COVID-19 | Weekly Update
Friday, October 1st | COVID-19 Daily Update
So far, the DGS has not yet communicated the most recent number of cases, so the known numbers remain at 1,069,279 cases of infection and 17,975 deaths from coronaviruses. The number of people recovered remains at 1,029,693.
THE PANDEMIC IN PORTUGAL
The last stage of lifting the imposed restrictions began today. This deconfinement plan consists of three phases, and Portugal enters an alert situation, which will be in effect until 23:59 on 31 October. According to the Secretary of State for the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, André Moz Caldas, "there is no precipitation" in the Government's decisions on deconfinement. However, the target of 85% of the population with vaccination against COVID-19 is complete. Only Portugal, Malta and Iceland have vaccinated more than 75% of the total population. The European Center for Disease Prevention and Control puts that "so far, only 61% of the total EU/EEA population is fully vaccinated".
At the same time, the DGS reported that people with full vaccinations who have had a risky contact are no longer isolated if they test negative unless they are cohabitants and share the same room with the person who tested positive. Also, in prophylactic isolation after contact with an infected person, the 14 days of confinement of citizens with a complete vaccination schedule for 14 days but with a negative test is dispensed with. In schools, the use of masks during recess is no longer mandatory, and prophylactic isolation measures for low-risk contacts become more flexible. The sports venues will no longer have capacity restrictions but will maintain the mandatory vaccination certificate and the use of a mask.
Finally, more than 15,900 suspected adverse reactions to vaccines against COVID-19 were reported in Portugal, of which 5,929 were classified as serious and included 85 cases of death in the elderly, according to data from Infarmed.
THE PANDEMIC IN EUROPE AND THE WORLD
The Director-General of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, called on American countries to support a "legally binding" agreement to address future pandemics, given the strong impact of the pandemic. The International Committee of the Red Cross called for "urgent action" to address opposition to COVID-19 vaccines in Europe and denounced increased attacks on infrastructure and health workers.
Australia's prime minister has announced the suspension of the measure preventing Australians from travelling abroad. The reopening of borders for citizens and permanent residents will be linked to quarantine orders in Australia's eight states and territories, said Scott Morrison, meaning that some parts of the country will reopen sooner than others.
In South America, Chile is no longer under a state of emergency, putting an end to the curfew that has been imposed across the country since March 2020. In Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro says he has been mocked in Portugal for your Government defending the use of drugs without scientific evidence. The President of Brazil has once again defended what he calls "early treatment" against COVID-19, a group of medications with no efficacy against the disease.
In Africa, less than a third of the 54 countries have fully vaccinated 10% of the population, a target set in May, surpassed by other countries such as Seychelles and Mauritius that vaccinated the majority (60%) of the population.
MEDICAL PROGRESS
Doctors have been studying the relationship between the new coronavirus and diabetes. Since March, scientists have hypothesized that COVID-19 could lead to the development of diabetes. Growing concern as more and more people appear to be experiencing changes in glucose levels while infected with the coronavirus or shortly after they have recovered from the infection.
ECONOMIC IMPACT
Yesterday, the Council of Ministers approved a set of measures aimed at streamlining company recovery processes, including the possibility for the tax administration to make the payment of default interest more flexible. According to the Minister of Justice, Francisca Van Dunem, this measure will be in force until the end of 2022 and is "an important reform" that integrates measures already provided for in the Recovery and Resilience Plan and results from the transposition of a European directive on company restructuring.
Meanwhile, the Bank of Portugal announced that public debt fell again. The decrease in general government indebtedness, to €273.6 billion, essentially reflected the redemption of debt securities worth €1.3 billion." The consumer price index in the Eurozone, on the other hand, advanced, in September, to 3.4%, a maximum of 13. The data published by Eurostat and refer that in Portugal, the inflation rate stood at 1.3%, the second-lowest in the region.
Meanwhile, TAP and 15 other airlines have agreed with the European Commission and national authorities to refund cancelled flights on time and refund money in unused vouchers.
FINANCIAL MARKETS
The Portuguese Stock Exchange was trading this morning in negative territory, with the PSI-20 devaluing 1.18%, to 5.396.15 points, after several sessions opening higher. The main European counterparts were also down across the board. The German DAX index was down 1.71%, the French CAC 40 down 1.39%, the British FTSE 100 down 1.22%, the Italian FTSEMIB down 1.56% and the Spanish IBEX 35 down 1.45%. The Euro Stoxx opened the session, sliding 1.58% to 3,984.25 points.