"If this trend continues, we will reach 1,000 new cases a day. We have to stop this trend. We cannot stop the country," said the prime minister at the press conference.
In his initial statement, the executive leader considered that the country "is experiencing a strong growth of new cases daily" - a trajectory that began to register in mid-August.
Therefore, according to António Costa, "the pandemic cannot be allowed to continue to grow".
"We will not be able to lockdown the country again, as happened in March. Now, the control of the pandemic depends on the personal responsibility of each one of us. We cannot deprive children of access to school again, we cannot prohibit again families to visit their loved ones at home, we cannot separate families at Christmas as we did at Easter. We really have to stop the pandemic by ourselves through our personal responsibility ", he stressed.
"Fortunately, the pressure on the NHS remains limited. In fact, today's numbers show a decrease in hospitalised patients, both in intensive care and general hospitalisations. Fortunately, we are not in a situation where there is no control in the NHS", he said.
People are not obeying the rules.when I allended the IPO Coimbra ladt week I queued to get my temperature taken and answer the questions they asked me.have you a cough?.have you a headache?have you been feeling unwell or had pains anywhere.NO was my answer so I was given a pasd to enter the hospital.I was in a small waiting room where 2 seats between each person had a notice on do not use this seat.before long I realised there were 3 women with thete masks below thete nose and 4 women coughi ng continuallY,another wonan who was waiting in the passage was kept coming in and sitting on one of the marked seats do not seat here.and talking to the other women. so I got up and decided to wait in the passage as I did not feel safe,one woman said to one of the other women wearing her mask below her nose ease put your mask on correctly she said I cannot wear my mask on my nose as my glasses syeam up and I cannot see where I am going, a security guard then approached me in the passage and said I had to be seated and wait in the waiting room I explained about tge problems with the women using their masks incorrectly and also 4 were continually coughing,they obviously had lied when asked.he said to the wo.en they had to wear their masks correctly or they would be made to leave the hospital.they did as he asked he then went off and within 5/10 minutes 2 nurses arrived and asked the coughing women to accompany them there was an amount of arguing and then they all went off, I was very glad to get my appointment over and told the Doctor what had happend and he said people are not behaving as they should.so they are putting us all at risk. They should be fined a substantial amount because money would make them think twice,this is not the only time my husband and I have come across this ,it is frightening the two other times were not in a hospital they were once in a Restaurant in Castro Daire and the other time ina cafe in Satao. We have decided to basically go back into Quarantine and when we have to shop use our small local shop or Aldi and we go at midday when they are usually quiet as most people are at lunch.
By Margaret Stephenson from Beiras on 18 Sep 2020, 19:51
Maybe the increase in COVID-19 cases was because mid August was when the imigrants came to their families from France and Spain and other countries where the virus was high. Also what about the huge festival held at Avante,hipocritical or what.when Lisboa is the worst area for cases in the country.no wonder the cases are rising fast what does the government expect.
By Margaret Stephenson from Beiras on 18 Sep 2020, 20:11
STOP testing asymptomatic people!
First the criteria to get the test were explicit about exposure, contacts and travel.
Now they're testing everyone randomly everywhere and the "numbers" go up.
Surprise! Most people had a cold at some time in their lives and PCR tests are likely positive for that! CDC in the US states clearly that a positive test result means absolutely nothing!
New marching orders came in, folks. They're stepping up the panic!
By Paula from Algarve on 18 Sep 2020, 22:06
More fearmongering from dishonest politicians!
By Anna from Madeira on 18 Sep 2020, 22:16
"Rising since mid august," you mean the period you were telling people to come to the Algarve as it was so safe and completely different to everywhere else.
Now we are all paying the price for that short term greed.
If the Spanish flu is anything to go by,we are now entering a far more deadly phase.
The young have been infected most as they all threw caution to the wind over the summer.
The problem is the young will now be infecting the older.
The ICU's will soon be overflowing and those that encouraged this should be held accountable.
By James from Algarve on 19 Sep 2020, 07:29
So stop all this stupid testing. Nobody is ill. It's just a total nonsense.
By Martin from Lisbon on 19 Sep 2020, 09:00
The PM's message in a nutshell: "We cannot stop; we cannot keep going."
By João Soares from Lisbon on 19 Sep 2020, 16:09
WELL, THE CRIES OF THE IMMIGRANTS ARE HEARD. PEOPLE WHO HAVE LOST HOPE, PEOPLE WHO HAVE OVERSTAYED WITHOUT DOCUMENTATION. THIS IS THE OPPORTUNITY FOR THE GOVERNMENT TO GIVE OUT DOCUMENTS OR THE VIRUS REMAINS AND THE IT IS GOING UP, THE MORE ECONOMIC STIGMA INCREASES. THE YEAR IS ENDED ALMOST.
By PRINCE AWODIKE from Lisbon on 19 Sep 2020, 19:08
How many people are tested every day in Portugal right now and how many people are in intensive care or hospitalized because of Covid19 for the time being?
By Monika from Lisbon on 19 Sep 2020, 21:02
Fallait pas ouvrir les frontières aux Anglais!
By Michel Schuermans from Algarve on 20 Sep 2020, 08:26
Stay at home and stay safe. maintain the social distance and compulsary use the mask and must use the sanitizer or soap up to 20 minutes when you wash your hands. honourable prime minister Antonio Costa is doing his best to protect the nation & it's citizens to save from Corona Virus ( Covid - 19 ).
By Thakur Prasad Gurung from Algarve on 20 Sep 2020, 08:37
Everyone would love to eat their cake and have it, too, politicians even more than others. Either you stop tourism or you have a swarm of new corona cases. Newspapers such as this one get their prime revenues from real estate/tourism so they fudge on the danger to people.
Take the article that there was no significant rise in new cases in August. Of course. There were no tourists in June & July. The tourists came from august 1 to September 15 and the new cases in the East Algarve have shot up in the last 2 weeks.
Agreed, it's nice to have the money, but wait until you have the virus to see how you like it. A popular bar near me if full of unmasked young people. I think we must take at least a half-step back on borders and bars, at a minimum.
By John from Algarve on 22 Sep 2020, 23:47