[ad_1]
The current evolution of the pandemic in Portugal will lead the Government to consider new measures to stop the increase in the number of infected. The National Health Service is already under heavy pressure, according to official data from Tuesday, 1747 people hospitalized with Covid-19. Thus, the Government is going to take a series of “immediate actions”, the Express learned.
To do this, the Prime Minister summoned the parties with seats in the Assembly of the Republic for a hearing on Friday and convened an extraordinary Council of Ministers for Saturday to define possible new measures to control the pandemic. In recent days, the possibility has arisen that the Government will move towards more restrictive measures, and there is the defense, by some experts, of the need for curfews. For that, it would be necessary to decree a new state of emergency, which can only be decided by the President of the Republic.
In fact, several municipalities of Greater Porto are calling for new measures and suggesting a curfew for the region that has experienced, in recent days, a more accelerated growth compared to the rest of the country.
In addition to the hearings and the Council of Ministers, the Minister of Health, Marta Temido, and the Minister of State and Presidency, Mariana Vieira da Silva, are already listening to epidemiologists. In turn, the Minister of Economy, Pedro Siza Vieira, is listening to the social partners, in an attempt to balance the two scales: taking measures to control the pandemic, without carrying out a new lockdown that compromises the functioning of the economy.
Although each country acts for itself, an extraordinary European Council was scheduled for Thursday, which takes place at the end of the day by videoconference. The objective is to seek a coordinated response at the European level for the second wave of Covid-19.
The Government’s decision comes at a time when the State Budget is being discussed in the State Budget, which has already been approved in general.
