The new restrictions from September 15 // Special working rules for Lisbon and Porto
Portuguese news in English on September 11, 2020.
By the numbers
It’s another milestone today, and not a good one. Just two days after authorities found the highest number of cases since April 20, things have deteriorated further, clocking the highest number since April 16. We’re now averaging more than 400 cases a day over the past fortnight, up from as low as 170 in early August. The number of people in hospital and intensive care dropped slightly today but it’s still well up on a month ago.
Active, recovered, deaths, contacts under surveillance, confirmed, hospitalised, in ICU.
These are the new restrictions from September 15
From Tuesday, September 15, all of Portugal will be subject to many of the restrictions those in greater Lisbon have been living with for months, plus a few more, Público reports. Gatherings of more than 10 people are banned. In restaurants, cafés and pastelarias within 300 metres of a school, and in shopping centres, that number drops to four.
In general, opening hours for commercial establishments are limited to 10am-11pm but there are many exceptions. Hairdressers and gyms can open earlier and restaurants, cafes and pastelarias (updated*) can stay open until 1am. On top of this, local mayors have the power to force commercial establishments to shut as early as 8pm and alcohol cannot be purchased after 8pm, except when served alongside a meal in a restaurant. On a similar vein, drinking in public (outside of restaurants etc) is banned.
Wearing a mask remains mandatory on public transport and enclosed spaces such as shops, restaurants (except when eating and drinking), public services and schools but is not mandatory when walking on the street in the open air.
Prime Minister António Costa has also promised public transport will operate at normal levels, even though demand will be lower, to try to avoid peak hour problems. Making shops wait until 10am to open is also designed to avoid retail workers and shoppers crossing paths with people going to school or office jobs.
Special working rules for Lisbon and Porto
Porto has joined Lisbon as the main focal point of the pandemic in the past month or so, prompting the government to introduce further restrictions on the two biggest cities. From Tuesday, businesses in the greater metropolitan areas will be forced to adopt “mirrored” and mismatched working hours, Díario de Notícias reports. According to Público, the measures extend to having lunch and entering and exiting the building at different times, as well as switching between telework and in-office work. They’re aimed for the most part at avoiding peak-hour problems on public transport. The plan is to keep telework happening whenever possible, but the law itself is yet to be published so there are a lot of questions. Unions and business groups have both expressed some early concerns but are waiting to see the final measures before going further.
Algarve ‘unjustly punished’ as Portugal dumped from UK travel list
Well, it was more or less inevitable after the case numbers we’ve seen this week. England has joined Wales and Scotland in requiring anyone coming from Portugal to quarantine for 14 days, sparking a rush for flights home today. There’s a Guardian article here in English if you haven’t already seen the news. Noting that the so-called “travel corridor” didn’t even last a month, Diário de Notícias reported fears of a wave of cancellations in the Algarve. In fact, more British tourists visited Portugal in September last year than August and operators had been holding on to hope of a strong golf season to ease some of the pain of summer. President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa said the Algarve was being “unjustly punished” and Foreign Affairs Minister Augusto Santos Silva said he regretted the decision but praised England for keeping the Azores and Madeira on the safe travel list.
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In brief
Portuguese study confirms antibodies last up to five months. It’s yet to be peer reviewed. (Diário de Notícias)
Television superstar Cristina Ferreira becomes 2.5% owner of company behind TV channel TVI (Público)
Teachers' union still threatening to strike for the first days of classes. Last week, the union's national coordinator said he had given strike notice for September 14-17 as a way to “pressure the ministry to take action” over what it saw as unsafe work conditions.
On a lighter note
His name is Pepper and he greets you eagerly when you walk inside. No, I’m not talking about my uncle’s excellent dog (also named Pepper). The company behind Lisbon shopping centre Colombo is betting on robotics to bring customers to the ailing retail sector, DN Insider reports. The SoftBank Robotics semi-humanoid robot, taught to speak European Portuguese for the first time, will help you find what shop you’re looking for and is even meant to be able to express some emotions. After Colombo, it should be coming to other Sonae Sierra shopping centres in Portugal, such as NorteShopping in Porto, Arcada Nova in Braga and the Vasco da Gama centre in Parque das Nações.
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Pepper. Photo: DR
Also Pepper. Photo: Daniela Sunde-Brown
*I updated this post on September 25 after the government clarified the rules around opening hours for cafes, pastelarias and other similar businesses.