Here we follow all developments on the spread of SARS-CoV-2 on an international scale.
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09h48 – PR already begins to hear the parties about the renewal of the state of emergency
09h32 – Hong Kong suspended face-to-face classes until mid-February due to the increase in cases in the country
09h15 – China with 33 new cases registered on January 3rd
8:57 am – ITV cites British government source who says authorities fear the vaccine will not be effective for the strain of the virus that circulates in South Africa
08h50 – Doctors denounce “serious irregularities” in the treatment of Covid-19 corpses in Lisbon
08h45 – PR fears lax effects on New Year’s Eve
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8:31 am – British Minister of Health concerned about the virus strain in South Africa
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Matt Hancock says this is a “significant problem”, as this strain poses a greater danger than the variant found in the UK.
“It is a bigger problem than the UK variant,” he said.
08h21 – Germany with 9847 more cases and 302 fatalities
08h18 – Russia with 23,351 more cases and 482 deaths in 24 hours
08h17 – UK started administering the vaccine developed by Oxford / AstraZeneca
The UK has now vaccinated more than a million people in total so far with the Pfizer vaccine.
08h16 – PR hears parties
The President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, will listen today to all parties with parliamentary seats, after having announced that he intends to renew the state of emergency for just eight days, instead of the usual 15.
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08h15 – One dead, 39 users and 15 infected employees in Soure’s home
7h55 – Costa defends the defined criteria for vaccination against Covid-19
Although other countries have included political leaders at the top of the list of priorities, the prime minister believes that the decision to vaccinate, in the first place, health professionals was correct.
Statements by António Costa, to the Lusa agency, on the day the vaccination process starts in nursing homes, in the municipality of Mação, in the district of Santarém.
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Covid-19. Vaccination campaign in nursing homes starts today
The campaign will start today in two institutions in the municipality of Mação. The employees and users of the Elderly Center of S. José das Matas are the first to be vaccinated, at 3 pm.
The institution has 51 people, including users and employees.
At 16:00 is the vaccination of 61 people from the home of Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Cardigos
The vaccination campaign against covid-19 began on December 27 with health professionals.
The Health Minister had announced that vaccination in nursing homes and long-term care facilities would start this week.
On Saturday, the Ministry of Health assured that before Tuesday the first vaccines would not be administered in homes.
However, the Ministry of Labor, Solidarity and Social Security guarantees that vaccination starts today in Mação and will be attended by Minister Ana Mendes Godinho.
Covid-19. Vaccination in nursing homes starts today on the continent https://t.co/MSL6N6gxsT
– RTPNews (@RTPNoticias) January 4, 2021
Vaccination was expected to begin in 150 facilities in the 25 counties with the highest number of infections.
In the last bulletin, Mação was at moderate risk, but the situation has been complicated in the last few days in two homes in the municipality.
More doses in the face of European scarcity
Today, more than 80 thousand doses of the vaccine against covid-19 arrive in Portugal. 40 thousand will stay in the Montemor-o-Velho warehouse. They belong to a batch of 303 thousand doses that will arrive by the end of January.
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In February, another 429 thousand doses are expected to arrive and in March another 487,500 doses.
The European Commission admits that the production of vaccines against COVID-19 is not meeting the needs of the 27.
It is Brussels’ response to complaints from countries like Germany or France about the slowness with which vaccines are arriving.
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The UK today begins to administer more than half a million vaccines developed by Astra-Zeneca and the University of Oxford.
BioNTech expects to start producing from February at a new unit in Germany, capable of supplying 250 million doses in the first half of 2021. This way it strengthens production at the factory in Belgium where the batches destined for the European Union are produced.
First cases of the new variant on the continent
The first cases of the new variant of covid-19 were detected in mainland Portugal. There are 16 cases, all with a history of travel to the United Kingdom.
Most of the samples were collected at Lisbon airport. Even so, the possibility that there is already community transmission in mainland Portugal is not excluded.
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These 16 cases add up to the 18 that had already been identified in Madeira.
Madeira adopts new measures
Due to the increase in the number of cases, in Madeira the return to school is postponed for at least one week.
As of today, all teachers and school staff in the municipalities of Funchal, Câmara de Lobos and Ribeira Brava will be tested
The municipalities of Funchal, Câmara de Lobos and Ribeira Brava will have more restrictive measures
As of Tuesday, circulation on the public road after 11 pm is prohibited and return to school has been postponed.
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Presential work in the regional public administration will also be reduced and home visits are suspended until January 15.
Restaurants and bars can only operate until 10:30 pm.
The archipelago is experiencing one of the worst moments since the pandemic began.
On the continent, the ban on movement between municipalities ended, a measure taken as a way of reducing the impact of displacements due to the New Year.
Increase in the number of hospitalized
73 more people died with Covid-19 in Portugal. Since the beginning of the pandemic, 7,118 people have lost their lives.
There are a further 3 384 new cases of infection.
A further 186 people are hospitalized, totaling 3 044, one of the highest figures since the beginning of the pandemic. There are 500 people in intensive care. There are 8 more than in the previous 24 hours.
Portugal currently has 77 601 active cases of covid-19.
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