There were two days of meeting of the Council of Ministers to approve the first decree that dictates the rules of life in the country where since this Thursday the state of emergency has been in force. There are clear rules for what closes and what can (and should) remain open in terms of trade and services. The freedom of movement of citizens is compromised, as expected, in particular for citizens with special protective duties, who comprise a considerable percentage of the population (over 70 years old or with a chronic disease). The extensive legislative package now known had been anticipated the previous day by the prime minister as “maximum containment” of the virus and with the “minimum disturbance” of the Portuguese daily life.
In addition to restrictions on the right to travel, there are also restrictions on freedom of economic initiative. And ministers have powers that they did not have. In the economy, Siza Vieira Siza can now open what is closed and close what is open, in Internal Administration, Eduardo Cabrita can close road and rail traffic and the Minister of Health can now order from factories to private hospitals. Know in detail everything the Government decided to enforce the state of emergency and try to contain the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic in Portugal.
Stores and services that can remain open
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1. Mini-markets, supermarkets, hypermarkets;
2. Fruit shops, butchers, fishmongers, bakeries;
3. Markets, in the case of sale of food products;
4. Agri-food production and distribution;
5. Auctions;
6. Catering and drinks, under the terms of this decree;
7. Preparation of meals ready to take home, under the terms of this decree;
8. Medical services or other health and social support services;
9. Pharmacies and places of sale of medicines not subject to medical prescription;
10. Establishments of medical and orthopedic products;
11. Opticians;
12. Establishments of cosmetic and hygiene products;
13. Establishments of natural and dietary products;
14. Essential public services and respective repair and maintenance (water, electricity, natural gas and piped liquefied petroleum gases, electronic communications, postal services, wastewater collection and treatment service, wastewater collection and treatment services, wastewater services management of urban solid waste and urban hygiene and passenger transport service);
15. Stationery and tobacconists (newspapers, tobacco);
16. Social games;
17. Veterinary clinics;
18. Establishments selling pet animals and their food;
19. Establishments selling flowers, plants, seeds and fertilizers;
20. Textile and fur washing and dry cleaning establishments;
21. Drugstores;
22. Hardware stores and outlets selling DIY supplies;
23. Fuel filling stations;
24. Establishments of sale of fuels for domestic use;
25. Establishments for the maintenance and repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles, tractors and agricultural machinery, as well as the sale of parts and accessories and towing services;
26. Sales and repair establishments for household appliances, computer and communications equipment and respective repair;
27. Banking, financial and insurance services;
28. Funeral and related activities;
29. Home maintenance and repair services;
30. Security or home surveillance services;
31. Cleaning, disinfection, rat removal and similar activities;
32. Home delivery services;
33. Tourist establishments, except campsites, where they can provide food and drink services on the establishment exclusively for their guests;
34. Services that guarantee student accommodation.
35. Activities and establishments listed in the previous numbers, even if integrated into shopping centers.
There are new hygiene and safety rules for stores and services that remain open
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Hygiene and safety rules for stores and services that remain open
Stores and services that remain open will have the following safety and hygiene obligations:
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- In establishments in physical space, there must be a minimum distance of two meters between people, a stay for the time strictly necessary for the purchase of products and the consumption of products inside must be prohibited.
- The provision of the service and the transport of products must be carried out in compliance with the hygiene and sanitary rules defined by the Directorate-General for Health.
Health professionals, security forces and people with special protection with priority
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- In keeping open, priority should be given to persons subject to a special duty of protection, but also to health professionals, elements of the security and protection forces and services, personnel of the armed forces, and service providers. social support.
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The closure of several commercial, cultural and leisure activities becomes mandatory
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Recreational, leisure and fun activities:
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- Discotheques, bars and dance or party halls;
- Circuses;
- Amusement parks and recreational parks for children and the like;
- Water parks and zoos, without prejudice to workers’ access for the purposes of animal care;
- Any places for leisure sports;
- Other locations or facilities similar to the previous ones.
