A very strange return to school // ‘We’re still ok’ below 5000 cases a week, expert says
Portuguese news in English on September 14, 2020.
By the numbers
There’s more bad news to start the week. As well as being one of the highest single-day increases we’ve seen since April, today’s new cases come on a Monday, traditionally the quietest day of the week for confirmations. While deaths don’t seem to be spiking yet, hospitalisations have really jumped, up 100 from a week ago, and roughly 10 more of those are in intensive care. Director-General of Health Graça Freitas says it’s still too early to say for sure whether we’re in a second wave. But Secretary of State for Health António Lacerda Sales says the hospital is not under too much pressure: intensive care occupancy is at 65% and 18% of those patients have COVID-19, Diário de Notícias quotes him as saying.
Active, recovered, deaths, contacts under surveillance, confirmed, hospitalised, in ICU.
1.3 million students head back to school
Tiago Martinez has a lot of adjusting to do. The eight-year-old already knows he won’t be able to play football with his friends at lunch and he thinks dodgeball will be tricky. But what is he supposed to do about that book he needs to return to the still-closed library? He has six masks, including two from FC Porto, and he’ll try to wear them when people are close to him, but they’re hot and itchy! And what about his birthday in January? Tiago tells Público that he thinks the coronavirus will be over in time for him to have a big party with lots of friends but that’s not looking so likely. He’s one of roughly 1.3 million back at school for the weirdest year of learning they’ve ever experienced, with open windows, lots of new rules and litres of disinfectant. The return should be a trigger, some experts tell Público, to rethink how schooling works in a country whose students are among those who like school less and report being more stressed and exhausted. That actually changed a bit during homeschooling, when students said they were working more but feeling less exhausted. You can read about the return to school from Reuters in English here.
Click here for interactive version.
‘We’re still ok’: 5000 cases a week highlighted as danger number
Last week was the worst for case numbers since the state of emergency but a prominent virologist tells Diário de Notícias the figures are “perfectly normal”. João Lobo Antunes Institute of Molecular Medicine researcher Pedro Simas explained the increase was natural as more people came to Portugal in August and residents took their own holidays. But he said the country was “still ok” and the situation was “all under control”, pointing to 5000 cases a week as the point where things would be considered less safe. Last week, 3725 cases were confirmed. Among other things, Dr Simas highlighted the high incidence of cases in younger people and stressed the importance of protecting the older population.
A quick reminder that the whole country goes into a state of contingency from tomorrow, September 15. You can read more about the changes here.
In brief
Fátima Sanctuary blocks pilgrims from entering for the first time since May. The reduced allocation in the enormous space was full by 11am. (Lusa)
Government maintains target of €750 for the minimum wage in 2023. Currently it’s only €635 a month. (Diário de Notícias)
Political poll: Socialist Party (PS) lead shrinks. PS fell back to April values as the BE (Left Block) and PAN (People, Animals, Nature) gained more strength. Not much changed on the right of politics.
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On a lighter note
Even (especially?) in a pandemic, the people need their wine. Floating on a sea of terrible economic news is one little life raft of positivity. Portuguese wine exports are up 1.6% for the first seven months of the year, compared to 2019, Dinheiro Vivo reports. While exports within the European Union dropped 12%, countries further afield made up for it with an 18% increase. The US and Brazil were among the biggest boozers, jumping 12% and 7% in their exports, while the smaller Nordic market leapt almost 50%.
Photo: Jorge Branco