[ad_1]
“It is not worth having the illusion that we face this pandemic without pain,” warned the head of the Government, during the ceremony in which the construction of the new Central Alentejo Hospital in Évora was awarded.
António Costa said that, “as a general rule,” one learns in life that “no disease without pain” is treated, exemplifying: “a vaccine is essential, but the injection hurts” and “operations are necessary, but they hurt.”
“The fight against this pandemic is also painful. We must alleviate the pain, but we must do it to save the health of all, to save our life in society and also to save the National Health Service (SNS) and the capacity that will never be it can stop responding to those in need, “he said.
Qualifying as “exceptional” the work carried out by professionals who are “on the front lines of the fight against covid”, the prime minister pointed out that “there is something that neither the doctors, nor the nurses, nor the operational assistants, nor the NHS can do “. , which is what is upstream “.
“It is what depends exclusively on us, which is to stop the pandemic, because if we all get sick, then, effectively, there is no SNS to help us,” he warned, considering that “the only and best way” for the Portuguese to help is avoiding getting sick and transmitting the disease to other people.
Costa acknowledged that the fight against the covid-19 pandemic “is tough, it disrupts life a lot and has very high economic costs for commerce, restaurants and everyone,” but noted that “there are not many alternatives.”
“Between the confinement all week and the confinement at the weekend, it is difficult to choose, but we have to choose which is the lesser evil,” he stressed.
In his speech, the CEO said that, next year, Portugal “will go from last place in the European Union to the average of the European Union” in terms of the number of intensive care beds according to its population, after “a struggle to increase beds and ventilators and mobilize human resources ”.
António Costa revealed that hospitals are being strengthened with the entry of “48 intensive care physicians” and that “46 will begin training in January,” referring that intensive care nurses and ventilators are also being hired.
Costa says that “there is more life beyond covid” and wants to increase investment
The President of the Government, António Costa, argued today that “there is more life beyond the covid” and considered it “absolutely urgent” to increase public investment in Portugal, which has already grown 20% this year, despite the pandemic.
“Today, the priority is very clear” and goes through fighting the covid-19 pandemic, “taking care of the economic and social recovery” of the country, said the head of government.
It is necessary to “rebuild” the country so that, “in the future, it will be more resistant to adverse situations, whether they are financial crises like the one in 2011, or pandemic crises like the one we are experiencing in 2020, knowing that there is always more life beyond ‘covid,’ ”he continued.
And, in this line of action, “the increase in public investment is absolutely urgent”, considered the Prime Minister, referring that, “throughout this year, despite the pandemic crisis” of covid-19, this ” increased by 20% ”.
The State Budget (OE) “which is under consideration in the Assembly of the Republic provides for an increase in public investment by another 23.2%,” Costa said.
“The country was not rich and was not enriched by the pandemic, but we have to mobilize all our resources so that it is possible to increase this level of investment”, for the infrastructure “that the country needs” in the areas of health, education, mobility , environment, among others, alluded to.
[Atualizada às 14:13]