70% fully vaxxed, two weeks early // Restrictions eased on restaurants, ride-share vehicles

Portuguese news in English on Friday, August 20, 2021.

By the numbers

More than a million people have been infected with covid-19 in Portugal. There was a time when that number seemed impossible, and another time when it felt like it was optimistically low, but here it is. Deaths are staying really steady, with an average of about 12 or 13 a day for basically the whole month so far. Cases meanwhile are dropping slowly but surely, from an average of about 3000 at the start of the month to an average of roughly 2300 yesterday. The numbers of covid-19 patients in hospital and intensive care are also dropping steadily. The Delta variant is now responsible for 99.5% of new cases.

Figures from today. Source: DGS

70% fully vaxxed, two weeks early

We’ve hit our next vaccine milestone more than two weeks early, Diário de Notícias reports, triggering the next stage of rule relaxations ahead of schedule. As of Wednesday, 70% of Portuguese residents are vaccinated, as health authorities continue to jab about 100,000 people a day. It’s a goal we were initially expecting to hit on September 5. The next goal is 85% of the population fully covered, which had been pencilled in for October. Health Minister Marta Temido says Portugal will wait to see what the European Medicines Agency says as far as the need for a third dose, or booster shot, which the United States now recommends.

Figures until yesterday. Click here for interactive version.

Restrictions eased, two weeks early

In even better news, the early vaccine goal means we’ll see several rules relaxed earlier than expected, mostly to do with occupation limits, Público reports. From Monday, Restaurants, cafes etc can welcome eight people on an inside table and 15 on the esplanade and concerts, weddings and baptisms can be 75% full. Public transport limits have also been dropped, in a change that should also apply to ride-share vehicles and taxis. Uber, Free Now and Bolt have all separately loosened their restrictions on passenger limits in recent days, Público reports. In changes they were legally allowed to make months ago (June 14), all three platforms now allow passengers on all back seats, but not the one next to the driver. Taxis had already made the change. It’s unclear whether ride-share and taxis will now allow passengers to sit next to the driver. In other changes, commercial establishments can take eight people per 100m² instead of five and you can use public services without an appointment from September 1. Government ministers have explained that, for boring legislative reasons, the expected loosening of mask rules will have to wait for the Assembly of the Republic.

See what’s planned for the 85% vaccine milestone here

Source: ECDC

Portuguese cities on the digital nomad map

Público has a pretty interesting look at the digital nomad lifestyle, based heavily on a Portuguese woman’s experience and masters research. The study was reasonably limited, looking only at participants in the American program Remote Year and found nomads were mostly 28 to 35 and working in IT, design, advertising, translation, advocacy or journalism. Probably not a massive shock to most of you but what the people themselves had to say was interesting. Lígia Gomes, the study author, said the pandemic had helped people and companies discover how possible remote work was. But she’s also done what she says a lot other nomads end up doing, settling down in one spot (Lisbon, in this case) but still with a big focus on remote, flexible work, after realising constantly living out of a backpack has its downsides. Porto and Madeira have also been gaining in popularity.

Massive fire burns thousands of hectares in the Algarve

The sadness and loss of the locals is palpable in this Público report about the massive fire that burned 6700 hectares in the Algarve this week. Rui Machado solemnly tours the blackened remains of the carob trees he’d watered for years, waiting for them to mature and give fruit. “There’s nothing left, only the houses escaped,” remarked 94-year-old José Sebastião. Estorninhos, where the fire burned, is very close to touristy parts of the Algarve like Tavira and Monte Gordo, but feels very far.

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In brief

• Vaccine taskforce accuses Unilabs of not communicating Porto cold storage problem early enough. Almost 1000 people received vaccines that didn’t stay at the correct temperature. (Público)

• Children with anxiety and depression are being hospitalised, and there's not enough capacity to treat them. Emergency child psychiatrist sessions at the Centro Hospitalar Universitário do Porto between March and May almost doubled year-on-year and the waiting list at Lisbon’s Hospital Dona Estefânia is months.

• Only 4% of foreigners can vote in Portugal. Brazilians have the most rights but Angolans can’t even vote in the upcoming council elections, in which EU citizens and people from Cape Verde, several South American countries and even New Zealand can vote. (Público)

On a lighter note

Confession: I’m a sucker for a good food crawl. Even a bad food crawl will generally catch my interest. But this one seems to genuinely be good, especially if you like choco (cuttlefish). Setúbal’s Rota do Pitéu runs until the end of this month featuring delicious-sounding snacks ranging from snails, bifanas and fancy pregos on the delicious bolo do caco from Madeira to bruschetta and oysters. And yes there’ll be choco: fried, in tacos, in croquettes and many more ways. There are 28 restaurants on the route, with plates all just €3.50. You can view the route here, or read more at Boa Cama Boa Mesa (in Portuguese).

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