The scenario at the end of January begins to resemble more and more what happened in March. In Europe, the desire of some European countries to close their borders is growing and with this they are able to stop the spread of the new strain of the virus more quickly. The decision on what to do at the external and internal borders will be taken this afternoon, at an extraordinary European Council.
The discussion about a possible closure of borders or about possible more restrictive measures at borders. That’s right said António Costa on Monday when he announced the corrections to the general confinement rules. The Prime Minister said that “there is coordinated action with the European Union” in this matter and that, as such, only at the European Council will these issues be addressed.
Before border closings, there may be intermediate solutions. Diplomatic source told the Spanish newspaper El País that Germany argues that European countries should demand a test before each trip and that passengers must comply with quarantine, especially if the trip originates in countries with a high prevalence of the British variant of the virus, such as seems to be the case in Portugal. The same newspaper says that this is the first step, but that if this control by countries is not possible, the borders in the Schengen area should be closed again, only with the movement of workers, goods and goods, as happened in March, April last year.
Who was against this idea was the president of the European Commission. Von der Leyen said that closing the borders “is meaningless” and that it is not “as effective as more specific measures”.
The new variant of the virus is accelerating contagions. The Minister of Health, Marta Temido, who this Wednesday met with epidemiologists, said in an interview with RTP that the situation “worsened” in the last week and that the new variant of the virus represented only 8% of cases in the last week and that this week it is expected that it is already responsible for 20% of new cases. More, said Temido, with its great replicative effect, by the end of the month it could already be responsible for 60% of the new contagions.
So, just a few days after the general confinement was imposed and been modified on Monday, the government tightens it again. The schools’ decision will be taken in the Council of Ministers, but hours later, there may be a new decision, this time on the borders.
The same European Council to address pandemic management and European vaccination plan. The European Commission wants more ambitious vaccination goals, namely to have 80% of the elderly over 80 years old vaccinated at the end of February, beginning of March, which can lead to an adjustment of the national vaccination plan. Yesterday, in a press conference with the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, António Costa said that the Portuguese technical commission will certainly take into account the recommendations that emanate from the European Commission.
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