"Are you a sympathetic neighbour?”. This is the key question the municipality of Faro are asking their citizens, in a campaign that aims to prevent at risk individuals - namely the elderly - from having to leave home to obtain essential goods.
In view of this, the Council are promoting a set of measures under the #FaroemCasa (FaroAtHome) initiative. One of them, already underway, is a campaign, in partnership with the condominium companies that operate in the municipality, and which aims to encourage solidarity between the neighbours living in Faro’s apartment buildings.
The main message of this communication campaign is that, “in this critical phase, we can all help and, in this sense, it invites each of us to question whether our neighbour next door needs anything”. Thus, if one of the residents of the building has to leave the house, he will be able to guarantee basic necessities that any of the neighbours, namely among those who are part of the risk groups and have priority need for isolation, may need, thus avoiding that more people have to go to the street.
Furthermore, the system will allow “in the short term” the “delivery of non-cooked food and pharmaceutical products” to the homes of residents so that they can remain confined at home, through a partnership with the Faro Rotaxi taxi cooperative and the Association of Commerce and Services of the Algarve Region (ACRAL), stated the Algarve Chamber.
“This service is part of a set of measures implemented by the municipality, which is seeking to work actively in the search for solutions that minimize the difficulties that everyone is going through and facilitate the permanence of citizens in their homes, for that actively contribute to contain the focus of Covid-19, in the county and in the country”, justified the municipality in a statement.
The municipality understands that, at this stage, “we all have to be part of the solution and, in this sense, we praise civil society, associations and entrepreneurs from the most diverse sectors, which, throughout this process, have shown the greatest commitment and willingness to overcome this challenge”.
All information about the various initiatives developed by the municipality, as well as the evolution of COVID-19 in the municipality, can be consulted on the City Council's website and on their social media pages. Finally, the Council leaves a word of appreciation: “Faro and the people of Faro have always been up to the challenges. We don't know if this will be the biggest one we will face, but it is already the one that has united us the most”.
