Covid-19: Portugal will declare a state of health emergency
Woman passer-by wearing a mask in the streets of Lisbon, October 31, 2020. REUTERS / Rafael Marchante
Text by: RFI Follow
4 min
In Portugal, most of the country will be reconfigured from Wednesday.
The government intends to declare a state of health emergency to give itself free rein in its efforts to stem the spread of the new coronavirus.
Publicity
Read more
"
We propose that a preventive state of emergency be declared, to remove legal doubts
", declared the Socialist Prime Minister, Antonio Costa, after an interview with the President of the Republic, the Conservative Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa.
It is up to the President of the Republic to declare a state of emergency after consulting Parliament.
The executive wants in particular to ensure that it can legally restrict freedom of movement, institute temperature controls or requisition public and private sector employees to fight
the pandemic
.
Asked about the possible imposition of a curfew, Antonio Costa affirmed that in a state of emergency "
nothing will prevent, if necessary, that traffic is limited between 11
p.m. and 6
a.m., with exceptions because some people work at night
”.
From Wednesday, 7.1 million Portuguese, or about 70% of the population, will be re-confined for at least two weeks, the Prime Minister announced on Saturday evening.
This new confinement will however be less strict than that of spring.
As soon as possible, teleworking will become compulsory but schools will remain open, as will restaurants and shops, even if they will have to close earlier.
National day of mourning
The country, which for the first time exceeded the 4,000 new daily contaminations mark last week, observed a national day of mourning on Monday, November 2, in tribute to its 2,544 victims of Covid-19.
In a brief ceremony at the Presidential Palace, President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa and Prime Minister Antonio Costa observed a minute of silence after witnessing the half-masting of the Portuguese flag and listening to the guard of honor of the gendarmerie play the national anthem.
In the streets of Lisbon, the Portuguese went about their business in a normal atmosphere, despite the increasingly restrictive measures taken by the authorities to curb the spread of the new coronavirus.
To avoid traditional gatherings on All Saints' Day, the government had
already banned
unjustified travel between municipalities until Tuesday, and wearing a mask in the street has become mandatory.
► To read also: Covid-19: in Europe, reconfinements in dispersed order
(
With
AFP)
Our selection on the coronavirus
•
Listen to our
Coronavirus Info
column
•
Our
explanations
:
→
What are the persistent symptoms of Covid-19?
→
Young people and Covid-19
: health authorities concerned
→
Immunity to Covid-19 would be short-lived
→
Promising results for the vaccine against the coronavirus
•
How to make a mask and use it well
•
See also the
records
of
RFI Knowledge
on Covid-19
→
Birth of a pandemic
→
Daily proof
→
The history of epidemics
→
Science facing Covid-19
→
The geopolitical consequences
Newsletter
Receive all the international news directly in your mailbox
I subscribe
Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application
google-play-badge_FR
Portugal
Coronavirus
On the same subject
Covid-19: in Europe, reconfinements in dispersed order
Covid-19: soon overwhelmed, Portugal is punctually reconfiguring itself for All Saints' Day
Covid-19: across Europe, measures against the epidemic are getting tougher