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Hundreds of people challenged this Saturday the measures imposed by the Government to alleviate the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, with calls for “freedom” and “truth”, in a demonstration held in Praça do Rossio, in Lisbon. The national mobilization, which brought together several groups, aimed to oppose several restrictive measures that they consider unconstitutional, including the use of mandatory masks on the street.
“It is not about being against the use of masks, it is about being against measures that, in most cases, are completely irrational, because they are not effective,” said Gonçalo Martins, one of those responsible for organizing the manifestation. Without masks and without social distancing, the protesters carried several posters, which read, among others, “Down with the dictatorship”, “Masks generate distrust”, “They promote health instead of fear” or “Fear is not the vaccine” , while the speeches were made in a stage set up for this purpose.
“The masks that are used are not effective in containing the virus. The virus is retained somewhere in the mask, but the mask has a side opening. The glasses fog up, it means that the water vapor comes out of me through the mask. When the water vapor arrives, the virus will also come, ”said the 44-year-old environmental engineer and occupational health and safety technician.
Stating that the fight against the pandemic is being treated “in a technically inconsistent way and, perhaps, with little identification of the realities that each one is protecting with the use of the mask”, Gonçalo Martins also lamented the lack of reading of the language. in interpersonal communication, for not being able to see the mouth.
Asked about the possibility of a Covid-19 outbreak among the members of the demonstration, the protester denied the risk of transmission. “Taking into account the data that has been analyzed and is available, only a small percentage may eventually need hospital treatment and even a smaller one for treatment in intensive care units. The probability that someone here will contract the disease is very low, ”he said.
In the manifesto manifested, the group “Verdade Inconveniente” asks, in addition to the “optional use of masks”, the revision of the “guidelines for the school year” and the “excess of protectionism in homes and reception centers”, as well as “ regularization of services in the National Health System ”and the“ revocation of the state of calamity ”, among other measures.
On Friday, in a global final vote, Parliament approved a PSD bill that imposes the mandatory use of masks in public spaces and provides for fines of between 100 and 500 euros for non-interpreters.
The PSD diploma, which was inspired by a government law proposal, although “disaggregated”, was voted in general, specialty and global final and, in the last vote, had votes against IL, abstentions from BE, PCP, Greens and Joacine Katar Moreira, with the favorable vote of the remaining seats. The only deputy from Chega was not present at the vote.
