One in four Portuguese citizens with a monthly household income of 650 euros or less have lost all their income because of the economic impact of the COVID-19 outbreak, a study by the National School of Public Health showed this week.
Portuguese Finance Minister Mario Centeno said on Thursday the unemployment rate could hit around 10% by the end of the year, compared to 6.7% reported during the first quarter of 2020, because of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The National Association of Restaurants is extremely concerned about the lack of disclosure of hygiene and safety rules within the scope of COVID-19. It is incomprehensible that within a week (seven working days) of the restaurant spaces opening, hygiene and safety rules for the sector are still not known ”, reads today a statement by PRO.VAR.
Portugal's strategy to overcome the economic crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic is to push towards making the country a “powerful cluster of industrialization in Europe”, defended this Wednesday the Minister of Foreign Affairs in a parliamentary committee following many commentators’ calls for Europe to come together and establish new internal supply chains rooted in European countries.
Euro zone finance ministers hope to agree on Friday on the final details of credit lines from the ESM bailout fund for governments in need of cheap cash to deal with the coronavirus pandemic, so that the money can be available from June.
Aviation companies have been hit hard by the pandemic and the payback will be difficult. We will travel again, but there will surely be many changes in order to guarantee the rules of social distancing, travel etiquette, and hand hygiene, with the use of masks in closed environments. Although nothing is set in stone, we can look ahead to hypothesize what the most likely situation will be.
The phased return to normality will provide the possibility of family gatherings, said the DGS (Directorate-General for Health) today. Family lunches and dinners are allowed, clarified the deputy Director-General of Health, during a press conference this Tuesday, but "with due measures, much caution, and social distance".
The discussion of a “Portuguese miracle” may have been too much, but now that Europe is tentatively emerging from the first wave of COVID-19 over the coming weeks, it’s clear that the country performed well in comparison.
