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The Prime Minister, António Costa, admitted this Thursday in Brussels that he does not like the solution to impose the use of a mask and the StayAway Covid application, but considered that it would be “irresponsible” to see “without respite” the constant increase in cases. of covid-19.
“If you ask me if it’s a proposal that I like, I don’t like it. I don’t like bans. Now, there’s one thing I notice: we can’t be afraid to see a growing number of numbers. […] and don’t react. Now, there are not three or four ways to react. There are two: either stop activities, and that has a huge social and economic cost, or change behaviors, “he declared.” I hate being authoritarian but we have to control the pandemic, “he emphasized.
António Costa, who is in Brussels for a European summit, said he was aware that the proposal that the Government presented the day before to the Assembly of the Republic has an authoritarian character – “if I did not think that [as medidas] they were not [autoritárias]”It would have been adopted a long time ago,” he observed, “but he insisted that the fundamental thing is to preserve the capacity of the National Health Service and” ensure at all costs that the teaching activity does not suffer any problems “, and that it is not necessary to adopt measures that return to aggravate the economic and social crisis.
“We understand that it was necessary to present to the Assembly of the Republic a proposal to make the use of both the mask and the application mandatory […] I think it would be irresponsible for me to see the evolution of the pandemic and not act, “he declared, adding that he now hopes that it will be done now in parliament, which” is the entity that can constitutionally make decisions on this matter, “a” An open and uncomplicated debate. “
The Head of Government said he was aware that “there are risks that must be avoided from the point of view of data protection” in the case of using StayAway Covid, it is stated that “it is unthinkable” to move towards “a solution that violates the protection”. of data “, but said that this is not the case” with the conditions of anonymity that the application has.
“I understand and I would like it to be clear that I am not making any judgments of censorship on people’s behavior. We are all, me too, after all these months, we are accumulating fatigue and fatigue regarding these measures and restrictions.” that exist ”, he affirmed.
However, he insisted, the increase in cases is due to the “relaxation of people’s behavior,” and to counteract this the best way is to change behavior, managing to “regain the sense of collective mobilization that the country had in March and April. “because the alternative is worse.
“I think it is very clear looking at the numbers that have been growing steadily since August and that the evolution we are experiencing is a serious evolution, and therefore this needs a signal, and an unequivocal signal that we have to change behaviors” , He said.
According to the prime minister, “there are two ways to control the pandemic”, knowing “the enormous cost” of the measures adopted in March and April, of “paralyzing a set of activities.”
“Today we know the enormous social cost that this has. It is for children and young people, who have been impaired in their learning process. We cannot accept having to close schools again. A very large and affective social cost for the elderly. , who have not been able to receive visits from their relatives for several months. We cannot accept and reintroduce this. A brutal cost for employment and loss of income, with the paralysis of economic activity […] And also the respect that must be had for the great effort that health professionals are making ”, he summarized.
António Costa stressed that the increase in infections must be “stopped right now”, especially given the approach of winter, and said that Portugal cannot run the risk of reaching Christmas with the current levels of contamination.
“The President of the Republic, for example, has already drawn attention, and very well, that families have to start thinking about how they organize themselves for Christmas. The last thing we can imagine is to go back to adopting measures as drastic at Christmas and authoritarian as the ones we adopted at Easter, by prohibiting people from passing from one moment to another, ”he said.
António Costa announced new measures on Wednesday to stop the increase in covid-19 cases, including the calamity situation throughout the national territory, which will continue at least until the end of the month.
The Government will also try to make, through a bill, the Parliament make the StayAway Covid application mandatory in work and school contexts.
In the text delivered by the Government to the Assembly of the Republic, to which Lusa had access, a system of fines of between 100 and 500 euros is foreseen for cases of non-compliance with the law.
Article 4 of the law establishes that “the use of the Stayaway Covid application is mandatory, in the workplace or similar, school and academic context, by the owners of equipment that allow it.”
And it is determined that this obligation “covers in particular workers of public functions, employees and agents of the Public Administration, including the business sector of the State, regional and local, professionals of the Armed Forces and Security Forces.”
Regarding the use of a mask in the streets, the text establishes that it will always be mandatory “to be impractical” to maintain physical distance between people.
The law establishes three exceptions to this obligation, in the case of “dealing with people with cognitive, developmental and mental disorders”, who must have a polyvalent disability medical certificate or medical statement.
The exception is also provided for people with “clinical status” who “do not agree with the use of masks”, attested by medical statement.
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