International COVID-19 Megathread

[Mike88]

In Madeira, masks on the exterior will be mandatory by August 1, but many are angry at the regional government for imposing this:

https://twitter.com/tvi24pt/status/1288558864040972289

Covid-19: Madeira maintains masking obligation on public roads despite controversy

The decision of the Madeira regional government of making mandatory the use of masks in the exterior by August 1st, is creating a lot of division in the islands. The island of almost 270,000 inhabitants is deeply dependent on tourism and although the number of cases is the lowest in the country and has no Covid related deaths, the Madeira government says it wants to protect more people that live and come to the islands.

However, many are criticizing this decision with a petition signed by almost 5,000 people, and growing, demanding the withdrawal of this decision. Many also argue that this decision violates personal freedoms and cannot be taken the regional government, only the national government.

The controversy is, probably, set to continue in Madeira.

[Mike88]

In Portugal, the situation seems to be getting a bit better with the number of cases drooping and the number of recoveries exceeding the number of new cases for several days now. The number of ICUs has also drooped a lot in the last few days. We'll see if the trend continues.

However, some controversies have surfaced. The media reported, yesterday, that Health officials were planning to reduce the number of tests by not testing people that had high contact with infected patients. The plan was to manage tests for the winter, it seems. The idea created a lot of criticism in the medical community with many accusing the government of trying to "paint more beautiful numbers" and demand the retraction of this decision. Some health officials in the Department of Health threatened to resign is the policy wasn't retracted.

Following the report, Health authorities said that the number of tests would not be reduced adding the Portugal will continue to follow the WHO line of "testing, testing, testing" and that the country is following the exact same guidelines of many other countries.

Also, the serological survey, conducted by Ricardo Jorge Institute, found that 2.9% of the Portuguese population, around 300,000 people, had antibodies for Covid-19. 44% had no symptoms of the disease, men have more antibodies (4.1%) than women (1.9%), and the higher the Education, the less antibodies is found as just 1.4% with a college degree have antibodies, compared with the 6.4% of those with just a high school degree.

[Mike88]

Despite the panics about rising cases - they are still rises that are nowhere near the explosions that happened in March; and places like Portugal seem to give some hope that they can be brought under control.

Yes, the situation here is improving quite well. Today was the first day, since mid March, that no Covid related deaths were registered and new cases were just 106, the lowest number since May. Portugal has experienced a "slow burn" trend rather than waves.

In Portugal, around 40% of all deaths were in care homes. Spain has the highest rate 72%, while the UK has the lowest, 16%.

[Mike88]

Portugal update:

Things seem to continue to improve in the country, as a whole, with some outbreaks in some areas. The number of deaths have been stable at around 2/3 per day, and hospitalizations and ICUs have also stabilized.

In the area I live, there seems to be a considerable increase of cases as a series outbreaks are surging in many parishes of Vila do Conde, the neighbor city to mine Póvoa de Varzim. The cases in my town seem to be related to the Vila do Conde outbreaks as the 2 cities are "twin cities" and there's a lot of circulation between both. Also, in Vila do Conde, police are arresting some people of violation of their confinement orders as they are infected and were found walking on the streets.

[Mike88]

Portugal update: the slow burn continues

21 August update: (compared with yesterday)

Total cases: 55,211 (+219)
Active cases: 12,946 (+6)
Deaths: 1,792 (+4)
Recoveries: 40,473 (+209)
Patients in ICU: 41 (+2)
Patients hospitalized: 321 (-13)

1,880,235 tests conducted since March 1st.

Also, the government approved, yesterday, the purchase of almost 7 million Covid-19 vaccines in a investment of around 20 million euros. This vaccine is from the Oxford university, that reached an agreement with the EU in the last few weeks. The Health secretary expects the distribution of the vaccine to start during the end of 2020 and will be first given to the most vulnerable, elderly and others, and care givers. PM António Costa also announced that vaccination will be "universal and free".

[Mike88]

Portugal update: After September 15, new restrictive measures will be implemented to manage the new school year, people going back to offices and bad forecasts.

https://twitter.com/expresso/status/1298991802389692417

Country in contingent mode after of September 15. Worsening forecast imposes new measures

The experience abroad - and the figures from this Thursday - show that an aggravation of the pandemic situation in Portugal may be on the horizon very soon. The Government guarantees that it is keeping an eye on the epidemiological situation and that is why it has already decided that there will be an increase in the country's state of readiness, to the state of contingency, as of September 15. The goal is to have the support to take new measures and “prepare for autumn / winter”.

What measures will result from this new situation are not yet known. Beyond borders, there are countries imposing mandatory masks or a ban on smoking in public space. Here, the Government has not yet decided on the measures, which should be announced in the week prior to the country's entry into contingency, that is, in the Council of Ministers of 8 September. Before, technicians and politicians will resume the famous meetings at Infarmed headquarters, on September 7, to discuss the conditions to fight the pandemic, with new rules (the initial exposure of the technicians will be open to the media).

(...)

