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The Deputy Director General of Health presented on Tuesday ten recommendations for the celebration of the Christmas season. They are as follows:
1. Comply with all the regulations in force during the Christmas season, in relation to the county, region and country, both in terms of mobility and in terms of restrictions on crowds;
2. People who show symptoms or are in prophylactic isolation must comply with “the stipulated rules” and have the “duty, obligation and solidarity” to remain isolated;
3. Reduce “substantially” contacts before and during Christmas;
4. Reduce the “exposure time” to these contacts “to one or two hours, instead of three, four, five hours”, to avoid “annoyances”, and “know how to use outdoor spaces”;
5. Minimize family contacts to people who “live in the same physical space”;
6. Limit “preferably” contacts and celebrations to the home, using “digital media as much as possible” to contact other family members. A “quick visit” or a “symbolic exchange” of gifts were other suggestions left by Rui Portugal regarding contact with relatives with whom he does not live;
7. Maintain a physical distance of 1.5 to 2 meters “at all times: on trips, kitchens, meetings and rooms”. “Traditional greetings” should be avoided “at all”;
8. Aerate and disinfect the “spaces”, “even the largest ones”, and the objects that are eventually shared;
9. Wash and disinfect your hands “frequently”, follow respiratory etiquette rules and wear a mask “appropriately”, even indoors, if it is not possible to maintain a “safe distance”;
10. Finally, avoid sharing common objects, such as cutlery and glasses, among family members who do not live together, and make “a moderate and rational use of substances that can contribute to greater affectivity.”
HOME
Christmas is coming, but there will be no specific rules for households, Rui Portugal said. The Deputy Director General of Health clarified that the different residential structures for the elderly “may have their own rules” and “greater or lesser opening”, depending on their geographic location. As for visits, for which there will be “greater appetite” at this time of year, he recommended that they be carried out “in the safest way possible, which does not mean that we are away from people”,
VACCINATION
Still at the press conference, and asked specifically about vaccination against covid-19 in health centers, Rui Portugal clarified that it will be up to these health units to identify patients who are part of groups defined as priority, although not have a family doctor. He also wanted to leave a message about vaccines, stating that “they will not be a substitute,” whatever the stage of the vaccination plan, “for non-pharmacological control measures.” Over a period of time, which can be more or less long, we will have to continue with the appropriate attitudes. “In addition, he added,” we will not have a vaccine that is 100% effective “and the protection it provides will be forever.
SPROUTS
Rui Portugal also provided recent information on the number of outbreaks in the country (there are 489 of which 76 are in a school setting, including kindergartens, schools and higher education, and the majority in the Lisbon region and the Tagus Valley) . Regarding the number of cases of COVID-19 infection in the country, the graph of the accumulated incidence in the last 14 days shows a downward curve, something that must be “honored” but also respected. “We must have respect so that it does not become, in a month, an upward curve with serious repercussions on health services and increased mortality of the most vulnerable,” said the official.
