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At a press conference outside the Council of Ministers, António Costa began by admitting that if “there has been a constant increase in new cases since the end of the confinement phase, that is, since the beginning of May.”
The Prime Minister stresses that the Government has always said that “this is likely to happen” due to the end of the lockdown and increased activity.
“Still, if we focus on the last weeks, we can see that since the beginning of August there has been a sustained growth of new cases ”, says Costa, underlining that “yesterday’s and today’s figures are especially significant.”
Costa justifies this increase with the holiday period and the “natural relaxation of the behavior of each individual”, as well as with the “multiplication of travel and meeting activities”.
Thus, the Government decided in August that, as of the 15th, the entire country will enter a state of contingency. “This means that many of the regulations that were already in force in the Lisbon Metropolitan Area are going to come into force throughout the country ”, explains António Costa, who considers this time of the arrival of autumn and return to classes and work as a “critical” phase.
Then the CEO announced that Meetings are limited to ten people nationwide and business establishments, with the exception of bakeries, coffee shops, hair salons, and gyms, should only open after 10 a.m., “In order to ensure the differentiation of schedules and circulation.”
The operating limitations of the establishments also extend to the country. The closing time of the establishments is between 8:00 p.m. and 11:00 p.m., by municipal decision.
Regarding the restaurant areas of shopping centers, António Costa clarifies that “there can be no more than four people per group to avoid large concentrations in these food spaces.”
The prohibition of alcoholic beverages in service stations and, after 8:00 p.m., in all establishments, except drinks to accompany meals in catering establishments.
Even in relation to the consumption of alcoholic beverages, this will be prohibited in the public thoroughfare, “because it is absolutely essential to be able to ensure that the situations of informal gathering and parties do not multiply” that have been denounced.
Regarding the situation in the homes, the Prime Minister stressed that “the medical care that exists in each home must be reinforced.” To respond to the outbreaks in these establishments, the Government has decreed that “district brigades for rapid intervention will be created to contain and stabilize” these outbreaks.
These brigades, António Costa explains, involve “doctors, nurses and diagnostic technicians who can act very quickly in the face of any outbreak that may occur in any home to allow diagnosis as soon as possible, to prevent cases from becoming known when there are dozens of cases ”. The Prime Minister therefore says that some 400 people will be involved in the 18 brigades.
As for the controversy surrounding the return of the public to football stadiums, the executive does not foresee any change in scope. “The decision we have at this time is not to allow the public to exist in sports venues to avoid risks of contamination”, Costa announced.
The Prime Minister justifies this decision stating that “we all know that our behavior in the cinema is very different in a football stadium and, therefore, this imposes restrictions on the existence of audiences in these spaces”.
Back to school
António Costa reinforces that “this fortnight will be marked, above all, by the reopening of the school year” and, therefore, “we must organize ourselves so that everything goes well so that the school year can run, as far as possible, only with classroom teaching ”.Personal protective equipment will be distributed to all students and contingency plans will be outlined in all schools and a baseline for action in suspected, positive, or outbreak cases. In addition, a maximum limit of four people per group was defined in restaurants, cafeterias and pastry shops 300 meters from schools.
“It does not mean that we do not have the Home Study through television as security,” explains the prime minister.
With the return to school scheduled between 14 and 17 September, the Council of Ministers defined a set of measures that requires the readjustment of the operation of schools to the new health reality.
António Costa explains that “a great contagion factor does not develop at school, but on the way from home to school and from school to home. So the call I make to everyone is that Note that the risk of infection outside of school is not less than the risk of infection at school.”.
Lisbon and Porto metropolitan areas with stricter measures
A higher population density necessarily increases the risk of transmission. Thus, António Costa stresses that “We cannot ignore that the incidence of this pandemic is concentrated, in particular, in the two Metropolitan Areas of Lisbon and Porto ”.
For this reason, the CEO announced that, in these areas, “it is necessary to make a greater effort to avoid the concentration of people, both in public transport and in work areas”.
Among the measures approved by the Council of Ministers for the Lisbon and Porto region is the definition of teams that work in a mirror, with “rotation scales between teleworking and face-to-face work”.
For those who are in person, the time difference will be mandatory, with different arrival and departure times, as well as breaks and meals.
In this way, it is possible to “reduce pendulum movements” to avoid the concentration of people during peak hours.
“The rules that existed remain: mandatory mask, the reinforcement of frequencies whenever it is possible for this to happen, but Above all, it is important here to play with the factor of differentiation of the schedules “of the companies”, said the prime minister, emphasizing that the objective is “to avoid crowds in public transport.”“.
The “red lines”
Asked by journalists about the “red lines” that could lead the Government to decree a new confinement, António Costa responds that the first is related to the deaths. “There is no greater good than life. This is fundamental ”, emphasizes Costa.
Second, the Prime Minister says that it is important to take into account “our responsiveness in the area of intensive care”. “We never had an extreme situation,” says Costa, “but obviously, if we all need intensive care, the National Health Service (SNS) will not be able to respond.” The Prime Minister stressed that it is necessary to take into account that “hospital services and the NHS cannot be 100% dedicated to Covid-19 because there is a wide range of other diseases that must be responded to and where it is being done. recovery effort ”.
“There is a fundamental red line: we cannot return to the situation of closing schools”, Highlights Costa, in addition to the fact that“ we cannot close the economy again as we did in March and April ”.
“Controlling the pandemic depends on individual behavior”
In a message that closed his speech, António Costa stressed that the priority now is to control a pandemic and, for that, “there is a conscience that we must have and that we must not ignore: the control of this pandemic depends, first and last, on the individual behavior of each one of us ”.
The Prime Minister stressed that we now have a “strong NHS, but the best way to help healthcare professionals is to avoid getting sick.” Costa reiterated the call to comply with the hygiene regulations issued by the DGS, such as the use of a mask and frequent hand washing.
“If we all comply with these rules, we will surely have a pandemic that will continue until there is a vaccine, which can grow, but it will be growth that is kept under control. This is absolutely decisive ”, concluded Costa.
