Does the ‘Stay Home’ message need an overhaul? And J.K. Rowling never visited that famous Porto bookshop
English language coronavirus news in Portugal on May 21, 2020.
Another day without much to say about the latest stats, which is good news seeing as we’re more than two weeks into the reopening. New confirmed cases ticked slightly higher, two fewer people passed away and the number of recoveries refused to budge.
As the country reopens, does the “Stay Home” message need an overhaul?
“Fique em casa”. Even if you don’t speak a lick of Portuguese, you’ve probably seen this message around enough to get the gist (stay home). The simple phrase, in all its various languages, has become surely one of the most successful slogans in recent memory. But as the country slowly reopens, Nova University Lisbon department of communication sciences Professor Cristina Ponte tells Diário de Notícias it’s time for a change. It’s “very contradictory” for the words to still be everywhere, she says, leading to a message that is “a bit confused” and causing some hesitation in people. Ponte suggests a new campaign that strikes the balance between the importance of returning to public life - albeit a very different public life to before the pandemic - and the need for caution.
Government prepares supplementary budget for second half of June
Unfortunately the effects of the pandemic don’t disappear as case numbers fall. The Portuguese government now has to prepare its plan to fight the economic crisis brought about by the virus and the subsequent efforts to contain it, Público reports. That starts with the Program of Economic and Social Stabilisation, which will have to be worked, at least partially, into the supplementary budget to be presented in the Assembly of the Republic in June. But before that can happen, the government needs to understand what Europe’s response to the economic crisis will be. Will it be the “bazooka” of issuing eurobonds (debt backed by all bloc members), that was considered during the last monetary crisis or more of a “slingshot”, as Portuguese authorities have taken to referring to a lesser alternative. For now, Públicos reports, the news is positive (BBC, English), with the European Commission’s recovery fund plan to be released next week.
In brief
British pharma giant ready to supply potential vaccine in September (BBC, English). The vaccine is still in initial trials and the firm admits it might not work but has made a deal to make at least 400 million doses.
Confusion over telework rules from June 1. It’s unclear whether or not individual workers and employers will both have to agree on a return to the office from June.
Europe should brace for a second wave, says EU coronavirus chief (The Guardian, English). Dr Andrea Ammon said the question was “when and how big” the wave would be, adding that “it’s not the time now to completely relax.”
Air France returns to daily flights between Lisbon and Paris from June 6 (Observador). The carrier will start flying from Porto on the same date and plans to be making two flights a day between the capitals by the end of the month.
One hundred of 500 ventilators bought from China arrive in Portugal this week (Público).
On a lighter note
This may be a lighter note but it’s certainly not happy news for Portuguese Harry Potter fans. J.K. Rowling has never been to Livraria Lello, the Porto bookshop previously said by many to have helped inspire the best-selling series. In a Twitter thread breaking the hearts of tour agencies from Portugal to Scotland, Rowling said she never even knew the stunning bookshop existed but wished she had visited. Last year, she told The Guardian (English) that she fell in love with Porto as a 25-year-old English teacher enchanted by everything from fado and the stunning architecture to the Portuguese people themselves. At least she spent some time writing in this stunning cafe.