Tuesday saw the country plunged into further restrictions designed to limit the spread of coronavirus infections.
From a minute past midnight it was no longer possible to meet in groups of more than 10 people (reduced to four if the meeting is in a shopping mall), to drink alcohol in a public setting after 8pm (unless accompanied by food), or even to eat out in a group of more than four people.
The immediate question has to be ‘will this really stop the spread of Covid-19?’
But first, to give authorities their due, we should inform of the changes brought in for the next two week period (the inference being that this could extended once, twice, possibly even more times).
Other than the three new restrictions mentioned in the opening paragraph, cafés, bars, restaurants and coffee shops within a 300-metre radius of schools are limited to groups of no more than four people at any point in the day – the intention being to reduce the chances for ‘large groups of young people forming’.
Opening hours for local commerce have changed. Businesses that are not coffee shops, hairdressers, or gymnasiums, can only open from 10am and must close by 8pm – though supermarkets, hypermarkets and cafés CAN stay open till 11pm (the decision rests with local authorities).
Service stations are to stop selling alcohol after 8pm, while in the metropolitan areas of Lisbon and Porto, workers are to work in shifts (to reduce pressure on public transports and issues of physical distancing) and/ or keep up the practice of remote working from home.
Changes that don’t involve the general public include the creation of 18 ‘emergency brigades’ made up of doctors, nurses and diagnostic technicians, a total of 400 people, to “act in a rapid way in outbreaks in old people’s homes”.
Current restrictions involving the wearing of masks in interior public spaces, hand-sanitising, physical distancing etc. all remain in place.
Children starting school are also bound to wear facemasks through the school day once they reach the 2º Ciclo (usually at the age of 9-10).
In the run-up to the return to a State of Contingency authorities stressed the fact that ‘success’ in Portugal’s ongoing battle with Covid-19 depends on “every single person abiding by the rules”.
That said, the State of Contingency that has been in place in the Greater Lisbon area throughout the summer does not appear to have brought down the spread of infections in any significant way. The capital is still a major virus hot-spot despite months of constraints, and continues to dominate the recording of deaths (in albeit very low numbers), as does the metropolitan area of Porto.
But what is interesting is that the virus now is not ‘decimating’ the elderly, nor is it predominantly infecting them. It is spread through the younger generations and more than often leaving victims either very lightly affected or completely unaware that they have it.
One could argue that this is the path towards herd immunity. But this doesn’t appear to be a popular approach yet.
Mainstream media has nonetheless ‘woken up’ to the fact that tests could be flagging false positives (on the basis that they are picking up “dead and harmless viral particles”).
The Express in UK has gone so far as to deduce that this could mean that ‘thousands’ of people are in ‘pointless lockdowns’ all over the north of England.
No matter how many ‘alternative views’ bubble to the surface, the overriding message that draconian measures are ‘the-only-way-to-win-this-battle’ persists.
The World Health Organisation, for instance, suggested on Monday that it was no longer a good idea to bump elbows in greeting. A simple hand on the heart would be a great deal safer. DGS health authorities in Portugal have discounted this suggestion – not least because images of bumping elbows are emblazoned all over government literature on ‘optimum pandemic practices’.
But as the nation has been forced into almost catatonic focus on the rising number of (largely asymptomatic) infections and the minuscule number of daily Covid deaths, Expresso has given one leader writer a bit of free rein.
“Either the government is lying”, writes Henrique Raposo – or its policies brought in to stem the pandemic have actually killed twice the number of people than Covid-19.
Raposo came to this conclusion by catching a news-flash that appeared last Friday and then ‘disappeared from sight’.
INE – the national statistics institute – revealed that excess mortality in Portugal since March totalled almost 6,000 deaths.
“In other words in the last six months, 5,882 more people died than averages for the same period recorded over the last 10 years”, Raposo wrote on Tuesday. “As we know, Covid-19 explains almost 2000 of these deaths: 1,871 to be exact”. So why hasn’t there been any kind of debate? Why hasn’t the president raised his voice or “the government, the Opposition, journalists, DGS (health authorities) or commentators”?
In Raposo’s mindset, the 4,000 unexplained excess deaths have come because Portuguese people are simply “too terrified by the apocalyptic narrative” to set foot in hospitals which “remain hugely conditioned by anti-Covid measures” as it is.
Anyone trying to see a doctor since March – even privately – often faces an interminable wait.
The ‘cure’ concludes Raposo, is killing many more than the virus (possibly twice as many) – and this is before one considers the damage being done to businesses/ livelihoods and the wider national and even international economy.
Yet no-one seems prepared to talk about it.
Says Raposo, “the silence on this subject is shameful”.
Article written by Natasha Donn, by kind permission of The Algarve Resident
E: natasha.donn@algarveresident.com
Comments
You can keep posting those words 'highly unreliable' till the cows come home but I don't see any proof of that assertion, except for the false negatives. As for 'scared people being easier to control' and 'all our rights and freedoms... are not coming back soon, if ever', that is just dogwhistle nonsense. You never seem to watch or even acknowledge reports about emergency and intensive care services who have to cope every day with increasing admissions, and their pleas to everyone to cooperate to allow them to do their jobs.
200,000 have died as a result of covid in the USA and over 40,000 have died in the UK.
These are people,real people.Not bar stories
5 deaths - however sad that is for their loved ones - in a country of roughly 10 million is hardly worthy of headline news.
And of the 899 so-called "cases", this figure is once again based on a highly unreliable (PCR) test. Only a small percentage of them are likely to develop illness and only a small percentage of them are likely to die.
The figures are being exaggerated and kept in the headlines to keep the levels of fear high in the gullible.
Scared people are easier to control.
All our rights and freedoms that are being taken away day after day are not coming back anytime soon, if ever.
But dont worry because dave and steve say its not real
Steve I keep reading and listening but WHERE is the link which answers my questions?
The majority listed in your link are GPs. Perhaps they want to increase the number of patients so they can earn more money (Belgian and German health systems are insurance based). Heiko Schoening from acu2020 is already warning against any future corona vaccines citing that anti pregnancy hormone was found in tetanus vaccines administered in Kenya 6 years ago. I wonder who are the scaremongers here?
You are comparing apples to oranges.
The one rule for all never was and it still isn't the best policy. But try explain that to politicians it's like hitting a brick wall.
Norman and Reg don't take my word for it listen to the experts on this matter.
"No Medical Justification For Emergency Measures" - Open Letter From 100s Of Doctors, Health Pros Urges End To Lockdowns
https://docs4opendebate.be/en/open-letter/
They lied about asbestos
They lied about mercury fillings
They lied about opioids
They're lying about the safety of vaccines
They lied about aluminium in deodorants
They lied about cancer-causing talc in hygiene products
They lied about hormone replacement therapy
They lied about lead in the paint
They lied about fluoride in the drinking water and in the toothpaste
They lied about saturated fats
They lied about raw milk
They lied about pesticides, GMOs and glyphosate
They lied about natural medicine and natural cures
They lied about global warming and climate change
They lied about the health benefits of soy
They lied about sugar and artificial sweeteners
They lied about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq
They’ve lied about cholesterol and statin drugs
They lied about chemotherapy and radiation therapy
They lied about chemtrails
9/11 was a lie
But they’re telling us the truth about COVID-19?!