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More than half of those newly infected with covid-19 in Portugal are between 20 and 49 years old, which is “protective against mortality”. Gaia and Guimarães are currently the municipalities with the highest incidence of infections per 100,000 inhabitants.
Guimarães and Vila Nova de Gaia are now part of the municipalities with an incidence rate “higher than the rest of the country,” said the Director General of Health, at the press conference on Monday on the epidemiological situation in Portugal, in one day. in which the country registered 613 more cases and four deaths from covid-19. “Regarding the critical areas, most of the municipalities are still in the Lisbon region and the Tagus Valley, and Guimarães and Vila Nova de Gaia are also the municipalities with the highest incidence per 100,000 inhabitants,” said Graça Freitas.
More than 50% of newly infected people are between 20 and 49 years old.
Portugal faces a “new phase of the pandemic”. More than 51% of the infections registered in the last 24 hours occurred in people between 20 and 49 years old, said António Lacerda Sales. On the other hand, only 10% of the 613 new cases are over 70 years old.
If, on the one hand, the percentages are “good news” because they show that the health of the most vulnerable age group has been preserved, “they also require” collective reflection on individual behaviors, “the official warned, recalling that, in a When we return from vacation and the beginning of the school year, “we cannot doubt in this way of containment, which is the only one we have.” The National Health Service must continue to “respond to this disease and all the others,” he added. Lacerda Sales, ensuring that, for now, there is no pressure on the health system, there are 21,500 beds and 400 hospitalizations.
“This pattern that we are seeing, where new cases appear mainly in young people and adults of working age, is protective in relation to mortality”added Graça Freitas, also establishing a difference in relation to the first epidemic phase, in which the fatality was greater.
Regarding the contacts of infected people, the Director General of Health clarified that there are two types: those at risk, which are those that have been less than two meters for more than 15 minutesand low risk, which are those who shared the same space with infected but without direct contact with them. “Ideally, the test should be done in 48 hours.”
Sixth largest test in the EU
The Secretary of State noted the efforts that Portugal has made to expand laboratory testing capacity, with 102 laboratories now conducting detection tests for covid-19. Along the same lines, Friday was the day in which the largest number of tests (21,700) was carried out since the start of the pandemic. Portugal has a ratio of 222,527 tests per million inhabitants, “the sixth largest among the EU countries”.
Stadiums with no public in sight and Fatima worried
“The health authorities do not abdicate and cannot abdicate using all legal and public health means to prevent the spread of the virus,” said Lacerda Sales, confronted by an eventual public return to football, guaranteeing, however, that the Government will commits to allowing all sports to return to normal. “When the country goes into a state of contingency, football, or any other activity, should not give signals to the contrary,” he said, adding that “football must want to maintain the image it left at the end of last season. “and” will not want. They certainly evaluate the scientific norms of public health ”, in the same way that the health authorities do not evaluate football issues.
Regarding the meeting of people registered in the Sanctuary of Fatima on Sunday, the official admitted that “the institution would not be expecting to have so many people” (as is not common on September 13), having blocked the entrances when he realized. “It is important that, on October 13, the institution is duly prevented and prepared to guarantee the safety of the community and respect the rules of the DGS,” he added, adding that a request for a meeting with the Ministry of Health of the Church. of the Sanctuary of Fatima, which “reveals concern.”
Equal rules for public schools and universities
In the case of Colégio St. Julian’s, in Carcavelos, which sent classes home after four positive cases were detected, Graça Freitas assured that the DGS rules are generalized to the public and private and explained that “there are degrees of freedom that can be taken as long as they do not endanger public health. ” “If it had been the other way around, if public health had been at stake, then there would have been an intervention,” she said.
“Difficult” to speak already in the second wave
Asked by journalists whether Portugal is experiencing a second wave of the epidemic, the director general of Health assumed that there was a “noticeable” increase in the number of cases, but said that it was “difficult” to answer the question, since ” this is the first time “that the country and the world are dealing with the virus. “What we do know is that, when evaluating the epidemic curve, we are experiencing an increase in the curve, but only in a few days will we see if this trend continues and at what level it will continue.”
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