[Mike88]

Portugal update: Worst day since May in terms of new cases.

5 September update: (compared with yesterday)

Total cases: 59,943 (+486)
Active cases: 15,312 (+264)
Deaths: 1,838 (+5)
Recoveries: 42,576 (+217)
Patients in ICU: 41 (+1)
Patients hospitalized: 345 (+6)

2,092,057 tests conducted since March 1st.

[Mike88]

Portugal: Mass volunteering, to conduct serologic tests for Covid-19, crashes website and telephone lines:

https://twitter.com/JornalNoticias/status/1303351667228778496

Race for registration for serological study blocks website

The website created so that the Portuguese can enroll in the largest national serological study of covid-19 has not endured the thousands of visits and has been down for several hours.

The race for registration at the National Serological Panel of the João Lobo Antunes Institute of Molecular Medicine (iMM), which opened at 0:00 on Tuesday, blocked the website.

The helpline provided for additional information also did not support the high number of calls.

Contacted by JN, a source linked to the project's communication guaranteed that every effort is being made to resolve the site's problems, so that it is up and running on Wednesday.

As for the support line "is being reinforced" to respond to the volume of calls.

The iMM project is recruiting 12,000 volunteers in 102 municipalities to take free serological tests. The objective is to assess the prevalence of covid-19 infection and, consequently, the population's immunity to the virus in a "critical" post-vacation phase and the beginning of the new school year.

The results are expected to be released in late October.

The Covid-19 National Serological Panel is a project developed by iMM, in partnership with the Germano de Sousa laboratories, and fully financed by Sociedade Francisco Manuel dos Santos and Jerónimo Martins Group.

[Mike88]

Portugal: Mass volunteering, to conduct serologic tests for Covid-19, crashes website and telephone lines:

I wasn't able to volunteer, as my age group was already full. But my parents were able to register to volunteer.

The government will reveal tomorrow new measures for the new state of contingency, to start next week for the whole country. The measures will probably be the same that are currently in place just in the Lisbon area: Masks, on the street, will probably not be mandatory, gatherings will be reduced to just 10 people and shops will have to close at 8pm, while supermarkets could stay open until 10pm.

Also, a poll revealed that 94% of people now use masks when they leave their houses. That figure is probably exaggerated, however, I've been noticing more and more people using masks on the streets, maybe 60-70% using one.

[Mike88]

Portugal: New restrictions approved to start on September 15th.

In the 2nd worst day in terms of new cases since mid April, 585 new cases, PM António Costa announced a series of restrictions in a new phase called "State of Contingency". After 15 September, the restrictions are the following:

- Gatherings limited to 10 people;
- Shops cannot open before 10am, and closures between 8 and 11pm, dependent on municipal decision;
- Limit of groups of 4 people in restaurants;
- Sale of alcohol in shops forbidden after 8pm;
- Alcohol consumption forbidden in the street;
- Night clubs will remain closed;
- Bars and restaurants up to 300 meters close to schools, groups are limited to 4 people;
- District teams to help contain outbreaks in nursing homes;
- No audiences in sport events;
- In Lisbon and Porto metro areas, workers can rotate between telework and face-to-face work; Mandatory working hours shifts;

[Mike88]

Speaking as someone in Stage 4 Melbourne lockdown, I am horrified by the inaction across Europe. This moves so quickly and you guys barely seem to be moving at all.

In Portugal, the media is already saying Portugal is following the Swedish approach. Costa himself said, yesterday, that he refuses a second lockdown because the economic and social consequences of the first one were "brutal". He added that cases could surpass 1,000 per day after next week but that people need to be responsible.

[Mike88]

Portugal is also seeing a surge in new cases. Today was the 2nd consecutive day of cases above 1,000, the first time this happens:

Total cases: 83,928 (+1,394)
Active cases: 29,702 (+735)
Deaths: 2,062 (+12)
Recoveries: 52,164 (+647)
Patients in ICU: 125 (+10)
Patients hospitalized: 811 (+10)

2,764,867 tests conducted since March 1st.

Also, health authorities said, today, that almost 70% of all reported cases are from weddings, christenings and dinner parties:

https://twitter.com/expresso/status/1314587877465100288

Weddings, christening and banquets? “67% of reported cases happen in these gatherings”, warns Graça Freitas

After many numbers, at the press conference to update the epidemiological situation in Portugal one of the questions was about social gatherings, called "BBB" there - weddings, christening and banquets. Are they responsible for the increase in cases, which reached a new peak this Friday in six months?

Graça Freitas, director-general of Health, started to smile at the question - “I didn't know the expression” -, but later she closed her face to say: “67% of the cases reported in Portugal happen in these gatherings, which lead to relaxation, which lead to to multiple contacts, which are often accompanied by meals ”. What she said afterwards is what has been heard most frequently at these press conferences. “If we are allowed to appeal to families, people, friends, it is that they try to fraternize less at this stage when the virus is very active in Europe. The countries around us have a lot of cases ”.

(...)

