The 'beginning of the end' of the state of emergency, and TAP could start flying to Paris and London in May
English language coronavirus news in Portugal on April 16, 2020.
The authorities have confirmed another 750 cases today, which is again more than we saw yesterday (643) but not by too much. Another 30 people have died, two less than yesterday at an increase of 5%. The daily death toll has remained remarkably consistent for pretty much the entire month so far.
The ‘beginning of the end’ of the state of emergency
It’s going to be very slow and careful but Público reports the third state of emergency period, due to start on Saturday, is expected to mark the start of a gradual return to normality. The paper describes it as the “beginning of the end”. The government has already approved the presidential decree to renew the state of emergency until May 2. The Parliament is expected to discuss and vote on it this afternoon.
Diário de Notícias reports that the decree maintains the restrictions on personal movement but opens the door to the reopening of services, businesses and commercial establishments, “gradually”, or in phases. The President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, stresses for any of this to be possible, the data need to continue to show a decrease in the spread of the novel coronavirus. The capacity of the National Health Service must continue to be secure, along with a robust testing regime.
A quick reminder that the only way to to ensure the virus stops spreading is, you guessed it: STAY HOME and WASH YOUR HANDS. You can only leave home if you have to. So that’s work, buying food, taking your dog for a walk, exercising and one or two other minor allowances. Don’t forget, if you do the wrong thing you can be fined or put in prison for the crime of disobedience or, even worse, get yourself or someone else sick.
TAP could start flying to Porto, Paris and London in May
Discussions about state assistance for the national airline, TAP, continue, Público reports. The president of the company’s administration council, Miguel Frasquilho, is speaking to Parliament today about TAP’s future. He says any help will come with conditions and that the eventual nationalisation of the carrier can’t be ruled out. Some options on the table include loans that can be converted to shares and the nation increasing its shareholding from the 50% it owns today. He says the company could restart flights between Lisbon and Porto, as well as from Lisbon to Paris and London, in May, but it won’t be known whether that’s possible until closer to the date. TAP has been flying only to Madeira and the Azores since April 1.
The Azores are really worth a visit when this is all over.
More than 10% of those infected are health professionals
This is not a new development, just another set of numbers to keep an eye on. Secretary of State for Health António Lacerda Sales says 2131 health professionals infected with COVID-19, Público reports. That’s 11.31% of all cases, including 566 nurses, 396 doctors and 1169 other workers. The latest CDC figures put the same figure anywhere between 10% and 20% in the US and at the end of last month, roughly 14% of Spain’s cases were among healthcare workers. Unfortunately I haven’t been able to find any more up-to-date figures.
In brief
For anyone feeling completely lost, Diário de Notícias has laid out a timeline of the virus from the start of March
The town of Ovar was one of the worst hit in Portugal, authorities are now pointing to a likely relaxation of containment measures there in the next few days
Portugal has created 18 spaces to receive homeless people, from Braga in the north to Tavira in the Algarve
On a lighter note
The Museum of Lisbon is giving everyone a rare chance to explore the Roman Galleries underneath Baixa, without having to line up. According to Público, the galleries only open twice a year and they’re so popular it’s an achievement just to manage to get inside. Well, April’s visit has been cancelled because it’s hard to think of anything more likely to spread the pandemic than cramming half of Lisbon into some ancient underground tunnels. So the museum has put the whole thing online in a 3D virtual visit. It’s meant to be open from tomorrow at 10am and available on the museum’s Facebook page.
Picture: Museum of Lisbon
Thank you
I’ve been doing this for a week now and I’m a bit overwhelmed by your support. when I started I wasn’t sure if even 100 people would want to sign up but now about 500 people are reading this every day and about four out of five of you are opening the daily email, which is crazy. Please let me know what you want out of this email (what do you need to know? What do you want to see more or less of?) and of course tell your friends if you think they’ll find it useful
Jorge, I’ve spent time looking on your newsletters for a way to contact you...nothing. I Made a 25€ donation to support you when you first asked us to but didn’t subscribe. I wanted to ask, what does a subscription get that the free version doesn’t? I hope you get this