Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa said, this Tuesday, that the country will enter a third phase of combating the COVID-19 pandemic, in which the "closure" of businesses and institutions is no longer a focus. However, the resumption of activity "in small steps" will have to be accompanied by the control of the situation, with permanent assessment of epidemiological data.
At the end of the meeting with specialists at Infarmed, the President of the Republic summarized the situation that the country is currently experiencing and paved the way for the gradual lifting of lockdown measures, to be outlined by the Government more clearly on Thursday. What is certain is that the State of Emergency ends "the 2nd at midnight". Be clear, however, that the country “will not resume normality”, warned Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa.
"It is no longer an idea of drastic and radical closure, but of other measures. It is hoped that it will not be necessary to resort to the state of emergency in the future again. This balance is important in that it is necessary to know that containment is important, but small steps of openness and evaluation as well. It is not the definitive normality ".
“Both are inseparable: recovery and control of the situation," he stressed.
"The State of Emergency played a legal, political and psychological role, which corresponded to the concern for lockdown", he stressed, guaranteeing however that in this third phase it will not be necessary to renew it.
Regarding the confinement in the first phase of the fight against COVID-19, Marcelo praised the population's adherence to rules and stated that it had a marked effect on the control of the pandemic, "lowering the numbers that had to go down according to the data he received at this morning's meeting, which also included the Prime Minister, the Director-General for Health and the leaders of the various parties holding parliamentary seats.
On specific increases in the rate of transmissibility of the virus, as happened in the region of Lisbon and the Tejo Valley, Marcelo attributed this to specific case-by-case situations. For example, a single hotel with dozens of infected in Lisbon will have increased this value.
Thus, Portugal’s lockdown, which shut most non-essential services last month to contain the spread of the coronavirus, will be lifted gradually from May 3rd.
“What matters in this new phase is that the Portuguese know that containment remains important so we must take small steps and constantly evaluate,” he told the news conference.
The country declared a state of emergency on March 18th when the death toll was just two, with around 642 confirmed cases. It has conducted 370,000 coronavirus tests since March 1, one of the highest testing rates worldwide.
Even before the state of emergency was imposed, the government closed schools and nightclubs, banned gatherings of large groups, suspended flights to Italy and halted tourism with Spain.
Some restrictions will remain in place, Rebelo de Sousa said. “The end of the state of emergency is not the end of the outbreak, it’s not the end of control.”
The full plan will be announced on April 30th.
Newspaper Publico reported on Sunday that small neighbourhood shops will reopen on May 4, while childcare centres and big shopping malls will open on June 1.
On April 18th, Prime Minister Antonio Costa said he hoped to relax restrictions on schools, stores, restaurants and cultural spaces from May but to do so would require new rules to keep people safe.
There may also be limits on the number of people visiting beaches, usually crowded during the summer, Costa said.
At the time, he said it was not yet clear when events, such as music festivals, could take place but that cinemas might reopen sooner under new restrictions.
Portuguese football league matches might be able to go ahead but behind closed doors or only allowing season ticket holders to attend matches.
Costa said on Monday the widespread use of protective equipment would be essential as the economy reopens and people start leaving their homes.
The pandemic is also set to leave lasting scars on Portugal’s once bailed-out economy. The International Monetary Fund predicted the country’s gross domestic product will contract by 8% this year.
