Lisbon’s shopping centres reopen, and new cases arriving on planes 'with some frequency'
Portuguese news in English on June 15, 2020.
By the numbers
It looks like we’re in a bit of a holding pattern again. Deaths are staying low, confirmed recoveries are hovering about 200 each day, and new confirmed cases are still a bit higher than we’d like. Today’s increase is the worst since June 9 and, more concerningly, the worst Monday since April 20, Público reports. The newspaper makes the comparison because generally fewer new cases have been registered on Mondays than other days of the week.
Lisbon’s shopping centres reopen as cases rise
Despite the ongoing situation in Greater Lisbon, the capital’s reopening is back in sync with the rest of the country, Diário de Notícias reports. That’s particularly good news for anyone who has been desperate to get to Ikea or any of the other big chain stores, because shopping centres and stores larger than 400 sq m are allowed to open again as of today. People can also gather in groups of up to 20 and Lojas de Cidadão have reopened.
The changes demand a faster response to new cases, Lisbon and Tejo Valley COVID-19 response coordinator Duarte Cordeiro tells Público. He said authorities needed to rapidly isolate new cases, breaking the chains of transmission. From June 10 until yesterday, 1151 new cases were identified in Portugal. Of those, 996 of them were in the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, including 212 new cases in Sintra, 152 in Lisbon itself, 148 in Loures and 146 in Amadora. Mr Cordeiro maintained that the outbreaks were not widespread, saying the central focus was on preventative intervention and working individually on new cases. Director-General of Health Graça Freitas said there was no reason to expect the reopening would not go ahead in an “orderly manner”.
Today Prime Minister António Costa said there was no “uncontrolled situation”, pointing in part to a high testing rate to justify the high elevated number of cases Público reported. He said Portugal was testing more per capita than all but three other European countries and had one of the lowest rates of positive test results in Western Europe. When comparing the growth in the number of tests with the percentage of positive cases from the start of March, the situation was relatively “stable”, he said.
Keeping safe outside, in restaurants, and on holidays
The more the government lifts restrictions, the more we have to take responsibility for keeping ourselves and others safe and healthy. It can be hard to figure out just what we should and shouldn’t be doing, particularly in terms of our social lives in the middle of a pandemic. This guide from The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is designed for United States residents but it’s really useful for thinking through the risks you’re taking by going to a restaurant, a gym, having people over for dinner, or many other situations. I’d encourage you to take a look at the specifics, but the general, surprisingly simple, takeaway is this: “the more closely you interact with others and the longer that interaction, the higher the risk of COVID-19 spread.”
If you’re not just leaving the house but taking a trip, respected pulmonologist and consultant to the Directorate-General of Health (DGS) Filipe Froes tells Díario de Notícias a car journey is, in theory, a safer option than a plane trip. But that assumes you’re travelling with people you’re already in close contact with, taking proper distance and hygiene measures at rest stops and not travelling a very long distance. Basically, it depends on the distance, where you’re going, who you’re travelling with and what protective measures you can take, he says.
It’s worth noting too, that new cases of COVID-19 are arriving into Portugal on planes relatively frequently, according to the Directorate-General of Health, reported by Diário de Notícias. The DGS on Saturday announced a “gradual reinforcement” of sanitary measures at Portuguese airports, admitting it was normal to register “one or two cases” on incoming flights. Director-General of Health Graça Freitas said that wasn’t the case on all flights but it was “not a rare situation”. “It happens with some frequency,” she said. New measures would be gradually implemented, she said, referring to issues such as measurement of body temperature and digital screening.
Lisbon mayor promises a slavery memorial, and a discoveries museum
The proposal of a Museum of the Discoveries quickly turned controversial in 2018, when critics argued it would glorify historical abuses. You can read a report from The Guardian in English here. In a long interview with Diário de Notícias, Lisbon mayor Fernando Medina stood by his pledge to construct the museum but said it needed to be multidimensional, reflecting history in all its aspects, including slavery. The city would also have a memorial dedicated to slavery, he said. Among other things, the mayor said he didn’t expect the recovery of tourism in the capital to be particularly immediate, planned to create more bikeways and didn’t want traffic levels to ever return to what they were before the pandemic. Cr Medina said housing policies needed to be reinforced to give access to young people and the middle class, pointing to one policy in particular that aims to make lemons into lemonade by turning some tourist accommodation into permanent housing.
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In brief
What it's like to fly on Europe's biggest airline right now. A CNN crew that flew from Frankfurt to Porto with Lufthansa found long waits, masks and disinfectant wipes. (CNN, in English)
Portugal's population grows for the first time in 10 years - thanks to immigration (Público)
Wine exports fell 4% in April, but are still growing compared to last year. (Diário de Notícias)
Companies linked to offshore tax havens won’t be blocked from COVID-19 support measures. The government says restrictions would be a constraint on recovery efforts. (Público)
Boat with 22 migrants intercepted off the Algarve coast. They claimed to be of Morroccan nationality, the National Maritime Authority said. (Diário de Notícias)
On a lighter note
Snow, in Portugal, in June. It seems crazy, and honestly I’m still a bit sceptical because I haven’t seen anything in the papers I normally read, but tour guide Renato Goulart has posted a whole series of photos and videos he says are from the island of Pico, in the Azores. He told Notícias ao Minuto his group climbed the mountain to see the sunset but was instead delighted to see snow falling like he’d never before seen at this time of the year. Mr Goulart said in 25 years of climbing Portugal’s highest mountain he’d only seen snow once in June, in 2016, but it was “nothing like this”. You can see some of the pictures here.
Photo: Renato Goulart
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