Police to recruit more minorities to fight discrimination // President, Prime Minister and European Commission President test negative after covid scare
Portuguese news in English on October 5, 2020
By the numbers
It was a horrible weekend for coronavirus stats in Portugal. With more than 900 new cases confirmed two days in a row (Saturday and Sunday), it was the worst weekend for cases we have seen so far. There was worse news when it came to deaths, with 35 people dying with covid-19 since Friday the worst three-day performance since the start of June. The number of people in ICU has barely changed in a week, which is positive, but unfortunately it could also possibly reflect patients dying at roughly the same rate as new patients are brought into ICU. The number of people generally in hospital has jumped from fewer than 400 to more than 700 in less than a month.
Active, recovered, deaths, contacts under surveillance, confirmed, hospitalised, in ICU.
Police to recruit more minorities to fight discrimination
Portugal’s main police force plans to recruit ethnic minorities to help prevent discriminatory behaviour by officers and others, Díario de Notícias reports. Polícia Segurança Pública (Public Safety/Security Police) national inspector Pedro Clementes said he and other high-ranking officials were concerned the force was not sufficiently representative of the community. The objective, he said, was to have a broad number and diversity of social classes and ethnicities within PSP. The first task would be to convince young people with a vision of the police as a “repressive force” to make a career out of it. Since 2016, 21 disciplinary processes have been launched against agents suspected of discrimination. Of these, 13 have been shelved and the rest are under investigation or awaiting a judicial decision.
President, Prime Minister and European Commission President test negative after covid scare
Portugal appears to have avoided a White House-like coronavirus cluster after Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, Assembly of the Republic President Eduardo Ferro Rodrigues and Prime Minister António Costa all tested negative for covid-19, Diário de Notícias reports. European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen also tested negative after the politicians had all been in contact with an infected patient. That patient was lawyer and political commentator António Lobo Xavier, who was diagnosed after attending the State Council at the Cascais Citadel Palace. Ms Von der Leyen was seated, without a mask, three chairs away from Mr Lobo Xavier during the encounter. She plans to keep self-isolating until tomorrow night.
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Climate protesters dragged from Marquês do Pombal
Police have dragged climate protesters from Lisbon’s central Marquês de Pombal roundabout after they blocked traffic in protest against capitalism and a lack of action on climate change, Público reports. About lunchtime today, some of the 100 or so activists seated themselves at the entrances to the roundabout in an act of peaceful civil disobedience, some linked at the arms with pipes to ensure social distancing and make themselves harder to remove. Some officers threatened to break their arms if they didn’t stand up, eventually causing the protesters to switch from chants such as “change the system, not the climate” and “there is no planet B” to a cry of “no violence”. The protesters were eventually dragged from the area and traffic was restored to normal. Rita Santos, a 20-year-old student, said they had to fight radically and urgently because the planet was being destroyed “very fast”. Climate Action Network Europe ranks Portugal as the second-most committed country to climate change action but classifies its actions as only two-thirds of what they need to be.
In brief
Internal medicine expert calls for everyone to understand they could be asymptomatic “We have to have a national strategy for asymptomatic patients. They are the big challenge.” (Diário de Notícias)
England failed to report 15,841 positive covid-19 tests in a week. Contact tracers may have missed 50,000 potentially infectious people because of the blunder (The Guardian, in English)
Ride-share market almost halved in July. The Institute of Transport and Mobility wants to know how many hours drivers are actually working (Público)
Removal Audit Court president spark concerns about spending of billions in EU funds
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On a lighter note
Wow, either European Best Destinations is loving Portugal this year or it just pumps out a hell of a lot of lists. Ok, it’s the second option but hey, we’ll take any win we can get at the moment. After Portugal landed three of the top 10 safest beach destinations, Madeira has been named the safest Christmas destination in Europe, Público reports. EBD says Madeira has the “best sunny Christmas markets” in Europe, along with “sublime illuminations in Funchal (and in the 4 corners of the island), exotic fruits and flowers, local crafts, Madeira wine and 100% local cakes.” You can read the full list here.
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