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The Portuguese Prime Minister, António Costa, detailed this afternoon the de-escalation plan of the confinement that the Portuguese country will follow , in an appearance that took place after his meeting with the country's president, Marcelo Rebelo da Sousa, to detail the decisions taken in the Council of Ministers.

Portugal adds up to today 989 deaths from Covid-19 with a total of 25,045 infected , after registering 16 deaths and 540 new infections in the last 24 hours.

The epidemiological curve, which peaked between March 23 and 25, continues to decline a few days after the "de-escalation" begins, as the state of emergency ends on May 2.

The country, as announced by the Prime Minister, will go from being in a "state of emergency" to a "state of calamity" after overcoming the growth phase and reaching a stabilization phase, but "this does not mean that the pandemic has passed, that the risk is over and that we can regain normality prior to this crisis. "

Costa highlighted that Portugal is in a stable phase of the evolution of the pandemic: "Despite having increased the capacity of tests and having carried out more tests, we have seen a stabilization in the number of positive cases . " According to the data presented by the Prime Minister, only 5.5% of the tests carried out have been positive.

With these data, the Prime Minister is confident that he can start "gradually, progressively and with all the precautions" to take steps towards a relaxation of the limitations imposed on the Portuguese. "We know that this process has risks that cannot be ignored, and the awareness of these risks depends on each one," Costa recalled.

Much of his speech has focused on the importance of following the recommendations of the health authorities and the need to maintain the habits acquired in terms of social distance, hand cleaning and other preventive measures. Costa has also announced that during this phase of relaxation of the measures, the use of masks will be mandatory in busy areas and on public transport.

De-escalation in three phases

The presented plan is divided into three phases, of fifteen days each , which will begin, respectively, on May 4, May 18 and June 1. The first phase will allow the opening of stores of up to 200 square meters , the small business that includes bookstores, hairdressers, dealers and shoe stores. Public services will also reopen, with the exception of citizen service offices.

Fifteen days later, on May 18 , the Government plans to allow the reopening of stores of up to 400 square meters. Daycare and schools will begin their return to normal , but parents will be able to choose to keep their children at home. Cafes and restaurants will be able to receive customers in the establishments again, maintaining a 50% capacity.

As of June 1 , the measures related to teleworking can be relaxed, with a return to work with measures that prevent 'rush hours', and the citizen service offices will be reopened. Stores of more than 400 square meters, shopping malls and cinemas and theaters will also be reopened , with a limited capacity.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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  • Portugal
  • Infectious diseases
  • Coronavirus
  • Covid 19

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