The record numbers of covid mark the presidential elections in Portugal

Portugal holds a presidential election this Sunday under the extraordinary condition of the pandemic.

Although the current president, the conservative Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, is emerging as the clear favorite, the low participation anticipated by the current maximum contagions will favor the emerging far-right deputy André Ventura, for whom forcing an unprecedented second round would already mean a victory without precedents.

The polls give Rebelo de Sousa between 58% and 62% of the votes.

By far, Ventura is as the second most voted candidate (around 12% or 13%) in a situation of technical tie with Ana Gomes.

Ventura is an anomalous figure in the politics of Portugal, a country that had distinguished itself by cutting off the emergence of the extreme right that has marked European politics in recent years.

Two years after the creation of the Chega!

(Enough!), The containment dike seems to have registered its first cracks, which means the end of Portuguese exceptionalism.

The case of Gomes is exceptional: she is a socialist deputy but appears with the support of two other parties, People-Animals-Nature (PAN) and Livre, since the prime minister and socialist leader, António Costa, has eluded backing her.

The rest of the seven candidates does not exceed 10%.

"Voting is safe"

The elections are marked by new records of deaths and infections of coronavirus, with lines of ambulances at the entrance of hospitals in the day of reflection.

The country is the world leader in deaths and new infections per million inhabitants, according to data from the University of Oxford, and lives on the brink of health collapse.

This Saturday it exceeded the 10,000 death barrier since the pandemic began and registered more than 15,000 infections in the last 24 hours.

Portugal will allow people to leave confinement to go to the polls.

"Voting is safe," say posters placed, among other places, in the Lisbon Metro, in which it is reported that it will be mandatory to wear a mask, keep your distance in line, disinfect your hands and, if possible, Bring your own pen.

In addition, extraordinary measures have been taken for these elections, such as allowing mobility between municipalities to vote on Election Sunday - something prohibited on weekends - and expanding early voting.