The last Covid-19 state of emergency was declared in March by President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa and lasted six weeks.
Under Portuguese law, the state of emergency is limited to 15 days, but can be extended indefinitely for periods of 15 days if required.
Stricter measures
The president is expected to declare the emergency in a televised address Monday evening and parliament will then have to approve it, formalities in both cases.
On Saturday, the government already introduced stricter measures, such as a civic obligation to stay at home, except for trips to work, school or shopping. This applies in 121 municipalities, including the main regions of Lisbon and Porto.
A state of emergency would pave the way for further measures, such as stricter restrictions on the movement of people, suspension of the right to strike and restriction of public gatherings.
Curfew
Costa said the emergency will not be as drastic as it was in March, but a curfew could be introduced if necessary.
Portugal has recorded a relatively low number of infections (144,341 cases) and 2,544 deaths from Covid-19. But the daily number of new cases peaked at 4,656 on Friday, the highest number since the start of the pandemic. Testing for the virus has also increased.
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