This position was conveyed by Mariana Vieira da Silva at the end of the Council of Ministers meeting, after being asked whether the Government would be returning to the imposition of the use of masks in closed public places, namely in pharmacies or health centers, as is already the case in Santa Maria Hospital in Lisbon.

“When the Government removed the mandatory use of masks in public spaces, it always emphasised that healthcare establishments continued to have their own rules, being able to adapt them depending on the circumstances. The Government has been evaluating the evolution of the number of Covid-19 cases and, in this context, the Hospital de Santa Maria took the decision – a decision that is sufficient at this time”, she considered.

The Minister of the Presidency insisted that the Government, particularly through the Ministry of Health, is monitoring the evolution of the number of new infections, highlighting in this context “the importance of vaccination against flu and Covid-19 which begins this month of September".

“When the Government announced the end of specific measures to combat the Covid-19 pandemic, I remember that I highlighted that monitoring passed to the scope of the Ministry of Health, which is analyzing the data and is paying attention to an increase in cases that is happening in many European countries”, she said.

However, according to the holder of the Presidency portfolio, “at this moment, the assessment is that no additional measures are necessary”.

“From the point of view of the response capacity of the National Health Service (SNS), given the known numbers, [the situation] remains under control. This does not mean that certain establishments do not make decisions and that all of us, particularly in the context of relationships with more vulnerable people, adopt precautions that today, after the pandemic, we are all familiar with,” she added.

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