The Algarve regional health delegate, Ana Cristina Guerreiro said yesterday that control of the Covid-19 pandemic in the Algarve region is still "not as comfortable" as would be desirable entering the festive season, asking people to take extra care in the coming weeks.
"We have a situation that is not as comfortable as the one I would like for us to have going in to the Christmas season and New Year's Eve. I would rather have a slightly lower number of cases in the region, but this is how it is happening," said Ana Cristina Guerreiro.
That official, who was speaking at the fortnightly press conference of the District Civil Protection Commission, said that the peak of contagion in the region was "around November 22, coinciding with the rest of the country", and that the fall recorded since then has been " relatively slow, progressively slow... ".
For the festive season, the regional health delegate emphasized that the principles of wearing a mask, physical distance and hand washing should be adhered to and that coexistence of family members from different areas should be avoided, especially concerning the elderly.
Ana Cristina Guerreiro maintained, however, that it will be "very difficult" to monitor the number of people living in families "because the attitudes and behaviors will take place inside people's homes", she explained.
Ana Cristina Guerreiro stressed, on the other hand, her concern about leaving elderly people in care homes during the festival season, since there are no "precise guidelines" from the Directorate-General for Health.
"I have been questioned, both by institutions and by the local health authorities, about what guidance they should give and it is not easy. Because if an elderly person is going to spend a week at home, when they return it is a great risk for the institution. Making decisions is very difficult ", she added.
Regarding the New Year, the president of the Intermunicipal Community of the Algarve (AMAL), António Miguel Pina, revealed that some municipalities have decided, "pure and simple", not to have firework displays and that other municipalities will try to "disperse" the events, so that people can see from their homes and not have to be on the street.
According to recent data from the Algarve health authorities, there are 1,602 active cases in the region, 1,881 people under active surveillance and 40 hospitalized in hospitals - ten of them in intensive care, four of whom are ventilated -, while the number of recovered people has already reached 4,827.
In the Algarve, there have been "several outbreaks, but with lower numbers" compared to other regions, said Ana Cristina Guerreiro, adding that the outbreak in a nursing home in Lagos, with 25 cases reported on16 November, "is perfectly controllable."The outbreak in the Faro Prison "is also already completely under control", she informed.
Original article available in Portuguese at http://postal.pt/
