LISBON, Nov 7 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Portugal’s president declared a
state of health emergency that will come into force next week to allow the
government to impose further coronavirus restrictions.
In a Friday televised appearance, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa said he had just signed a decree “relating to a second state of emergency” since the start of the pandemic that will last at least two weeks.
It will be “very limited and largely preventative” but “paves the way for
new measures such as restricting traffic to certain times and certain days,
in highest risk municipalities,” he said.
The government will hold an extraordinary cabinet meeting on Saturday to
decide what type of measures to introduce.
These could include a nighttime curfew similar to what has been
implemented in other European nations, or taking people’s temperature at some locations.
During the first wave of the pandemic in the spring, Portuguese
authorities decreed a six-week state of emergency.
Some 7.1 million people are currently living under new restrictions and
have been asked to stay home and work remotely as far as possible.
But unlike the first spring lockdown, schools remain open, along with
shops and restaurants, though they have to close earlier.
Since the start of the pandemic, Portugal has reported close to 167,000
cases and more than 2,700 deaths. — NNN-AGENCIES
