How Portugal would fight a second wave, and Fires could turn ‘almost catastrophic’ in this week's weather
Portuguese news in English on July 15, 2020.
We’ve seen big increases in people marked as recovered and relatively controlled levels of new confirmed cases in the past few days. Yesterday’s low level of confirmed new cases (233) had rarely been seen since the beginning of June but there was a return to what we’ve become accustomed to today. The vast majority of the cases (61% yesterday and 77% today) continue to be in Lisbon but cases in the Algarve appear to be on the increase, from single figures almost all of last week to 17 yesterday and 25 today.
How Portugal would fight a second wave
The country couldn’t handle another lockdown like the one imposed during the state of emergency, Prime Minister António Costa believes, Diário de Notícias reports. He said work to control a second wave had to be done now because there was still a short period of time to avoid the worst in autumn and winter and ensure society could keep functioning in conditions as bad or worse than March. Hours after the Prime Minister spoke, Deputy Secretary of State for Health Jamila Madeira guaranteed the government was preparing for a possible worsening of the pandemic in winter. She said the Directorate-General of Health’s plan, to be released “soon”, would include more workers, telehealth and a reinforcement of laboratory capacity.
The blue line is cases confirmed DAILY and the other line is the TOTAL number of deaths, hence why it keeps climbing. Click here for an interactive version.
Fires could turn ‘almost catastrophic’ with this week’s weather
This week’s weather could spark difficult-to-control fires that could turn “almost catastrophic” the government has warned, Diário de Notícias reports. Secretary of State for Home Affairs Patrícia Gaspar said the country was facing some complex days with a “very high” fire risk. On top of the sustained hot and dry weather, she warned of strong winds that could help fires spread much more quickly than usual. Roughly 70% of councils, particularly in the central interior, north and Algarve, would be at maximum or elevated risk of fires, she said. The Secretary of State appealed to residents not to make any type of fire close to rural spaces, reinforcing that fire was completely forbidden in forested areas. According to experts Diário de Notícias spoke with, dry thunderstorms that create lightning capable of starting fires without rain to dampen them are also a possibility. Some parts of the country, such as the Alentejo and Ribatejo are expected to top 40 degrees on Thursday and Friday with even minimum temperatures in the low-to-mid 20s, according to Diário de Notícias.
25 charged over the collapse of Portuguese bank
Eighteen people and seven companies have been charged with various crimes linked to the collapse of Portuguese bank Banco Espirito Santo, Público reports. Prosecutors claim the total value of the crimes and associated losses amounts to €11.8 billion. The alleged crimes include criminal association, various types of corruption, falsification of documents and market manipulation. The Central Department for Investigation and Penal Action investigation into the bank and the associated Grupo Espirito Santo that led to the charges lasted almost six years. Lawyers for former banker Ricardo Salgado, one of the accused, said their client didn’t commit any crime and the accusation “falsifies” the history of the bank.
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In brief
Wastewater will help predict new outbreaks of covid-19. Aguás de Portugal and Lisbon University’s science faculty are working to track traces of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater and use it to estimate infection rates. (Diário de Notícias)
National Maritime Authority records almost 1800 incidents on beaches since July 1. Despite the high number, they’re still positive overall because of the lack of particularly serious breaches. Of the incidents, 532 were related to drinking alcohol, 371 to not following occupancy rules, 788 for playing sport and 10 for celebrations larger than allowed. (Diário de Notícias)
What makes Portugal the ″best destination in the world will not be infected″, government says. The landscape, gastronomy and people will still be there, Secretary of State for Tourism Rita Marques says. (Diário de Notícias)
On a lighter note
It’s time for more Cool Space Stuff™. Público reports the frozen comet Neowise can be seen from Portugal with the naked eye right throughout June. The 5-kilometre chunk of space stuff is actually called C/2020 F3 but is normally called Neowise thanks to the telescope that discovered it in March. On most days, you’ll have to get up very early (or stay up a bit later to see it) as it’s only visible from about 4am until sunrise. But on July 19, 20 and 21 you should also be able to see it for about 15 minutes from 10pm. You should look to the north-west after sunset or to the north-east at dawn to see the comet, which won’t be back for about 7000 years.
Processed data from the WISPR instrument on NASA’s Parker Solar Probe shows greater detail in the twin tails of comet NEOWISE, as seen on July 5, 2020. The lower, broader tail is the comet’s dust tail, while the thinner, upper tail is the comet’s ion tail.
Credits: NASA/Johns Hopkins APL/Naval Research Lab/Parker Solar Probe/Guillermo Stenborg
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