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Asked if Portugal is in a national emergency, the President of the Republic replies that “we have never really stopped being so”, recalling the evolution of the pandemic in the country since the first case of Covid-19 infection was confirmed.
António Costa has already announced that he is proposing a preventive State of Emergency to avoid legal doubts and Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa maintains that the question that arises is whether it is “possible and desirable to return to a State of Emergency in March, April and May. Is it going to go back to this or something else? ”.
The President of the Republic states, therefore, that what is being considered is a “different State of Emergency in the sense of very limited, with mainly preventive and not very extensive effects that point to total or almost total confinement”, adding that this is also “the inclination” of the government itself and of the parties that it heard during this Monday. “If you ask now if people want a great confinement, the answer is: no,” said Marcelo.
Marcelo admitted “mistakes, improvisations and delays” in handling the pandemic. “Despite the effort to act early, there was. It was not possible ”to avoid, said the President of the Republic.
The president warns that if the “purely mathematical models are followed, we have the possibility of doubling the number of infected in 15 days. Which would mean that near the end of November we will have eight thousand, nine thousand, ten thousand infected ”.
If this mathematical progression occurs, “we will have pressure on hospitalizations and intensive care, which is a very serious pressure,” says Marcelo, also admitting a “significant increase” in fatalities in the coming days.
Marcelo explains, therefore, that this new State of Emergency is being considered to, in the first place, “allow the expansion of screening” and be able to use those who are not health professionals, such as the Armed Forces and public officials, to do questions. screen to identify drive chains. Second, to solve a legal problem that poses the measurement of temperature in access to public services and shows. “Legal coverage was needed,” explains Marcelo. Third, create better conditions for the use of private sector social and cooperative resources.
Regarding this last measure and when asked why it was not taken before, the President of the Republic replied that the social sector “never stopped collaborating.” “Even without the signing of explicit agreements, he was receiving patients to unblock the situation,” explains Marcelo. Regarding the non-signing of a global agreement, Marcelo justifies that “it was thought that the second wave was between autumn and winter, not between summer and autumn.”
Asked if there was enough planning during the summer, Marcelo responds: “Who can plan when problems arise every day? It was planned, but the next day it was finished. “
“The pandemic has never stopped. It was not possible to prepare the second phase ”, added the President of the Republic. “Problems arose every day. When it seemed that the worst phase of the pandemic had passed, household problems began to appear ”.
Speaking of the Portuguese miracle, Marcelo now says that “there was no miracle. What happened was the resistance of the Portuguese, of health professionals, of mayors ”.
“Every day new problems arose,” recalls Marcelo, noting that health professionals were “putting out the fire.”
“There were mistakes and I am the biggest responsible for them. The President of the Republic is the head of the errors ”, admits Marcelo.
(in update)
