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A Christmas with some relief from restrictions, with confidence in the “exemplary” behavior of the Portuguese, but that “it will not be normal”, this was the scenario set for December 24 and 25 during the week’s meeting of experts passed on Infarmed, and then confirmed by António Costa, this Saturday, when he announced the measures for the Christmas season.
The Prime Minister assumed that the Government wanted to provide “a stable framework” of reference for the vacation period and guaranteed to have “the certainty that families will know how to organize themselves,” so the Government has not approved measures or limits for family reunions. as will happen in several European countries, which limit meetings to six or ten people.
The experts heard by the PUBLIC agree that it would not make sense to limit the number of attendees to Christmas tables, on the one hand, because it is difficult to define this “magic number”, which varies from family to family, and, on the other, because it would be complicated to monitor. compliance with this measure. However, they say that it is necessary to give citizens clearer guidelines for that moment, and ask families to start talking to each other and think about how they will organize a safe Christmas.
“I think we needed a clear set of rules for Christmas, things that people could do in their homes, not imposed rules. There are precautions that many times we already have, but that must be communicated well ”, says Bernardo Gomes, who assures that it is not a question of“ what can I do ”, but rather“ what should I do ”.
Constantino Sakellarides says, in turn, that there are still population groups outside of certain measures and stresses that communication must reach all these people. He agrees with the idea of a guide for these occasions, but says that we should not expect the government to assume a “paternalistic position”. “We must look at the example of neighbors and friends, real and not abstract examples, to organize ourselves. And we can let people think of their own solutions with the information and knowledge they have, and that is not happening enough, “says the former director general of Health, who says that we will only know if the measures adopted by the court during the holidays they were enough when it was over.
The “four golden measures” for a safe Christmas
There are four gold measures to consider for Christmas, according to Bernardo Gomes. Although none is an obligation, all can contribute to “minimize the risk” of contagion in family life: do your Christmas shopping early; avoid encounters with people outside the social circle; not spending Christmas Eve with the family and stay home if you have any symptoms suggestive of covid-19; and do seven to ten days before December 24 and 25 “especially restricted in terms of contacts”. “If we do this, we will have less consequences for the Christmas gatherings. There will always be consequences, it will not be indolent for people to get together on those nights because not all the rules are always respected, but we all have to try to minimize the risk ”, he says.
Admitting that in certain families it is difficult to maintain a limited life, for example, ten people, the expert says that it is easier to control the possible appearance of several cases if this bubble is maintained, which must be made up of the closest family. Especially since, according to him, it is normal for there to be some relaxation in the use of a mask and distance when contacts are prolonged. “It is preferable not to take risks and to hold meetings with small groups. With larger groups that bring together different families, the most vulnerable should be placed at the end of the table, along with the usual contacts ”, warns Bernardo Gomes.
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“We are in a situation that is not comfortable”
Although the measures announced by the Government for the Christmas season have been softened, Raquel Duarte, from the Institute of Public Health of the University of Porto (ISPUP), warns that Portugal continues “in a situation that is not comfortable.”
“We are seeing a decrease in the number of new cases and a stabilization in the number of hospitalizations in nursing and intensive care, but we are still in a worrying situation. We have an average of 4 thousand cases per day and it must be remembered that in September we had an average of 400. If we start to see an increase in social interactions, something that will happen with Christmas, the situation will get worse. To avoid all this, it is necessary to start thinking about Christmas now and for the population to be well informed of what it can and cannot do ”, says the public health specialist.
And how can families organize themselves? They need to talk and understand who can spend the holiday season with whom, ideally with as few guests as possible. Raquel Duarte says that she does not believe in a “magic number” of family members who can meet at the table, but in respecting the measures that are already known, such as wearing a mask when not eating and the distance of at least one meter and medium. And above all, he says that we must realize that we will not be able to have a Christmas like the one in recent years. “The fact that we can move around the municipality and we do not have a limit for family reunions does not mean that we can do everything as before,” says Raquel Duarte.
A new year more restricted than Christmas
It is common for dinners and lunches on December 24 and 25 to be spent with different parts of the family, but Raquel Duarte emphasizes that this year this cannot happen. “We cannot meet with different people at each meal, it is a big mistake. Having the same group that remains these days is very important or we run the risk that one person could infect several households ”, he says.
And in the New Year, when it is customary to gather not only family, but large groups of friends, we must be even more cautious. The public health expert ensures that the strictest measures for the last day of 2020 and the first day of 2021 make sense. “At Christmas we all want to be with family, but at New Years we really have to pay more attention to our behaviors.”
Bernardo Gomes, for his part, believes that the review of the measures for the festive season that will be carried out on the 18th by the Government, may include changes for the new year that, according to the specialist, should be “even more restrictive than Christmas ”, Because there is still a” dangerous week “between the two celebrations. “Sometimes we have the feeling that everyone already knows what behaviors to have, but in the last few days I have heard people say that now we can have events with a lot of people. It is not because it is not forbidden that people do not protect themselves because if there is a lot of facilitation at Christmas and New Years we will have a very difficult January ”, he warns.
In order for Portugal to reach the Christmas season with the least possible number of cases, the municipalities with a very high and extreme risk of transmitting COVID-19 will once again have a driving ban on public roads starting at 1:00 p.m. next weekends. week.
