Medical federation concerned SNS won’t be able to cope // Twenty-eight on trial over fire tragedy funds irregularities
Portuguese news in English on October 26, 2020.
By the numbers
Saturday was another worst day ever in terms of new confirmed cases but the numbers dipped slightly into the mid-2000s yesterday and today. As always, it’s worth noting these numbers are usually lower at the start of the week so it’s certainly a long way from good news. Almost 500 more covid-19 patients are in hospital today than a week ago and 75 more are in intensive care. The North is now regularly recording two or three times as many cases as the Lisbon and Tejo Valley region and the Centre is the next most affected region by some distance. Roughly 20 covid-19 patients have died per day over the past week.
Source: DGS.
Medical federation concerned SNS won’t be able to cope
The National Medical Federation (FNAM) has warned the National Health System (SNS) might not be able to respond to the pandemic challenges to come, Lusa reports. After meeting with President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa on Sunday, FNAM president Noel Carrilho said he was concerned by the lack of resources, saying there were fewer SNS doctors since the start of the health crisis. He bemoaned the lack of “adequate preparation” during the quieter summer months and warned even a lockdown wouldn’t significantly affect the SNS’s capacity. That lack of preparation would have consequences in terms of the number of people dying, he warned.
Twenty-eight on trial over fire tragedy funds irregularities
Dozens died and hundreds of houses were burned three years ago in Pedrogão Grande, the scene of Portugal’s worst bushfires. The construction started quickly and before long, so did the fraud, dereliction of duty and falsification of documents, prosecutors allege, as reported by Diário de Notícias. The trial of 28 people, including the former mayor and a councillor, began today, complete with all the covid complications you would expect. The number of accused caused problems with social distancing and changes in location for the trial, set to continue in November.
Independent MP sets budget on path to approval
The national budget looks set to pass despite the resistance of the major opposition party and one of the Socialist government’s old allies, Público reports. Independent MP Cristina Rodrigues’ decision to abstain from the vote, announced today mathematically guaranteed the document’s passage. Ms Rodrigues said the budget tried to respond as well as possible to the challenges thrown up by the pandemic. But it fell short in existing areas whose needs had become even more obvious, such as the environment, culture and animal welfare, the former PAN (People Animals Nature) party member said. Leading opposition party the Social Democrats (PSD) and the Left Bloc (BE) had already announced their intentions to vote against the proposal while PAN also planned to abstain. The budget is due to be debated in parliament tomorrow and Wednesday.
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In brief
Spain imposes state of emergency and curfew. The curfew is in place for 15 days between the hours of 11pm and 6am but the Prime Minister wants it extended to six months. (BBC, in English)
Illegal parties and plenty of drinking on the street mark the first night of curfew in Madrid. (Diário de Notícias)
Formula 1: the trial run that put a “disorganised organisation” to the test. 200 spectators, with tickets in hand, missed more than half an hour. There were also social distancing problems in the stands. (Público)
Portugal’s Socialists lose absolute majority in Azores regional election (Politico, in English)
Vaccine hopes rise as Oxford jab prompts immune response among old as well as young adults. (Reuters, in English)
Lisbon birthday party responsible for ‘dozens of infections'. Cascais mayor Carlos Carreiras said some had a party the next day, creating even more chains of infections. (Diário de Notícias, via Observador)
On a lighter note
“Man I really need a (insert name of weirdly specific item), where the hell do I go?” It’s a question I found myself asking over and over again when I first moved here without a car to get to any of the big hardware stores. The answer was almost always the local drogaria. In these “drugstores”, you’ll find shelves, walls and sometimes even ceilings crammed full of one, two or 20 of seemingly every product in existence, from paintbrushes through to hairdryers. Diário de Notícias has for some reason just written a beautiful piece on my local drogaria owner, Andrelino Antunes, whose shop has been around since 1932 and takes enormous pride in being able to answer even the strangest requests with “yes, I have it”. Don’t worry about the language barrier, a picture will usually do the trick.
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