[ad_1]
There will be a “limited” state of emergency and “preventive effects.” Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa apologizes to the Government which, he says, has always been “putting out fires.”
António Costa will have military personnel and public officials examine the contacts of people infected with the new coronavirus, to ensure sufficient human resources to track and break the chains of transmission of covid-19 and relieve pressure on the health system . This is one of the four reasons why the Prime Minister and the President of the Republic advocate a new state of emergency, “very limited” and “with mainly preventive effects,” said Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa.
Without giving details, António Costa only said that “certain tasks of tracking or monitoring” of the infected people will be supervised by the health authorities and carried out by the Armed Forces and by “public servants who cannot be in the normal exercise of their activity, but they are not unable to work. “
Early in the afternoon, in an interview with RTP, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa acknowledged that tracking the contacts of all the people who test positive for covid-19 is not “enough” and that the solution indicated by the Government will allow reaching the “thousands [de funcionários] necessary to ensure we reach the transmission chains and accompany “the infected.”
The temporary change of functions of state workers has not been previously communicated to the unions, said José Abraão, from Fesap, and Helena Rodrigues, from the Technical Personnel Union. But both assured that, in theory, public officials are available to help as necessary.
Join three crises
The details of the request from public officials will be known when Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa hands over to Parliament the draft decree that will bring the state of emergency. Yesterday he listened to parties with parliamentary seats and a “two-thirds majority” that accepts a “limited” state of emergency. “If you ask, at this point, a very broad confinement, the answer is no, no, no,” he insisted.
But some form of containment is essential to refute the mathematical models, which predict up to 10,000 cases per day, between 5,000 and 6,000 hospitalized and 600 people in intensive care, he guaranteed.
To avoid this, Marcelo rebelo de Sousa invoked the need for unity between the Presidency, the Government and the Parliament, and warned of a political crisis, in addition to the public health crisis and the economic and social crisis. “It was advisable not to join three crises,” he warned.
For his part, he defended the Government. He admitted the existence of “improvisations, errors, delays”; acknowledged that the press conferences of the Directorate General of Health have already tired the Portuguese (“like everything that has been repeated for a long time”); and he called himself “the ultimate responsibility for all this.”
But he apologized to the government, which has been “putting out fires.” “Every day new problems appeared”, first in homes, then in Lisbon. And he was caught by a second wave at the beginning of autumn and not winter, as he expected.
FOUR REASONS
Circulation
With the state of emergency, there is now legal cover to limit circulation and impose a curfew.
Private orders
The State may requisition hospitals and personnel from the private and social sector.
Public function
The roles of state workers may change, temporarily, to track infected contacts.
Temperature
It will also allow to measure the temperature of those who enter public services or shows.
[ad_2]
