[ad_1]
It was almost eight hours of meeting of the Council of Ministers and, in the end, the message was not the most encouraging. The prime minister warned this Thursday that an additional effort will be needed to control the pandemic, updated the map of municipalities with greater risk., he warned that the rule is to stay at home and that it is necessary to defend the National Health Service. About Christmas? In the best of scenarios, António Costa said, “families have to prepare to celebrate Christmas differently.” “We cannot all be together and we will have to separate. Larger families will have to do this. This meeting is not possible without risk of transmission, “he added, noting that” much of the contamination occurred at family gatherings.
“I understand that we are all tired. I just ask you to imagine how tired those in hospitals are. That is what I hope you understand ”, he declared. The Prime Minister clarified that now “the rule is this: we must stay home.” Even so, he returned to Include exceptions: “If someone forgot to buy milk, people who have to go for a walk with the animals or who have to go for a walk.” “But you can’t make an exception to the rule,” he replied.
Since March, the Government has “sought to achieve a balance between controlling the pandemic and disturbing people’s lives as little as possible,” Costa described, calling for an “additional effort to create a positive dynamic” in containing the pandemic situation. “The support we have to give health professionals who are at the forefront is to give our best too,” he summarized. And he recalled that the Government is criticized by some for applying the measures belatedly and by others for being excessive.
“It’s all my fault. The messenger misunderstood the message”
Costa did not rule out responsibilities and admitted failures in communication. “It’s all my fault. The messenger misinterpreted the message. And, therefore, the message is now very simple: the rule is to stay home,” he insisted.all exceptions are eliminated, in particular those that have had a wrong interpretation ”, he said, without refraining, however, from pointing out the finger to “some sectors of activity and business associations” and the that “begins to think how to circumvent these measures.” “What I saw was a great misunderstanding and, in the face of abuse, what we have to do is a clear rule,” he shot.
Compared to the first wave, the president of the Executive reaffirmed that “the situation is serious and more critical.” “We have to regret the number of new deaths higher than the first wave,” he said, praising in the way the “exemplary civic behavior” adopted by the Portuguese. And he recalled that the measures applied in the first wave were “much tougher and the situation less serious” than the current one.
“We had to reach a state of emergency because the state of disaster was not enough. When we differentiate these municipalities according to severity, we anticipate that those with a very serious situation will have to have stricter measures, ”justified Costa. And he highlighted: “We have a fundamental responsibility, which is to safeguard people’s lives. If we start thinking about how to circumvent the measures, obviously we will end up contaminated ”.
“It is impossible not to think that we are going to have a new state of emergency”
A total of seven counties will no longer appear on the list as of 00:00 this Friday, and another 77 will enter as of 00:00 next Monday. There are now 191 counties that are considered high risk. The criterion for a municipality to enter the ‘black list’ is the registration of more than 240 new cases of contagion per 100,000 inhabitants in the last two weeks. The European Center for Disease Prevention and Control defines this situation as uncontrolled. The exception is for localized outbreaks, eg, in households, in low-density counties.
Portugal is experiencing a new state of emergency since Monday, which runs until the 23rd, and the assessment of a possible renewal will only be made in the next Council of Ministers. “It is impossible not to think that we are going to have a new state of emergency,” he said, adding that “the data is there” and insisted on the need to “limit social contacts as much as possible.” But Costa admitted that from that date on, a differentiation of measures in the 191 highest-risk municipalities can be justified, whether the state of emergency is renewed or not. “It is necessary to adjust the measures to the specific gravity of the situation in these different counties”, clarified the Prime Minister. In this sense, Costa asked the Minister of Health to define a scale of measures that should be adopted as of November 24.
The CEO explained that it is a temporary effort. “When yesterday the European Center came to say that it is credible to have the expectation that in the first half of the year a vaccine may be available, this is an effort for the next few months until we have a vaccine,” he said. And he concluded with a positive message: “It is not about changing our life forever.”
