Partial confinement came into effect today in 121 municipalities in mainland Portugal where there is “high risk of transmission of covid-19”, with the duty to remain at home, except for authorized travel, such as shopping, work, education and physical activity .
In addition to specific measures for these municipalities, the resolution of the Council of Ministers published in Diário da República prolongs the declaration of the situation of calamity in the entire continental national territory until 23:59 on the 19th of November.
On Saturday, after an extraordinary meeting of the Council of Ministers, the Government announced the decision to renew the calamity situation and to apply special measures in municipalities with a high risk of transmission of covid-19, stating that both the extension and the restrictions on 121 municipalities would be in effect between today and November 15.
This date was corrected to November 19 in the resolution, allowing it to remain in effect for 15 days.
Without justifying the change in the date, an official government source told Lusa that “the information published in Diário da República prevails”.
Applying the general criterion of the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) of “more than 240 cases per 100 thousand inhabitants in the last 14 days”, and considering the proximity to another municipality in this situation and the exception for outbreaks located in municipalities of low density, the Government identified 121 municipalities with a high risk of transmission of covid-19, including the capital municipalities of 12 of the 18 districts of mainland Portugal: Viana do Castelo, Braga, Vila Real, Bragança, Porto, Guarda, Aveiro, Castelo Branco, Santarém, Lisbon, Setúbal and Beja. Viseu, Coimbra, Leiria, Portalegre, Évora and Faro are excluded.
Covering 70% of the resident population, that is, 7.1 million inhabitants in Portugal, the list of 121 municipalities with a “high risk of transmission” can be consulted at covid19estamoson.gov and will be updated every 15 days.
Among the special measures implemented in these municipalities, the duty to remain at home stands out, except for the set of 26 cases of authorized displacement, which include the acquisition of goods and services, performance of professional activities, obtaining health care, assistance of vulnerable people, attendance at school establishments, access to cultural facilities, physical activity, participation in social volunteering activities, walking animals, feeding animals, exercising freedom of the press and traveling required to leave mainland Portugal .
In these territories, all commercial establishments close until 22:00, except restaurants, which have to close until 22:30; home meal delivery services (which cannot provide alcoholic beverages within the scope of this activity) which must close at 1 am; cultural facilities, which must close at 10:30 pm; and other exceptions such as pharmacies, doctor’s offices and clinics, funeral activities and service areas and fuel stations.
“The closing time can be fixed by the mayor of the municipal council who is territorially competent, subject to a favorable opinion from the local health authority and security forces, provided that the maximum limits established are met”, reads the resolution of the Council of Ministers.
Among the prohibitions that apply to these counties is the holding of events and celebrations with more than five people, unless they belong to the same household, and “fairs and uprising markets, unless authorized by the president of the territorial council with jurisdiction” .
In these 121 municipalities, religious ceremonies and shows are allowed, following the rules of the Directorate-General for Health (DGS), and at the labor level, the time difference is mandatory, as well as the adoption of the teleworking regime whenever the the functions concerned allow it.
For the entire territory of mainland Portugal, the number of people in each group in restaurants is currently limited to six, unless they belong to the same household.
Portugal accounts for at least 2,635 deaths associated with covid-19 in 149,443 confirmed cases of infection, according to the latest DGS bulletin.
The disease is transmitted by a new coronavirus detected in late December 2019 in Wuhan, a city in central China.
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