Contrary to the easing of health restrictions in several European countries, the Portuguese government decided on Thursday, June 17 to ban entry and exit from the Lisbon region during the weekend, to prevent the increase in Covid cases. spread to the rest of the territory.
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"
This is an additional measure, which was not foreseen, but which the government has taken to contain the increase in the incidence within the metropolitan region of Lisbon
", declared the Minister Porte- word of the government, Mariana Vieira da Silva. Concretely, and until further notice, non-essential travel to and from the capital and its suburbs will be prohibited from Friday evening to Monday morning, she said after a cabinet meeting.
Portugal had recorded 1,350 new cases of coronavirus the day before in 24 hours, the highest daily figure since the end of February. On Thursday, the Directorate General of Health reported another 1,233 new contagions, including more than 800 in the Lisbon region and the Tagus Valley. "
These are worrying figures
", admitted Mariana Vieira da Silva, explaining that the socialist executive was awaiting more precise information on the situation, in particular as regards the role of the Delta variant (previously called "
Indian variant
").
Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa vehemently ruled out on Sunday a possible return to confinement which made it possible to control the health situation after the violent wave of Covid-19 which hit the country at the beginning of the year. According to him, the pace of new contagions no longer justifies new restrictions on its own, because the number of people hospitalized is on the rise but well below the peak reached this winter, causing the saturation of hospitals. But Prime Minister Antonio Costa has adopted a more cautious speech, saying that "
no one can guarantee that we will not return to containment
" even though a quarter of the estimated ten million Portuguese have already been fully vaccinated.