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The President of the Republic called the parties to Belém to discuss the state of emergency and the State Budget for 2021. In the statements made after the meetings, the parties revealed some of the measures that the Government has on the table in a new state of exception, which will begin on November 24.
15 more days of state of emergency
One thing seems certain: the President of the Republic will extend the state of emergency for another 15 days. Even the Assembly of the Republic is ready to debate and vote on the new presidential decree on Friday at 9 am, before starting the discussion on the State Budgets in particular. Leaving the meeting with Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa on Tuesday, João Cotrim de Figueiredo announced that the “President is in the mood” to renew the state of emergency. 15 days ago, Marcelo assumed that the current state of emergency would be “more soft”,“ Very different from the previous one ”,“ more limited ”and“ preventive effects ”, but also longer. “It should be much more than 15 days,” reinforced Prime Minister António Costa.
Christmas news only in early December.
The analysis of the statistics for the month of November – almost entirely, in a state of emergency and with a curfew – will be essential to decide how the Portuguese can spend Christmas. The Government plans to decide and announce the restrictions for the Christmas period in the first week of December, between 2 and 4, at a time when the country will continue to experience the second state of emergency.
Closing of universities and main commercial areas
Until decisions are made about the Christmas season, the executive is considering new restrictions, namely, the closure of universities and polytechnics with poles in municipalities that fall on the contagion severity scale, as well as the closure of large commercial areas , including shopping centers and hypermarkets. . In primary and secondary schools, face-to-face education will remain preferential. This, Marcelo told the Os Verdes Ecologist Party, are some of the measures that are on the table of the António Costa Government, in addition to the creation of the scale of municipalities with severity levels based on the number of active cases of contagion in a proportion of 100 thousand inhabitants. .
Municipalities divided by risk levels
They are not traffic lights, but almost. The Government is studying a solution that involves differentiating measures at the municipal level, a scale that will have stricter restrictions the higher the incidence of the pandemic.
Counties up to 240 active infections per 100,000 inhabitants in the last 14 days: without special restrictions on schedules or mobility despite being under the supervision of the state of emergency that applies throughout the national territory, with measures such as control of body temperature, the performance of diagnostic tests for SARS-CoV-2 to those who it goes, for example, to the health center, to students and education workers, to visitors from nursing homes.
Counties that have between 240 and 480 active infections per 100,000 inhabitants in the last 14 days: they occupy the lowest level of restrictions, maintain a curfew between 11 pm and 5 am seven days a week, and can see universities and polytechnics closed.
Counties that have between 480 and 960 active infections per 100,000 inhabitants in the last 14 days: At this intermediate level of severity, in addition to the curfew between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m. and the closure of higher education establishments, they may also be forced to close the largest commercial areas, in particular hypermarkets and shopping centers, in certain Schedule.
Counties with an average of more than 960 active infections per 100,000 inhabitants in the last 14 days: In addition to all the restrictions of the previous levels, there is a mandatory curfew on Saturdays and Sundays between 1:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m., as happened last weekend.
