Portugal is also fiercely affected by the wave of coronavirus -

Armando Franca / AP / SIPA

The second wave of coronavirus continues to plague Europe, and more and more countries are taking steps to try to counter it.

The Portuguese government intends to declare a state of health emergency to give itself free rein in its efforts to stem the spread of the virus, Prime Minister Antonio Costa announced on Monday as most of the country will be re-confined from Wednesday.

"We propose that a preventive state of emergency be declared, to remove legal doubts", declared the head of the socialist government after an interview with the President of the Republic, the conservative Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, who is responsible for declaring a state of emergency after consulting Parliament.

Curfew is coming

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, Costa told reporters.

Asked about the possible imposition of a curfew, the Prime Minister said that in a state of emergency "nothing will prevent, if necessary, that traffic is limited between 11:00 p.m. and 6:00 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.

National mourning this Monday

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.

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.

Portugal, which for the first time last week exceeded the 4,000 new daily contaminations mark, observed a national day of mourning on Monday in tribute to its 2,544 victims of Covid-19.

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