[Mike88]

In Portugal, daily cases surpassed 2,000 today and PM António Costa announced that the country would enter the state of calamity by midnight tonight. He also sent a bill to Parliament to pass mandatory mask wearing on the streets and that the tracing covid app should also be mandatory. About the last part, the Data Protection Committee and some law professors say the government cannot mandate to install the tracing app as many people don't have iPhones and that no one can be forced to install it.

[Mike88]

Portugal update - 16 October:

Total cases: 98,055 (+2,153)
Active cases: 37,974 (+237)
Deaths: 2,162 (+13)
Recoveries: 57,919 (+1,853)
Patients in ICU: 148 (+4)
Patients hospitalized: 1,014 (-1)

Almost 3,000,000 tests conducted since March 1st. On 13 and 14 October, the last days where tests data are available, more than 30,000 tests were conducted on both days.

[Mike88]

Daily cases surpassed 3,000 today and 3 municipalities in Porto district will enter in "semi-confinement". Between 30 October and 3 November it will also be forbidden to travel between municipalities unless for working reasons and emergencies.

[Mike88]

Portugal situation:

Today was the worst day in new cases, deaths and hospitalizations since the beginning of the pandemic:

Total cases: 137,272 (+4,656)
Active cases: 57,355 (+2,869)
Deaths: 2,468 (+40)
Recoveries: 77,449 (+1,747)
Patients in ICU: 275 (+6)
Patients hospitalized: 1,927 (+93)

The NHS is already asking private hospitals to help in the hospitalization of new patients. In the North region, some private hospitals are already receiving Covid patients from public hospitals.

The PM also met, today, with party leaders, business and unions leader to draw a unified message and strategy for the next phase of the pandemic. The government proposed a nationwide confinement but this was rejected by all, especially business and unions leaders. Party leaders say that the country cannot support another lockdown like in March/April. PAN said to the press, the PM is considering a two week lockdown in early December to "save Christmas", but that the government still has many doubts.

The government will met tomorrow, Saturday, to decide new measures that will probably be announced during the day.

[Mike88]

Cannot support as in cannot afford?

Yes. Typo confusion. Sorry.

[Mike88]

Costa's press conference is almost over. But the new measures are the following:

121 municipalities, covering 7,1 million people, will have, after November 4th:

- Civic duty of staying home;
- Mandatory teleworking and shifting hours between workers;
- Shops have to close at 10PM;
- Restaurants and bars can only have groups of 6 people and have to close at 10:30PM;
- Events and celebrations limited to 5 people;
- Fairs are markets are forbidden;

Costa also said that there are only 70 beds still available in ICU for Covid patients and announced the hiring of 350 nurses for ICUs and more doctors until January 2021.

He also said he asked for a meeting with Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa to ask for a declaration of a state of emergency in these 121 municipalities.

[Mike88]

Costa's press conference is almost over. But the new measures are the following:

121 municipalities, covering 7,1 million people, will have, after November 4th:

This is the map of municipalities under the new measures:

https://twitter.com/asofia_santana/status/1322638717404794886

[Mike88]

The first death by Covid-19 in the Madeira islands was reported today.

[Mike88]

Portugal: António Costa just announced, in a midnight press conference, several new measures that will start next week with the new State of Emergency:

- Mandate temperature control in working places, public transports and shops;
- Rapid tests will be conducted in schools, health facilities, day care centers and for people who enter or leave the country;
- Private hospitals will be more used by the NHS;
- Mobilization of the army, public employees to control people infected with the virus;
- Curfew on week days between 11PM and 5AM;
- Curfew on weekends between 1PM and 5AM;

[Mike88]

We are now among the 10 countries worldwide with the highest new daily #s.

Therefore, Chancellor Kurz will probably announce tomorrow the closure of schools as well and of all retail and services businesses.

The situation here in Portugal isn't better either. New cases vary between 5,000 and 6,000 per day, so far, but new deaths are soaring with a record 82 deaths by Covid just last Wednesday. Plus, there's a lot of confusion about the restrictions and many people are becoming angry towards the government. Costa had to made another speech yesterday to correct and explain better the restrictions.

[Mike88]

The media in Portugal is reporting long lines in supermarkets and other stores across the country as the 1PM curfew order approaches.

[Mike88]

The media in Portugal is reporting long lines in supermarkets and other stores across the country as the 1PM curfew order approaches.

Same here.

There were 100m long lines in front of a shoe store.

https://wien.orf.at/stories/3075967/

The people are so stupid ... unbelievable ... as if they cannot buy shoes at another time during the year.

Yeah, people are not planning this very well. However, here there's still a lot of confusion about the measures. Many people say supermarkets will be open all day, but in reality only stores with size until 200m2 can be open past 1PM. There was also a controversy this week as a big supermarket chain, Pingo Doce, proposed to open their stores at 6:30AM but there was public outcry and they retracted the proposal.

[Mike88]

There are still ongoing protests against the government by restaurants/hotels workers across the country, with the main one in Lisbon right now. Yesterday was in Porto city where it ended with clashes with the police.