EU vaccine approval decision due this month as Brits receive first jabs // SEF director resigns after Ukrainian’s alleged murder
Portuguese news in English on December 9, 2020.
By the numbers
I’ll start with yesterday’s figures because there were a couple of nice positives to highlight. It was the second day in a row with fewer than 3000 new cases and the first day since November 24 with fewer than 500 covid-19 patients in intensive care. Unfortunately, as these things go, we’ve had another 4097 cases confirmed today and the ICU occupancy is back above 500. We’re also still seeing about 70 or 80 covid-19 patients dying every day but hopefully that number can start to drop soon too as hospitalisations decrease.
Sorry for sending out Monday’s email without the daily figures! Source: DGS
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EU vaccine approval decision due this month as Brits receive first jabs
Thousands of Brits have become the first in the world to receive a covid-19 vaccine tested in a large clinical trial, with the first European approval expected by the end of the year, Lusa reports. European Medications Agency executive director Emer Cooke, denying the agency was under political pressure to move faster, said the positive results published by Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna (November 16 newsletter) were “good news” but still needed to be confirmed. Ms Cooke said the agency was still expecting to finish its review of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine (the one being administered in the UK) by December 29 and the Moderna jab by January 12. China has approved three vaccines and Russia one without waiting for large-scale trials to be completed, according to Nature, in English. Neither China nor Russia had approached the EMA to review the vaccines but the agency would study them if they did, Ms Cook said, Reuters reported, in English. With the focus on Europe, the UK and US, there are major concerns about vaccination in poorer countries. The People’s Vaccine Alliance estimates rich countries, with 14% of the world’s population, have already bought up 53% of the available vaccine stock, Público reports.
SEF director resigns after Ukrainian’s alleged murder
The director of the Immigration and Borders Service (SEF) has resigned, nine months after a Ukrainian national was allegedly beaten to death in a SEF facility, Público reports. Three SEF officers have been accused of murdering father-of-two Ihor Homenyuk on March 12 in the Lisbon Airport Temporary Installation. The Home Affairs Ministry today said Cristina Gatões had resigned, to be replaced by her deputy, José Luís do Rosário Barão, amid a restructure of the organisation. Home Affairs Minister Eduardo Cabrita and the national director were slated to appear before upcoming parliamentary hearings into the death. Diário de Notícias reports that “panic buttons” have since been installed in the rooms of immigrants staying in the facility.
Poland and Hungary ‘close’ to agreeing on €1.8 trillion EU recovery deal
Well it looks like the €1.8 trillion European Union pandemic recovery fund may finally be set for approval, bringing a so-called “bazooka” of assistance for Portugal. Reuters reports, in English, that Poland and Hungary have preliminarily accepted a proposal from the EU’s German presidency, according to a Polish senior government official. The two so-called “illiberal democracies” have been blocking the EU budget and recovery fund over a clause linking EU funding to upholding the rule of law, which includes clear laws, applied equally to everyone and administered by an independent judiciary. The EU argues Poland and Hungary flout the rule of law guidelines by imposing control over the justice system, media and other institutions. Hungarian Prime Minister Victor Orban earlier said the bloc was close to an agreement that would be a good result for both countries and the rest of the EU.
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In brief
Government confirms proposal to increase minimum wage to 665 euros (Dinheiro Vivo)
TAP restructure: Only wages below €700 to escape cuts (Público)
Another court says it’s impossible to punish covid-19 patients who left the house. A judge of the Almeida Court endorsed the judgment of the Guimarães Appeal Court that the Government went beyond its powers when creating a new type of crime, which was unconstitutional. (Público)
On a lighter note
It’s a 🚨Serra da Estrela special edition 🚨 today! Don’t worry, that’s not going to become a thing. First up, cheese. Because everything good should start with cheese. Unfortunately, it’s been a really rough year for cheesemakers thanks to closed restaurants, cancelled produce markets and a lot of people generally having less money in their pockets. Estrela Coop, the cooperative responsible for some 30 cheesemakers in the region says there’s so much extra cheese the fridges are almost full and they might have to start freezing cheese. Their message to you, via The Portugal Resident in English is: don’t let this happen; buy yourself or a loved one a big wheel of DOC Serra de Estrela cheese for Christmas. Yum! Probably the only other thing the region is known for is snow, which has finally started to fall. That means Portugal’s only ski resort is open. Look, from the photos I’ve seen the skiing options there are pretty terrible (and that’s coming from an Aussie) but it’s only €25 a day for a lift pass so while international travel is as sketchy as it is right now, it might be worth going for a toboggan and making a few snow angels.
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Those figures seem to contradict each other. And what is with the daily announcements of "good news?" Which usually is simply the ups and downs of the numbers? Why not report objectively and let the reader decide if the news is good or not? As if that is even necessary.
One last thing... what do the maps mean? If only they were a bit user friendly. I have been staring at them for months trying to figure out what they mean. Crazy idea. Put a couple of city names in there for acclamation. Is the Douro the southern border of the Northern region?
Sorry for all the complaints. Keep up the good work.