Here we follow developments on the Covid-19 pandemic on an international scale.
7:16 am – Numbers growing in the United States
The United States has recorded 2,569 deaths in the past 24 hours due to Covid-19, the highest daily balance issued by a country so far, Johns Hopkins University said last night.
This number, obtained between 1:30 am on Thursday in Lisbon and the same time the day before, brings the total number of fatalities in the country to 28,326 due to respiratory disease Covid-19.
As of Tuesday, the United States had reported 2,228 deaths from the new coronavirus. They also identified more than 637 thousand contagions.
“The battle continues, but the data suggests that we have passed the peak of new cases,” said the American President, at the daily press conference. Donald Trump promised to present details on Thursday for the “reopening of the economy” in the country, which in 17 weeks registered 17 million new unemployed.
“We are going to reopen states, some much earlier than others. Some states may reopen before May 1,” he guaranteed.
6:50 am – State of play
The President of the Republic decides this Thursday to prolong the state of emergency. The meeting of the Council of Ministers at which the proposal for a decree by Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa will be considered is scheduled for this morning at the Ajuda Palace, in Lisbon.
The return to classes and face-to-face exams at colleges should be gradual, but there are no concrete dates yet.
The debate in the Assembly of the Republic on the authorization of the state of emergency is scheduled for 3:30 pm.
The state of emergency must be renewed for another 15 days, until May 2.
On Thursday, after leaving the meeting with political leaders and experts at Infarmed’s headquarters in Lisbon, the Head of State considered that, if coronavirus containment proceeded as expected, May could be the month of transition to a progressive resumption of social and economic life.
In turn, the Prime Minister, António Costa, considers that any lifting of restrictions must be phased and calculated, so that what the country has achieved with the measures imposed so far is not lost.
The picture in Portugal
According to the latest epidemiological bulletin from the Directorate-General for Health, known early Wednesday afternoon, Covid-19 killed 32 more.
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The universe of infected people exceeds 18 thousand.
At this stage, health authorities continue to investigate the possibility that the BCG vaccine may be a factor in combating the disease.
The confinement and social consequences of the pandemic have already noted that the number of requests for psychological support has increased.
The international framework
On a global scale, the Covid-19 pandemic, which has spread to 193 countries and territories, has already claimed more than 133,000 deaths and infected more than two million people.
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The disease is transmitted by the new SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, detected in late December in Wuhan, a city in central China.
International government health crisis response policies have meant that four billion people, that is, more than half of the Earth’s human population, have entered confinement regimes.
Trade considered non-essential, a good part of the industries and air traffic were closed, conditioned or reduced to a minimum.
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