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The Prime Minister has just announced that the country will re-enter a state of calamity. With this novelty, there is also a set of new muscular rules to contain the pandemic, including the prohibition of gatherings of more than five people and the recommendation to wear a mask even on the street, which can become law.
At the end of the Council of Ministers on Wednesday, António Costa began by acknowledging that the evolution of the pandemic in Portugal is, at this time, “serious”. And for that reason, the Government decided to apply eight new measures to try to counteract this trend. They are:
– Raise the state of alert throughout the country, from the current state of contingency to the state of calamity;
– Prohibition of meetings of more than five people in the street, in commercial spaces and restaurants;
– Maximum fifty guests to weddings and baptisms, who must wear a mask and comply with the rules (only applies for those who are scheduled from now on);
– Prohibit academic celebrations and other non-academic events in educational establishments;
– Raise the fines for establishments that do not comply with the regulations up to ten thousand euros;
– Reinforcement of inspection measures for both establishments and individuals
– We “strongly” recommend wearing masks on the street and installing the Stayaway Covid;
– Present to Parliament, this Wednesday, an “urgent” proposal for the use of a mask to be compulsory on the street, “with common sense” – that is, when there is a concentration of people – as well as the installation of application “in work, school and academic contexts, in the armed and security forces and in the public administration “.
The measures, Costa guarantees, are being taken within what has been the Government’s philosophy: trying to contain the evolution without doing more than necessary. But the level of alert can even increase if the effect is not the desired one: “We can evolve to other states if the circumstances require it. We will take measures whenever they are justified as necessary.” It seems appropriate, ”the prime minister explained.
For now, the main objectives are to safeguard the capacity of the NHS, including assistance activities that are not related to covid; “proceed without incident” or “disruption” the school year; and avoid measures that “deepen the crisis.” Always with a message: individual behavior, insists the Government, will be essential to run this “marathon.” “Controlling the pandemic is totally up to us.”
Different measures
Asked about the case of contagion of Minister Manuel Heitor and the rules that were imposed on members of the Government, as well as the disparities in relation to the measures taken in other cases, Costa emphasizes that “the circumstances are different in each case” and that the Government followed the indications of the Health authorities. Therefore, he justified, is that there was greater care in the case of the Minister of Environment and the Secretary of State for Higher Education, who had had “prolonged” conversations or meetings with Heitor.
The measures now applied will be evaluated in 15 days, Costa explained, adding that the President of the Republic was previously informed about these changes.