Cultural and artistic activities:
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- Auditoriums, cinemas, theaters and concert halls;
- Museums, monuments, palaces and archaeological or similar sites (interpretive centers, caves, etc.), national, regional and municipal, public or private, without prejudice to workers’ access for conservation and security purposes;
- Libraries and archives;
- Bullfighting squares, places and facilities.
- Art galleries and exhibition halls;
- Congress halls, multipurpose rooms, conference rooms and multipurpose pavilions;
Sports activities, except those intended for the activity of high-performance athletes:
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- Football, rugby and similar fields;
- Pavilions or enclosures;
- Futsal, basketball, handball, volleyball, roller hockey and similar pavilions;
- Firing ranges;
- Tennis courts, padel courts and the like;
- Skating rinks, ice hockey and the like;
- Pools;
- Boxing rings, martial arts and the like;
- Permanent circuits for motorcycles, automobiles and the like;
- Velodromes;
- Racecourses and similar tracks;
- Multisport pavilions;
- Gymnasiums and gyms;
- Athletics tracks;
- Stadiums.
Stadiums are one of the sports venues with mandatory closure
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Activities in open spaces, spaces and public roads, or spaces and private roads equivalent to public roads:
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- Cycling, motorcycling, motoring and similar routes, except those intended for the activity of high-performance athletes;
- Nautical events and exhibitions;
- Aeronautical tests and exhibitions;
- Parades and popular parties or folkloric or other manifestations of any nature.
Gaming and betting spaces:
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- Casinos;
- Gambling establishments such as bingo or similar;
- Game rooms and recreational rooms.
Restoration activities that are not on the exception list and will have to stop working:
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- Restaurants and the like, coffee shops, tea houses and the like, with the exceptions of this decree;
- Bars and the like;
- Hotel bars and restaurants, except for the latter for the purpose of delivering meals to guests;
- Terraces;
- Vending machines.
- The spas and spas or similar establishments also close.
Religious events involving crowding are prohibited and there are new rules for funerals
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- Masses and any other event of a religious and cult nature that involves a agglomeracNo people are prohibited.
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- As for funerals, it must be ensured that there are no clusters of people and that safety distances are controlled. For this, a maximum attendance limit should be set. This limit is determined by the local authority that exercises the management powers of the respective cemetery.
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Over 70s and chronically ill have a special duty of protection
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Those over 70 years old;
Immunocompromised and patients with chronic disease who, according to the guidelines of the health authority should be considered at risk, namely hypertensive, diabetic, cardiovascular patients, patients with chronic respiratory disease and cancer patients
They will only be able to leave the house to:
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- Acquisition of goods and services;
- Travel for health reasons, namely for the purpose of obtaining health care;
- Travel to post offices and post offices, bank agencies and agencies of insurance brokers or insurance companies;
- Short-term trips for the purpose of physical activity, the exercise of collective physical activity being prohibited;
- Short trips for the purpose of walking pets;
- Other activities of a similar nature or for other reasons of force majeure or imperative necessity, as long as duly justified.
Home care is a duty for citizens who do not belong to so-called risk groups
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The remaining citizens must stay in “home pickup” can only circulate in spaces and public roads for any of the following activities, according to the decree approved today – travel by car is also only possible for these reasons:
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- Acquisition of goods and services;
- Traveling for the purpose of performing professional or similar activities;
- Looking for a job or responding to a job offer;
- Travel for health reasons, namely for the purpose of obtaining health care, transportation of people to whom such care or blood donation should be administered;
- Displacement for emergency reception of victims of domestic violence or trafficking in human beings, as well as children and young people at risk, by application of a measure decreed by a judicial authority or Commission for the Protection of Children and Youth, in a residential or family home;
- Travel to assist vulnerable people, people with disabilities, children, parents, the elderly or dependents;
- Travels to accompany minors, which include short trips, “for the purpose of enjoying moments outdoors,” dictates the decree.
