to be contained in the extension of the State of Emergency.

One thing ministers will need to take into account, however, is the fact that there is the considerably increasing number of new cases in some of our neighbouring countries such as: France over 23,000 and Italy over 19,000 yesterday and further afield Czech Republic with 1395 cases per 100,000. The fact that the rates are increasing in most European countries means that considerable caution needs to be taken in relaxing any border restrictions.

Turning to civil protection there are two important exercises that are about to take place. The first of these is that the National Authority for Emergency and Civil Protection (ANEPC) and the Portuguese Institute for the Sea and the Atmosphere (IPMA) will carry out the NEAMWAVE’21 exercise today, March 10, between 8:30 am and 2:00 pm. NEAMWAVE’21 aims to test the effectiveness and readiness of the Tsunami alert system implemented in the Northeast Atlantic, Mediterranean and Connected Seas (NEAMTWS). There are no sirens or deployments

This is a communications exercise during which the various national and international players will exchange technical-operational notifications with each other related to the eventuality of an earthquake responsible for the generation of a tsunami with an impact on the Portuguese coast.

The second is the ANEPC participation on Thursday 11th March in the ConvEx 2-b exercise under the responsibility of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

The exercise takes place in the context of the implementation of the International Conventions for Mutual Assistance and Rapid Notification in the event of a Nuclear Accident or Radiological Emergency. The exercise scenario relies on a fictional accident arising from the transportation of dangerous materials and involves the discovery of a radiological source. It is thus intended to test the communication and use of the Unified System for Information Exchange in Incidents and Emergencies, as well as training / exercising the issuing of requests and possible responses to requests for assistance of the various IAEA member states.

In fact, Safe Communities participated in one of these in 2018 in Castelo Branco and we learned a great deal from this.

An important announcement for British nationals is that SEF have confirmed to the British Embassy that if you arrived in Portugal before 31st December 2020, and you are not resident or don’t intent to become resident, and you are still in Portugal due to Covid-19 travel restrictions, you do not need a visa or further authorisation to stay in Portugal longer than 90 days. SEF has told the Embassy that this is because you were exercising your right to free movement when you arrived and you are not subject to immigration control.

If you have further queries about this you should contact SEF and be prepared to provide any supporting documentation that may be required.

For those who arrived after 31st December 2020, Schengen rules apply. This means you can stay in the Schengen Area visa-free for up to 90 days in any 180-day period. Any stays beyond that will be dependent on rules applied by the Portuguese authorities.

With that news please – Have a Safe Day

Headlines

“It is possible to overcome this crisis, turn this page and rebuild the country”

Prime Minister António Costa and the Ministers of State, Economy and Digital Transition, Pedro Siza Vieira, State and Foreign Affairs, Santos Silva, State and Presidency, Mariana Vieira da Silva, and State and Finance, João Leão, and the Secretary of State for Parliamentary Affairs, Duarte Cordeiro, represented the Government at the inauguration ceremony of the President of the Republic, which took place in the Assembly of the Republic.

In a statement to the press, the Prime Minister wished President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa “the greatest happiness in the exercise of this mandate that was renewed by the Portuguese”.

He added that, after the President’s inauguration speech “and at the end of such a hard year such as we have been facing collectively, to fight the pandemic, to resist the economic crisis and the social crisis, we all left with another spirit, comforted with the sense of hope and confidence that it is possible to overcome this crisis, to turn this page and rebuild the country”.

António Costa also said that there is “a very clear agenda, not only of institutional cooperation, but of strategic solidarity, which will surely unite the Portuguese, around the mandate of the President of the Republic”.

China launches digital health passport for international travel.

China has launched a digital health passport for its citizens, which can contribute to further opening up Chinese borders.

According to government sources, the “health certificate for international travel” is an application for smartphones that shows and verifies the vaccination history and the results of screening tests for the citizen’s Covid-19.

This passport is intended to “boost the global economic recovery and facilitate” international travel, said a spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

According to AFP, this passport will only be available to people of Chinese nationality and will not, for now, be mandatory.

China’s system includes an encrypted QR Code that allows each country to obtain health information from travellers, Chinese state agency Xinhua said.

The European Commission is expected to present the proposal for a “green passport” on 17th March.

