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Portuguese authorities believe that the sharp rise in infection is due to the spread of the British virus mutation that was first detected in south-east England.
On Friday, 234 new deaths per corona were recorded, which is another record. The number of hospital admissions and corona patients in intensive care units has also reached new heights.
Both the covid-19 wards and intensive care units have exhausted 90% of capacity and the public health service is under enormous pressure.
Opened. Then came the message of terror
In the last 14 days, Portugal has registered 1,349 infected and 21 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants. In Norway, the same figures are 121 and 1.4.
Ambulances wait hours
14,000 new cases of infection were also registered on Friday. In total, almost 610,000 people have been diagnosed with covid-19 among the more than ten million inhabitants of Portugal. Almost 10,000 people have died with covid-19.
At Lisbon’s largest hospital, Santa María, more than a dozen ambulances lined a side street on Friday, waiting to deliver COVID-19 patients to doctors. In some hospitals, ambulance drivers have reported having to wait for hours.
“Brutal pressure”
In Santa María, employees work under brutal pressure, according to the hospital’s COVID-19 director, Anabela Riviera.
– If this pressure continues, the public health service will collapse if such a high number of patients still arrive, he told reporters outside the hospital on Friday.
– Third wave potential
– This is the most critical moment of the pandemic, he added.
Patients in the ambulances are examined by doctors who assess whether they need urgent help as the hospital’s capacity has nearly exploded, according to hospital sources.
Stops flights from the UK
Portuguese authorities will suspend all flights to and from the UK from Saturday for fear of the British variant of the virus, which is believed to be much more contagious than other corona variants.
Tens of thousands of Britons, many of them retired, live in Portugal. At the same time, hundreds of thousands of Portuguese have worked in Great Britain in recent years. Starting Saturday, only citizens who want to return home will be able to travel between the two countries, according to the government.
Despite the dramatic contagion situation, Portugal will hold elections for a new president on Sunday.