- Short-term trips for the purpose of physical activity, the exercise of collective physical activity being prohibited;
- Travel to participate in social volunteering actions;
- Displacements for other imperative family reasons, namely the fulfillment of parental responsibility sharing, as determined by agreement between the holders of the same or by the competent court;
- Visits for visits, when authorized, or delivery of essential goods to people who are disabled or deprived of their freedom of movement;
- Participation in procedural acts with the judicial entities; m) Travel to post offices and post offices, bank agencies and insurance broker or insurance agencies;
- Short trips for the purpose of walking pets and feeding animals;
- Travel by veterinarians, animal keepers for veterinary medical assistance, caregivers from colonies recognized by the municipalities, volunteers from zoophilic associations with dependent animals who need to go to animal shelters and animal rescue teams;
Travel by persons with free transit, issued under legal terms, in the exercise of their functions or because of them; - Travel by staff of diplomatic, consular missions and international organizations located in Portugal, as long as they are related to the performance of official functions;
- Travel required to exercise press freedom;
- Return to personal home;
- Other activities of a similar nature or for other reasons of force majeure or imperative necessity, as long as duly justified.
Home care – travel allowed to work and health reasons
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- It is also stipulated the general duty of home collection for those who are not covered by the limitations defined in the decree.
- In other words, it is only possible to circulate in public spaces and roads that have to acquire goods and services, go to work, look for work or respond to a job offer; travel for health reasons, including giving blood or transporting people who should be given care; move to receive emergency victims of domestic violence or trafficking in human beings, as well as children and young people at risk;
There are exceptions provided for in the new rules and there is the possibility of going out on the street, even for a short walk
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When you can walk on the street – Assistance for the elderly and small outdoor walks
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- Travel to assist vulnerable people, people with disabilities, children, parents, the elderly or dependents and travel to accompany minors are permitted.
- The decree also allows for short trips, for the purpose of “enjoying moments in the open air” and trips – also of short duration – for the practice of physical activity, which cannot be done together. You can also walk the pets and guarantee their food.
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Volunteering and the necessary trips for the shared custody of children can be done
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- There may be trips to participate in social volunteering activities and also to fulfill parental responsibility sharing;
- The decree also allows travel for visits, when authorized, or for the delivery of essential goods to people who are disabled or deprived of their freedom of movement;
- Participation in procedural acts with the judicial entities is also ensured, as well as travel to post offices and post offices, bank agencies and insurance companies.
Travel of assured journalists
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- The staff of diplomatic, consular missions and international organizations located in Portugal also have authorized travel as long as they are related to the performance of official functions. Journalists are added to this lot for travel necessary to exercise press freedom.
Service stations on motorways and bars in hospitals remain open
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- The decree also provides for “retail trade activities” and “service provision activities located along the motorway network, inside airports and hospitals, to remain open.
Proximity commerce may ask for special authorization to open
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- The decree provides that “small retail establishments and those that provide proximity services may, exceptionally, request authorization from the municipal civil protection authority to operate, upon reasoned request”.
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Online commerce is allowed
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- E-commerce activities and service provision activities that are provided remotely and do not imply contact with the public can continue to be exercised.
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Teleworking, if possible, becomes mandatory
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Teleworking is mandatory
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- Even in possible trips, “the recommendations and orders determined by the health authorities and the security forces and services must be respected, namely those concerning the distances to be observed between people”, defined the Government.
- And it is mandatory to adopt the teleworking regime, regardless of the employment relationship, whenever the functions in question allow.
Commercial lease is protected
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- The lease contracts of establishments that have to close in this exception period are protected. “It cannot be invoked as a basis for resolution, denunciation or other form of extinction of non-housing lease contracts or other contractual forms of exploitation of real estate, nor as a basis for the obligation to vacate real estate in which they are installed”, the text approved by the Government.
Siza Vieira is one of the ministers who has new powers
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Siza Vieira has the power to open anything that is closed and it is necessary
The Minister of Economy, Pedro Siza Vieira, will be able to determine the opening of establishments (even if they are on the list of those that close) in case “they will prove to be essential with the evolution of the present conjuncture”. The same applies to “the exercise of other activities of retail trade or provision of services, including catering” in addition to those included in the list of establishments that can be opened.
