Portugal in turn decided on Thursday to end the obligation to wear a mask indoors, a health measure which will however continue to apply in public transport, hospitals or retirement homes, but not in the school.
“Given the positive evolution of the epidemiological situation in Portugal, the government has decided to review certain restrictions still in force”, announced the executive of the socialist Antonio Costa in a press release issued after the weekly Council of Ministers. .
The compulsory wearing of the mask will now be limited “to places which are characterized by a special vulnerability of the people who frequent them (…) and to premises of intensive use”, indicated the government.
Infections down
This decision was promulgated immediately by the President of the Republic.
It should then be published on Friday in the official journal and come into force on Saturday.
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In recent days, several experts or members of the opposition have called for an end to the wearing of compulsory masks in schools, one of the main measures to control the pandemic still in force in Portugal.
While Portugal is among the countries with the highest vaccination rates in the world, the number of new cases of coronavirus infection was down, at 577 cases per 100,000 population over seven days, according to the latest weekly report from the General Directorate of Health.