Covid-19

This Tuesday Portugal registers another 30 deaths and 847 new cases of Covid-19, according to the epidemiological bulletin of the Directorate-General for Health (DGS). Details are as follows

Confirmed Cases: 811.306 (+ 847 / + 0.10 %)

Number of admitted: 1.278 (-125 /-8.91 %)

Number of ICU admitted: 312 (-30 /-8.77 %)

Deaths: 16.595 (+ 30 / + 0.18 %)

Recovered: 734.218 (+ 1872 / + 0.26 %)

Active Cases: 60,493 (-1055 / -1.7%)

Despite all this good news it is important not to let our guard down at this crucial time. Those in hospital and ICU remain high. This means complying with the rules in place, – wearing face masks, social distancing, hygiene and no social gatherings.

Health

Covid-19. Pfizer vaccine effective against variant in Brazil.

The vaccine against Covid-19 developed by Pfizer and BioNTech proves to be effective in neutralizing the Brazilian variant of the virus. The conclusion is drawn from a laboratory study, the results of which were published this Monday in the “New England Journal of Medicine”.

The scientists who conducted the study say the effectiveness is almost identical to the effect the vaccine has on an earlier, less contagious version of the virus.

University of Texas researchers analysed blood samples from people who have already been immunized. This allowed us to realize that the vaccine was able to neutralize a manufactured version of SARS-CoV-2 that contained the same mutations as the highly contagious variant identified in Brazil.

Pfizer had previously announced, based on previous studies, that the vaccine was able to respond to other variants, such as that of the United Kingdom and South Africa, despite the latter reducing the protective antibodies provided by the vaccine.

This means that Pfizer is already planning to introduce a third, booster dose, in addition to updating the vaccine to combat the South African variant.

CIP wants day care centres, education up to 6th grade, hairdressers and bookstores to open on Monday.

CIP – Confederação Empresarial de Portugal defends a phased deconfinement plan, with the opening, next Monday, of day care centers, kindergartens and education up to the sixth year, hairdressers, bookstores and used bookstores.

“The economy is closed. Portugal is not working, but the Portuguese are not staying at home!”, Says the CIP, led by António Saraiva, in a document that will be presented at the Government’s meeting with the social partners.

The CIP defends “a de-confinement plan that allows the safe reopening of the various activities and the stabilization of the perspectives for citizens and businessmen”.

Covid-19 Portuguese scientific community in the race for medicines and vaccines

The Covid-19 pandemic has mobilized, over the past year, a significant part of the Portuguese scientific community in the race for vaccines and therapies, including projects aimed at new drugs, cheaper vaccines or in new forms.

At the University of Beira Interior, work is being done on the creation of a nanovacin capable of preventing and treating the disease, the work of Dalinda Eusébio, and a PhD student in Biomedicine.

It is a DNA vaccine, which does not use, like conventional vaccines, a weakened form of the virus, but genetic information that leads the body to recognize components of the virus and to formulate an immune response to it, carried by Nano systems directed to specific cells.

The final form of this vaccine may be a dry powder, which can be administered nasally, without needles and stored outside refrigerators, which may reduce the cost of its production.

In partnership with the Centro Hospitalar Universitário de São João, in Porto, researchers from the Public Health Institute of the University of Porto (ISPUP) are evaluating the efficacy and safety of Montelukast, a medicine used in asthma therapy, as a complement to the treatment of Covid-19.

If the efficacy of this medication is proven, it can “improve the prognosis of patients, the lung and respiratory injuries resulting from SARS-CoV-2 and contribute to reducing the length of hospital stay”, ensures ISPUP.

Also in Porto, researchers from the Health Research and Innovation Institute (i3S) are developing a diagnostic tool for the 45-minute detection of SARS-CoV-2 based on CRISPR-Cas13a [a nucleic acid editing technology.

The “highly sensitive” technique will be able to detect baseline levels of genetic material when coupled with an isothermal amplification system, with the centre estimating that the price per sample is around one euro.

In Faro, the University of Algarve is studying the use of saliva as a sample to detect SARS-CoV-2, a less invasive method than the swab on the nose mucosa.

