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“My position is the one adopted by the Church for May 13,” Lusa Maria dos Anjos Esperança, coordinator of the Public Health Unit (USP) of the Middle Tajo Health Center Group (ACES), told the agency today. having defended the “ceremonies, yes, but without pilgrims” in that municipality of the Santarém district.
“The Church that did so well on May 13, broadcasting the ceremonies so that everyone could follow them, I believe that now in October, for the benefit of the population, for the benefit of all, it could also adopt this position. I am of that opinion “he affirmed.
Maria dos Anjos Esperança observed that, “people also behaved very well on May 13, they did not go to Fatima and they perfectly understood the situation we were experiencing”, alluding to the covid-19 pandemic.
“With the increase in cases that have been occurring lately, not only in the country but in many other European countries, I am of the opinion that ceremonies are held in Fatima, but without pilgrims,” he insisted.
Access to the Sanctuary of Fátima, in the municipality of Ourém, was blocked on Sunday, September 13, when the religious complex reached the maximum capacity allowed in the context of the 19 covid pandemic, said the institution’s spokeswoman.
The general director of health, Graça Freitas, said Wednesday that it did not seem “expected” that the sanctuary of Fátima had 55,000 people at the ceremonies on October 13 and said that the authorities were not even contacted on the matter.
At a press conference in Lisbon about the covid-19 pandemic, and a question about how he sees the doubts of the President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, about the possibility of more than 50,000 people in the Sanctuary on October 13, Graça Freitas replied that the Directorate General of Health (DGS) “does not know” where this number comes from.
“There was no request for an opinion, no contingency plan, no plan from the Sanctuary, so it does not seem to us that it is expected that, being in a contingency situation, with an epidemic on the rise, and despite (or) the DGS nor from any other health authority consulted in this regard, we do not expect 55 thousand people in the sanctuary, ”said Graça Freitas.
Even so, the official said that it was an early assessment, because the DGS hopes to “be able to collaborate” and “help the Sanctuary,” and for that it is necessary to have conversations and a contingency plan.
On Tuesday, the President of the Republic said he feared that the perception of society on October 13, in Fatima, with 50 thousand people, will be less positive than that of the authorities involved, given the increase in people infected by covid-19.
The covid-19 pandemic has already claimed at least 941,473 deaths and more than 29.9 million cases of infection in 196 countries and territories, according to a report by the French agency AFP.
In Portugal, 1,888 people died from 66,396 confirmed cases of infection, according to the most recent bulletin from the Directorate General of Health.
