In the popular holiday destination of Portugal, the number of corona cases is increasing rapidly. In order to stop the rise once more, the government has now decided on a new measure.
Lisbon – The sun is shining and the tourists are coming: The tourism industry in Portugal has apparently recovered so well that gross domestic product might grow by 5.8 percent in 2022. Meanwhile, the Omikron-Untervariante BA.5 for increasing numbers of corona cases in the small country on the Iberian Peninsula. Between May 10 and 16, the authorities registered 157,502 new cases – 58 percent more than in the previous week. The numbers might actually be much higher, experts believe a high number of unreported cases is possible. The government reacted quickly and decided on a new measure once morest this Coronavirus for the summer. Will it remain the only one?
Coronavirus in Portugal: why the country is reacting so quickly
At the beginning of 2021, the number of infections in Portugal had exploded. There were additional refrigerated containers in front of many hospitals because the hospital morgues were filling up – the number of corona deaths was too high. The country has had one of the worst mortality and infection waves in the world. In February 21 Vice-Admiral Henrique Gouveia e Melo took over the vaccination campaign in Portugalwhich marked a turning point.
A few months later, Portugal had the pandemic under control and even rose to become the world champion in vaccination. 95 percent of the general population have received at least one dose and 60 percent have already received the third. In the 70 to 79 age group, 97 percent already have it booster vaccination received, according to information from the Portuguese health authority DGS (as of March 2022). But the traumatic experience at the beginning of Pandemic made Portugal cautious. The government therefore reacted quickly to the increasing numbers.
Corona in Portugal: beginning of the sixth wave? Government decides this measure
The BA.5 variant, which was first detected in Portugal at the end of March, is now the predominant variant in the EU country following a strong spread, said a spokesman for the Portuguese health institute Insa on Wednesday. It is now responsible for almost 80 percent of all reported new infections in Portugal. In fact, the number of cases might be significantly higher: “In reality, there might be twice as many cases,” said Gustavo Tato Borges, President of the Association of Public Health Physicians. According to him, the number of deaths also increased once more in the second week of May.
The European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) recently warned of precisely this development. The omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5 might lead to a resurgence in the number of cases, according to the ECDC. A report by a working group of the Instituto Superior Técnico in Lisbon from May 2022 sees Portugal already sliding into the sixth wave. In its report, the health authority advises “strongly increasing individual protective measures and booster vaccinations.”
The lifting of many corona measures – such as that mask wearing – in Portugal is apparently a reason for the rapid spread of the BA.5 sub-variant of the coronavirus. The mask requirement indoors has been lifted since April 21, but some people still wear mouth and nose protection voluntarily in the supermarket or even on the street. Wearing a mask is only still mandatory in public transport and medical facilities such as hospitals. In order to stop the rapid increase in the number of cases, the government has not decided to return the masks. But pharmacies should once more offer free rapid tests.
Corona virus in Portugal: are home office and mask requirements coming back?
From the point of view of experts, the mask requirement and a home office recommendation might curb the current increase in the number of corona infections. “The abolition of the mask requirement in the work context and dropping the home office recommendation, if this is possible, leads to an excess of infections, which according to our models contributes strongly to the current increase in infections,” says the report of the Instituto Superior Técnico.
Working from home was mandatory in Portugal for months during the pandemic. The government then recommended continuing to work from home. Since February 19, 2022, the government no longer recommends this either. However, employers and employees can reach an agreement on this – large companies such as Sitel or Teleperformance continue to offer their employees the opportunity to work from home. Some employees also have continue to have the right to work from home, even if the employer objects. This includes, for example, those who have children between the ages of three and eight and work in an office job at a company with more than nine employees. But for everyone else, the motto at the moment is: Off to the office. (bm with material from AFP)
