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The Minister of Health, Marta Temido, said that the confinement will last at least until the second half of March. At the end of the meeting in which the epidemiological situation of Covid-19 in Portugal was presented, the official said that “the greater the intensity of the confinement, the faster the reduction of the effective risk of transmission.”
“The current lockdown has to go on for a longer time. For now in February and then subject to evaluation, but probably for a period of 60 days from the start ”, said Marta Temido.
Following the presentations by epidemiologists, the minister confirmed that Portugal is still at an “extremely high, albeit decreasing” level of the Covid-19 pandemic, which would advise against the immediate relief of movement restrictions within the national territory. And he highlighted the decrease in the transmissibility of the new coronavirus resulting from the measures decided in January, that is, the closure of schools, not only in the number of infections but also in a lower prevalence than was feared of the British variant of SARS- CoV-2. .
Marta Temido highlighted the need for “the expansion and multiplication of massive tests”, asking the General Directorate of Health that the contacts of positive cases, whether or not they are high risk, “always benefit from a test.” According to the minister, there is the capacity of the National Health Service and private partners available to collaborate in this process of rapid antigen tests, “for each moment we can perceive the state of circulation of the virus in the population.”
“We need to guarantee the stability of the results already achieved. Nothing has been purchased and no one is exempt from complying with the basic measures. We will need this time to bring the number of hospitalizations in intensive care below 200 and a cumulative incidence of cases per thousand inhabitants that we consider adequate, manageable and capable of guaranteeing a perfect contact screening ”, said the minister.
Highlighting the indicator of confidence in vaccination against Covid-19, Marta Temido countered this data with the difficulties in obtaining vaccines – after the coordinator of the workgroup, Vice Admiral Henrique Gouveia e Melo, has revealed that less than two million of the 4.4 million doses scheduled for the first quarter will be delivered, ensuring that Portugal is doing everything, within the European Union, so that “the contracts executed are fulfilled and that the contracted quantities are delivered as soon as possible ”.
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