President speaks to the country: Don't lift lockdown before Easter // Government rejects fake reopening plan
Portuguese news in English on Friday, February 27, 2021.
By the numbers
The positive turnaround continues, with new case numbers dropping for the past three days in a row, after jumping up to almost 1500 on Wednesday. While there are still roughly 50-60 covid-19 patients dying everyday the exodus from hospitals has been steady, with about 30 fewer people in intensive care from one day to another throughout most of the week. That shows when you look at the European Centre for Disease Control’s latest figures (map below), which show Portugal having dropped from the worst in the world for cases per capita to 20th in Europe and 13th in the EU, according to Público.
President speaks to the country: no reopening before Easter
The state of emergency has been renewed until the middle of March, along with a message from the president: no reopening before Easter, Diário de Notícias. Only after the holiday period does President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa want to see things gradually begin to return to normal, starting with schools and accompanied by more vaccination and more testing. In a televised address to the nation last night, he said planning for the future was essential. But rushing to reopen because of recent numbers would be as foolish as it was tempting, particularly given cases would rise much quicker than they fell.
Government rejects fake reopening plan
You may have seen a supposed reopening plan flying around Whatsapp and Instagram the past few days; the government says it is entirely false, simply a fake mock-up based on last year’s reopening plan. A complaint will be made to public prosecutors given the disinformation and false expectations the document could cause, and the inherent risk to public health, Diário de Notícias reports.
Variants vs vaccines
The race between vaccines and variants continues with Moderna’s announcement that it’s ready to test a vaccine booster shot specifically targeted to the concerning South African variant of the coronavirus, The Independent reports, in English. It’s testing several different methods of deploying the vaccine, including an extra booster jab and combining it with the original. A University of Texas study found the variant could reduce the protective antibodies generated by the Pfizer Inc/BioNTech but no evidence as yet that it reduces the actual level of protection in the real world. The Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine was found to offer as little as 10% protection against the variant, prompting South Africa to pause its rollout of that dose.
It’s totally normal for viruses to mutate and thousands have already been identified but a few, such as ones first found in South Africa, the UK and Brazil, are considered of concern because they seem to be able to spread more quickly and/or may be able to better evade vaccines. CNN reports, in English, another such variant has been detected in New York City. The Financial Times has a really good story, in English, about vaccines vs variants, which highlights the importance of getting people vaccinated in poorer countries. Bloomberg reports, in English, that the one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine is expected to get approval from the European Medicines Agency on March 11. The latest weekly vaccine report for Portugal, for the week to February 21, showed 433,475 people (4% of the population), had received their first dose, of which 248,708 had received both.
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In brief
Thousands of families' mortgage moratoriums set to end. The payments pause finishes at the end of this month for many and some banks are already contacting customers to warn and “invite” them to find other solutions if they can’t pay. (Público)
DGS to further widen mass testing rules. The change will lower the number of cases needed for schools, prisons and some businesses to be subject to fortnightly rapid testing. (Público)
Cascais reopens beachfront walk for exercise and beach for surfing. It follows a similar move by Oeiras council, but no one will be allowed to stay on the beach. (Público)
On a lighter note
We’re still a long way from anything like normal but here’s a tiny bit of light on the horizon. The Directorate General of Health (DGS) is weighing up a proposal from concert promoters to carry out pilot tests of events on the path to live music and other performances returning. The proposal includes rapid tests 72 hours before the event and entry for all ticketholders, as well as a covid-tracing questionnaire filled out two weeks after the event. DGS said it had been meeting and working with the companies to find a safe way for them to restart and nothing had been approved yet.
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