Indoor dining, shopping centres and more schooling open tomorrow // Portimão and three other councils back in quasi-lockdown
Portuguese news in English on Sunday, April 18, 2021.
By the numbers
Case numbers are back on the increase but it’s only ever so slight at this point. The average number of new cases per day fell below 500 on March 23 and stayed that way until April 11, even getting down as low as 408 at one stage. Since April 8 it’s been climbing slowly but steadily, up to almost 550 as of today. The R number from April 8 to 11 was 1.01, according to the latest update from the Directorate-General of Health and Dr Ricardo Jorge National Health Institute, Diário de Notícias reports. That means the level of infection is just about as close to remaining exactly flat as it can possibly be.
Indoor dining, shopping centres, more schools and more sport
Most of the country takes a huge new reopening step tomorrow, bringing indoor dining, students back at high schools and universities, the reopening of major shops and shopping centres and a host of “medium-risk” sports, including football. Restaurants will again allow tables indoors, limited to four people, while esplanadas (outdoor terraces) can take groups of six, but their closing times remain the same (10.30pm weekdays, 1pm weekends). You can exercise with up to six people outside and play any low- or medium-risk sports, including football, basketball, volleyball, hockey and handball, but gyms still can’t hold group classes until May 3. Cinemas, theatres and concert halls will also reopen with capacity limits, while weddings can take place at 25% capacity of the venue. The civic duty to stay home unless you’re doing a permitted activity remains. All this information is taken from a combination of this Diário de Notícias and this Público article.
Check the full reopening calendar here
Four councils back in quasi-lockdown, including Portimão
There are 10 big exceptions to the reopening, including the Algarve councils of Portimão and Albufeira, Público reports. After recording too many infections for two assessments in a row, four councils must lock down further, while another six stay on the current level of restrictions. Portimão (Algarve), Moura, Odemira (Alentejo) and Rio Maior (Lisbon and Tejo Valley) will all lose access to outdoor dining, small shops, gyms and museums from Monday, in line with the previous stage of restrictions. Residents of those municipalities — all of which recorded more than 240 cases per 100,000 people per fortnight — will also be banned from leaving their local council area for the next 15 days while the restrictions endure. Another six councils — which recorded more than 120 cases etc — will stay at the current level of restrictions: Albufeira (Algarve), Alandroal (Alentejo), Carregal do Sal, Figueira da Foz, Marinha Grande and Penela (all in Centro). A further 13 are “on alert” to reduce cases before the next evaluation Aljezur, Almeirim, Barrancos, Mêda, Miranda do Corvo, Miranda do Douro, Olhão, Paredes (this is not Parede, near Lisbon), Penalva do Castelo, Resende, Valongo, Vila Franca de Xira and Vila Nova de Famalicão. School reopenings are still going ahead in all 23 of the regions I’ve just listed. In more bad news for the Algarve, Germany has put the region back on its no-fly list, but we’re not close enough to the tourist season yet for it to have much effect, Expresso reports.
SEF has been abolished, more or less
Portugal’s Border and Immigration Service (SEF) will no longer be responsible for border control, replaced by a much-reduced administrative agency, Público reports. The change published in the national gazette on Wednesday made official a long-awaited shakeup, announced in the wake of the alleged murder of a Ukrainian (Reuters, in English). The newly created Foreigners and Asylum Service (Serviço de Estrangeiros e Asilo) will retain responsibility for managing documents, databases and cooperating with other European and Schengen Area agencies. But all border control responsibilities pass to one of two existing police forces, the National Republican Guard (GNR) and Public Security Police (PSP). The union for SEF workers called the move a “coup” and argued such a major restructuring needed to be approved by Parliament. The changeover is expected to take most of the year to complete but I’m not sure if it will have any effect on people waiting on residency applications.
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In brief
Worry over two vaccines deals fresh blow to Europe’s inoculation push. AstraZeneca vaccine confusion already threatened to harm the struggling EU campaign before Johnson & Johnson announced a delay. (New York Times, in English)
Vaccine taskforce changes distribution rules to avoid appointment 'tricks’. The three vaccines in use will rotate through the regions in an attempt to combat varying responses to potential new variants and stop people from trying to game the system to receive one jab instead of another. (Público)
Government limits profit margins for covid-19 self-testing kits to 15% (Público
On a lighter note
This looks like a pretty good deal for anyone intent on maximising the number of classically Portuguese things they can consume in one setting. For the rest of the month, Fábrica da Nata is offering not just a free pastel de nata but also a glass of Sandeman port wine to customers in Lisbon and Porto, New in Town reports. The catch is that you first have to buy a pack of six, which is a lot of nata for one person to handle. I’m yet to see anyone offering this deal with a side of piri piri chicken to really hit the Portuguese cliché jackpot.
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