It can also determine “the exercise of retail trade by wholesale establishments, if it proves to be essential to maintain the continuity of product distribution chains to consumers”. And you can also order to close establishments whose opening is foreseen if their operation “will prove to be dispensable or undesirable in the context of combating the contagion and spread of the virus”.
Minister Alexandra Leitão will give guidance on teleworking in the public service
Citizen stores will close, but appointments for personal assistance are maintained at the counters of the different services. The Minister of Public Administration, Alexandra Leitão, can determine that “public services considered essential” are to operate.
The minister will also be the one to define the “guidelines on teleworking, namely on the situations that impose the presence of Public Administration workers in their workplaces, as well as on the compatibility of functions with teleworking”. And it can determine that some workers perform functions in “a different place than usual, in a different entity or in different working conditions and hours”.
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Marta Temido can now request factories and private hospitals
The legislation now passed will allow Marta Temido to be able to temporarily request industries, factories, workshops, fields or facilities of any kind, including health centers, services and private health establishments, that is, private hospitals.
The Minister of Health can also request, always temporarily, the goods and services that are necessary and ensure that services are provided – including in the private sector – considered essential for the protection of public health, “in the context of the emergency caused by the epidemic SARS-CoV-2, as well as for the treatment of COVID-19 ”.
Eduardo Cabrita may close road and rail traffic, if necessary
The Minister for Home Affairs may determine “the closure of road and rail traffic, for reasons of public health, safety or traffic flow or the restriction on the circulation of certain types of vehicles ”.
Eduardo Cabrita is the one who “coordinates a structure for monitoring the state of emergency” – this, according to the decree, is “composed of representatives of governmental areas” and “representatives of security forces and services, for the purpose of monitoring and producing regular information on the situation”.
Defense Minister articulates compliance with the decree with other “government areas”
João Gomes Cravinho, Minister of Defense, ensures coordination with the other governmental areas to guarantee, when necessary, the commitment of people, means, goods and services in the area of National Defense necessary to comply with the provisions of this decree.
Van Dunem articulates with PGR and Superior Councils to adopt measures
The Minister of Justice, Francisca Van Dunem, will make an articulation “with the Superior Councils and with the Attorney General’s Office” for “the adoption of appropriate measures for the effective access to the law and the courts, to safeguard the rights, freedoms and warranties injured or threatened with injury ”.
Pedro Nuno Santos responsible for public transport and airport rules
Pedro Nuno Santos, Minister of Infrastructure and Housing, is responsible for ensuring mobility services that protect people and goods, as well as the maintenance and functioning of road, rail, port and airport infrastructures.
It is the minister who will determine the rules for the civil aeronautics sector, with the definition of measures for the screening and organization of international airport terminals and flexibility in airport management, as well as the definition of guidelines on situations that impose presence workers to safeguard the provision of essential minimum services.
It is also up to you to establish the terms and conditions under which the transport of goods must take place throughout the national territory, in order to guarantee the respective supply. As well as the establishment of a reduction in the maximum number of passengers per transport to one third of the maximum number of seats available, in order to guarantee the adequate distance between users.
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Equipment and people may be required to combat the outbreak
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The decree also provides for other exceptional measures for several other institutions:
Civil Protection ensures emergency plans and Alert Status
The decree determines that the Civil Protection remains responsible for the activation of the emergency plans as well as for the permanent assessment of the operational situation and the corresponding adequacy of the Special Alert State of the Integrated System of Protection and Relief Operations (a set of structures, standards and procedures that ensure that all civil protection agents operate, at the operational level under a single command).
Equipment and people may be required to combat the outbreak
The decree provides that, if the health authorities or civil protection authorities decide, “any goods or services of legal persons under public or private law may be requested”, provided that they are “necessary to combat Covid-19”. That is, “health equipment, respiratory protection masks or ventilators, which are in stock or that will be produced from the entry into force of this decree ”.
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