According to Clévio Nóbrega, from the UAlg Biomedicine Research Center (CBMR), the objective is to try to “validate other methods” for the collection of samples, especially for “children and people with some pathologies”, since the current PCR method is “Very invasive”.

Outbreak of Covid-19 in the home of Reguengos. Order of Doctors urgently requests sight IGAS inquiry.

The Order of Doctors will urgently request the documents related to the inquiry ordered by the Ministry of Health to the outbreak of Covid-19 in the Reguengos de Monsaraz home to analyze and be able to comment.

The conclusions of the IGAS survey, ordered by the Ministry of Health (MS) following the outbreak of covid-19 in the Home of the Maria Inácia Vogado Perdigão Silva Foundation (FMIVPS), in Reguengos de Monsaraz, admit “deontological responsibility” of the doctors who refused to visit the institution following instructions from the Order of Doctors and a union.

The information was released on Monday and the documents relating to the case will be sent to the Public Prosecutor’s Office of Évora, where a criminal investigation is taking place, as well as to the Ministry of Labour, Solidarity and Social Security (MTSSS).

In the note released on Monday, the MS also added that “the Minister of Health asked IGAS to issue and send to the competent entity the report of facts susceptible to deontological responsibility on the part of members of the organs of the Order of Doctors and unions involved”, the competent body being the Medical Association itself.

According to the survey, the illegality issues raised by doctors at local health centres to not visit home users resulted from “instructions received either from the Medical Association or from the SIM (Independent Medical Union), which raised in these a climate of doubt and concern, starting on July 2nd, 2020 “.

“Now, contrary to the positions taken by OM and SIM, IGAS concludes that the determinations of travel by health professionals to the FMIVPS home and to sanitary accommodation did not suffer from any illegality or other legal defect”, the document reads. of the MS, in which it was added that the visits had a legal framework in an order published in April 2020.

IGAS also said that a performance contrary to the stipulated conflict with the Doctors Code of Ethics, in the general principle of cooperation and in the due cooperation for the defence of public health.

Tourism

Tourism will ask the Government for “clear measures” for the sector to suspect. “It will be another blow to miss Easter”.

The de-confinement plan that the Government is going to present to the social partners this Wednesday is awaited with maximum expectation by the tourism sector, one of the most affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.

What we are going to ask the Government for is that the measures it is going to take are clear, transparent and timely, because tourist activities, whether hotels, restaurants or travel agencies, need time to prepare, such as stocks, etc.; we need to have predictability here to organize the operation “, says Francisco Calheiros, president of the Confederation of Tourism of Portugal (CTP).

“We are waiting to see what the Government wants to do and the de-confinement plan it is preparing. It is not up to us, employers’ confederations, to comment on the options that are taken for health security, what is up to us is to alert the Government for the economic consequences, particularly in tourism, if we want to keep the offer installed in the country “, stresses the president of CTP.

Francisco Calheiros stresses that “anything that is restrictive to people’s travels penalizes tourism companies”, so everything that contemplates the plan of the lack of definition to be announced by the Government is awaited with expectation by the sector.

The head of the tourism confederation also points out that “Easter is usually the start of the tourist season, and if it turns out, as it is likely, that Easter is lost, this is yet another blow to the eventual recovery and corporate profitability “.

Teleworking

Government argues that telework regulation should move forward quickly.

Miguel Cabrita, Assistant Secretary of State for Labour and Vocational Training, stated this Tuesday the need to “move fast” with the regulation of telework in order to maximize its opportunities and minimize risks.

The minister spoke at the end of a panel of the high-level conference on the future of work, under the Portuguese presidency of the European Union, stressing the importance of finding a “balance” between teleworking opportunities and risks, defending the need “to move forward quickly for the regulation “of this model, which” is no longer new “, but which was disseminated, albeit asymmetrically among countries, by the Covid-19 pandemic.

“We have to face the challenge of remote work in the context of the future of work, maximize its potential but minimize its risks, and these are challenges that challenge everyone, policy makers, but also the social partners, academia and people”, said Miguel Cabrita.

Covid-19- Resume the sale of take-away drinks now, asks AHRESP.

“Unjustified”. That is how AHRESP.- Association of Hotels, Restaurants and Similars of Portugal classifies the ban on the sale of drinks in take-away, reiterating the need for the measure “to be revoked”.

