Increase in cases, new restrictions in the Lisbon region

In contrast to the easing of health restrictions in several European countries, the Portuguese government decided on Thursday to ban entry and exit from the Lisbon region during the weekend, to prevent Covid cases rise It spread to the rest of the territory.

“This is an additional measure, which was not expected, but taken by the government to contain the increase in incidence within the Lisbon metropolitan area,” said Minister Porte, Speech in Government, Mariana Vieira da Silva. She said after a cabinet meeting, that tangible non-essential travel and until further notice, non-essential travel to and from the capital and its suburbs will be banned from Friday evening to Monday morning.

No re-containment

Portugal recorded 1,350 new cases of coronavirus the previous day within 24 hours, the highest daily number since the end of February. On Thursday, the Directorate General of Health reported 1,233 new infections, including more than 800 in the Lisbon region and the Tagus Valley. “These are worrying numbers,” admitted Mariana Vieira da Silva, explaining that the Socialist CEO was waiting for more accurate information on the situation, particularly regarding the role of the delta variable (previously called the “Indian variant”).

Elsewhere in Europe, the improvement on the health front was exemplified Thursday in France with the lifting of the obligation to wear a mask outdoors. Within the European Union, only two countries are currently showing an increase in the number of new cases detected in the past week compared to the previous seven days: Portugal (+38%) and neighboring Spain (+21%). Despite this trend, Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa on Sunday strongly ruled out the possibility of returning to the confinement that made it possible to bring the health situation under control after the violent wave of Covid-19 that hit the country at the beginning of the year.