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The Government is considering creating three levels of municipalities and adopting different measures to contain covid-19 in each one. In the new state of emergency, the aim is to divide the 308 municipalities of the country into three levels, based on the incidence of covid-19 per 100,000 inhabitants in the last 14 days, applying more restrictive measures in a staggered manner, depending on of the risk of contagion of the disease, in the regions with more than 240 cases, a criterion set to be considered high risk. Currently, 188 municipalities are in this situation, and the Executive is considering maintaining the mandatory collection on weekends only for 28 municipalities that will be included in the highest step and that are marked as the highest risk with more than 960 cases, 160 municipalities releasing this measure, revealed a source close to the case to Jornal Economico.
“The Government considers applying the mandatory collection on weekends from 1 to 5 am only in municipalities with more than 960 cases per 100,000 inhabitants in the last 14 days, which will mean that in the remaining steps only mandatory collection during week (from 11 pm to 5 am), adding in the intermediate step other measures such as the possibility of closing large stores on weekends ”, revealed the same source.
The information on the creation of risk tranches by municipalities with differentiated measures was revealed this Tuesday by the deputy José Luís Ferreira, of the ENP, after leaving a meeting with the President of the Republic. The measure is being studied in the context of the renewal of the state of emergency, which was enacted on November 9 and is in force until November 23, and must be extended for another 15 days, anticipating that, as of November 24, only high-risk counties will have a mandatory curfew on weekends. Thus, this weekend the restrictions that cover 191 municipalities in the country and that impose a curfew at 1:00 p.m. must be maintained.
According to the parliamentarian, the Executive is considering defining three levels of risk, adapting the measures to each situation, scaling the municipalities according to severity, under the state of emergency. In other words, in the strictest range of restrictions, municipalities with more than 960 cases per 100 thousand inhabitants can enter; in the intermediate step those between 480 and 960 can enter; and the lowest level should include those municipalities in which the incidence is between 240 and 480 cases.
According to data from the DGS on the incidence in the last 14 days of coronavirus infections in the different regions, there are currently 188 municipalities above the threshold of 240 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, a criterion proposed to be considered high risk.
Of this total, with the expected renewal of the state of emergency, 28 municipalities (with more than 960 cases) will thus be covered by the strictest regulations, such as the curfew at 1:00 p.m. on the weekend, as well as the other measures planned for the highest risk counties between November 9 and 23, such as the closing of large commercial areas at 1 pm and the limited hours of restaurants to serve meals in these spaces. In this case, there are currently regions such as Felgueiras, Guarda, Guimarães, Lousada, Matosinhos, Oliveira de Azeméis and Paços de Ferreira, among others.
62 municipalities will now enter the intermediate range (between 480 and 960 cases), where curfews can go down from 1:00 p.m. on weekends, while other more restrictive measures remain, such as the closure of large areas commercials on weekends, and mandatory curfew for high-risk counties during the week (between 11 pm and 5 am). Counties such as Almada, Braga, Bragança, Cascais, Chaves, Estremoz, Fundão Gondomar, Lisboa, Loures, Odivelas, Ovar, Santarém, Setúbal, Sines, Vila Nova de Gaia and Vila Real are in this situation, among others.
In the range of 240 to 480 cases, which encompasses 98 regions, the least rigid measures will be applied in turn, being the most restrictive for restaurants and large commercial areas, in addition to the weekend curfew. In this first step are, among others, the municipalities of Albufeira, Amadora, Aveiro, Barreiro, Beja, Benavente, Borba, Cabeceiras de Basto, Castelo Branco, Coimbra, Covilhã, Évora, Faro, Sintra, Viana do Castelo and Viseu.
In the total of the first two steps, the mandatory curfew on weekends may cease to cover a total of 160 municipalities of the 188 that the DGS has established as the highest risk.
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