The objective is to prevent the consumption of products at the door of the establishment or in its surroundings, which is already prohibited, and not the sale, which only harms the already difficult situation of our companies”, says the association at a time when it is beginning talking about the model to follow in the deflation.

“The prohibition on catering and beverage establishments to sell any type of drink in the scope of take-away is not understood, including coffee”, reiterates AHRESP to add that the current situation “is absolutely incomprehensible”.

“The sale of drinks does not represent any added risk”, he justifies.

Enforcement

The PSP investigated 63,688 people and made 49 arrests between January 15th and March 1st as part of the mandatory confinement of citizens infected with the new coronavirus or under active surveillance by decision of the health authorities.

According to data from the Criminal Investigation Department of the National Directorate of the PSP, between January 15th (date when Portugal entered a new general confinement due to the worsening of the Covid-19 pandemic) and March 1st, 938 news reports were collected for the purposes of criminal proceedings.

Speaking to Lusa, sub intendent Carlos Lourenço, from the Criminal Investigation Department, said that in the Lisbon area 14 292 citizens were investigated, 17 people were arrested for non-compliance with the obligation of mandatory confinement and 733 documents were raised.

Despite the numbers, the sub intendent considered that the balance of this period is “very positive”: “These inspections allowed to control the main points of contagion. Today we have a decrease in the number of contagions and the situation is much better than in January”.

The inspection directed at the mandatory confinement of citizens diagnosed with Covid-19 or who are under active surveillance is carried out by criminal investigation agents to the civilian, on a daily basis, after the lists have been sent to them by the health authorities.

Unemployment Benefit

Ombudsman asks for solution for those who lost unemployment benefit between June and December 2020.

The Ombudsman’s Office today warned of the situation of people whose unemployment benefit ended by December 31st, 2020 and who were excluded from the measure that prolongs that support for another six months, asking for a solution.

At the origin of this alert are the more than two dozen complaints that came to the office of Maria Lúcia Amaral from people who, having seen their unemployment benefit end between June 30th and December 31st, 2020 and whose condition of resources did not allow them accessing social unemployment benefit, they fell into a situation of social deprotection since the automatic extension for another six months of the unemployment benefit provided for in the State Budget for 2021 (OE2021) includes only those who cease this benefit during the year of 2021.

In a letter sent to the Secretary of State for Social Security, Gabriel Basto, today published on the Ombudsman’s website, the Deputy Ombudsman, Joaquim Cardoso da Costa, argues that these people “should be given special attention in order to be social protection close to that foreseen for beneficiaries whose unemployment benefit ends in 2021”.

The OE2021 determines that “the periods of granting unemployment benefit that end in 2021 are, exceptionally, extended by six months”.

“In addition, when comparing the situation of beneficiaries whose unemployment benefits ended by 12/30/2020 with that of beneficiaries whose benefit will end in 2021, it is clear that the disparity in social protection conferred in both cases is clear”, says the letter.

The letter also recalls that the worker whose unemployment benefit ended between June 30th, 2020 and December 30th, 2020 and who did not access the social unemployment benefit because he did not meet the resource condition requirements, “may, at most and apparently, accessing extraordinary support for workers’ income (AERT) under the less favourable conditions established for access to it ”.

Spain extends restrictions on passengers from the UK, Brazil and South Africa

Spain extended until March 30th the restrictions in force for passengers entering the country from the United Kingdom, by air and sea, and also flights from Brazil and South Africa.

The decision announced today by the Spanish executive’s spokeswoman, María Jesús Montero, is taken to protect the health of citizens and control the spread of new variants of the Covid-19 virus.

With some exceptions, the travel in question can only be carried out when transporting exclusively Spanish citizens and residents in Spain, as well as residents of Andorra and their nationals, and passengers in international transit to a country that does not belong to the Schengen area with a stopover less than 24 hours and without leaving the transit zone of the Spanish airport.

According to the spokeswoman, the decision is part of the action determined by Madrid to protect the health and safety of the country’s citizens, contain the progression of the disease and strengthen the health and social and health systems, all following the recommendations in the field of European coordination in the fight against the pandemic.

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