The Prime Minister warned this Friday that the European Union is in danger of self-sabotaging if it does not correctly face the economic and social effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, stressing that "the priority of all priorities is to save lives".
The Minister of Internal Administration announced, this Friday, "that so-called weekend trips will not be tolerated" throughout the Easter period. "In this sense, the Minister of Internal Administration calls on all Portuguese to remain at home, limiting travel to what is strictly necessary", reads the MAI statement.
The European Central Bank has ditched a cap on how many bonds it can buy from any single euro zone country, clearing the way for potentially unlimited money-printing as it scales up its response to the COVID-19 outbreak.
A police officer stationed at GNR post in Faro has been diagnosed with COVID-19, leading to around 50% of his colleagues in the force being put into quarantine.
The 16 municipalities of the Algarve are preparing equipment in pavilions in order to receive groups of people who may need to be quarantined or need light medical care due to COVID-19. This is a measure that aimed at "preventing serious situations, like the one that happened in Faro", explained António Pina, president of AMAL - the Intermunicipal Community of the Algarve.
Deferral of deadlines for the payment of water bills, deferral and/or exemption from the payment of rents on public concessioned equipment, exemption from the fees for the occupation of public roads such as the A22 (OVP's), and suspension of tourist taxes. These are measures that join those already implemented by the municipalities in the Algarve, to alleviate the impact of the pandemic in the region.
The Secretary of State for Health, António Sales, revealed that Portugal is about to enter the most critical phase of the pandemic as the country has recorded 43 fatalities and nearly 3,000 infected. Mr. Sales revealed that Portugal is about to enter the mitigation phase of the COVID-19 virus. The Secretary of State for Health revealed at a press conference that he has "confidence" in this stage of the process in fighting the pandemic.
The Finance Minister spoke this Wednesday about the impact of the pandemic on the Portuguese economy, guaranteeing that Portugal is well-prepared for any possible crisis. Mário Centeno acknowledged that the pandemic is "paralyzing the most critical parts of the economy", but asserts that Portugal "has never been so well prepared" for the economic impact of COVID-19.
