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Through a video posted on the autarky page of the social network Facebook, André Rijo said that the City Council learned, “at the end of this morning, of a wedding with about 200 guests”, during this weekend.
The mayor added that the couple is “a family from the north” of Portugal. This region registered more than 1,516 infections with the new coronavirus, out of a total of 2,899 registered throughout the country in the last 24 hours, a trend observed in the last week.
“This is an event that surprises us, because, in fact, we were surprised that the health authority – contrary to what happened in the case of Curt’Arruda [Festival de Cinema de Arruda dos Vinhos], which we had to cancel at the last minute, in this case, since October 9, it issued a favorable opinion for the realization of this wedding, “continued the mayor.
André Rijo said that today the health authority was confronted by “this inconsistency and this error.”
However, the same authority “reiterated the opinion and said it would not change” the guidelines.
The Prime Minister, António Costa, announced on October 14, together with the raising of the alert level due to the calamity situation throughout the country, to mitigate the spread of the pandemic, that events such as weddings scheduled after that days were limited to a maximum of 50 participants.
Physical distance rules and the use of personal protective equipment are also mandatory.
The opinion of the health authority on the marriage in question precedes the measures announced last week.
Visibly dissatisfied with the response of the health authority, André Rijo explained that “this is a matter of great concern” and “will put the population of the municipality of Arruda at risk.”
For this reason, the mayor said that he has a “duty” to ask Ardenses to avoid circulating in the areas of the parish and Casal da Gineta, so that the wedding “does not translate into a potential outbreak” of infection.
“I regret this decision of the health authority, it does not have the minimum agreement of the City Council or the Municipal Civil Protection Service,” he said, adding that the municipality decided to send the opinion to the General Directorate of Health (DGS).
The mayor also said, at the beginning of the video of almost four minutes, that there are 67 active cases in the municipality, 109 recovered and four dead.
