At the end of another meeting at Infarmed, in Lisbon, on the epidemiological situation of Portugal to which he attended by videoconference, the vice-president of the social democratic bench Ricardo Baptista Leite again insisted on a deconfinement with a "regional approach" and stressed that Easter should be a time of limitations of movement and without the mixing of households. "After an uncontrolled period of the pandemic, and two months of confinement measures with enormous cost to people and companies from a social and economic point of view, today we are beginning to see the possibility of opening society up a little bit, of beginning to discuss in a more serious way the measures of confinement," he said, speaking to reporters in the Assembly of the Republic.
Asked if, after having heard the experts, the PSD understands that the country can begin to ease lockdown as early as next week, the deputy and doctor responded cautiously. "The indicators, when we look at them and based on the red lines that experts point out, we could even have conditions in much of the territory to do so," he began by saying. Nevertheless, this can only be done through a gradual opening, "in a test balloon logic", and "on a regional basis" from clear indicators, so that the country does not live again in the situation of December and January. "Any deconfinement should give time for the part of the society involved to adapt: being deconfined on the 15th when it was only announced on the 11th gives very little time for whatever sector of society - even if it is the day care centers and primary schools", he warned. On the other hand, whatever the government's decision on what may or may not reopen already on 15 March, he stressed that the PSD has "a clear position" on Easter. "Easter has to be a period that every family must enjoy in their own household, there should be no movement between councils, there is no sharing of households and on this there has to be a clear message as the President of the Republic also said”, he stressed.