In total, there will be 80 teams of military personnel (60 from the Army and 20 from the Navy) who “support the opening of the school year, a job of the greatest relevance for the Armed Forces”, said Admiral António Silva Ribeiro, adding that the action was agreed upon in meetings with the ministers of national defense, health and education.

This was one of the missions of the Armed Forces in the fight against the covid-19 pandemic that Admiral Silva Ribeiro addressed today during a hearing at the parliamentary Defense Committee, in the Assembly of the Republic, at the request of the PS.

According to the admiral, “800 secondary schools are going to be opened” for 11th and 12th grade classes, and the Armed Forces were asked to “make themselves available to support the Ministry of Education and Health in the development of health measures. confidence and security in schools ”.

The military, in Silva Ribeiro's description, are going to “travel across the country to train teachers and employees”, to “disinfect some establishments that were open”, in addition to “raising awareness among students”.

It will be a "gigantic operation" whose planning will be done on Friday and "to start work as soon as possible", he concluded.

In recent weeks, the Armed Forces have helped with support in hospital facilities, up to 2,300 beds, but also in the disinfection of nursing homes or in support in various services, such as hemodialysis in Porto for users of the National Health Service, in Braga.

On April 9, the Prime Minister, António Costa, announced that, until the 9th year, the entire third period will continue with distance learning, with evaluation, but without gauging tests or exams, maintaining support for families with children under 12 years old.

In secondary education, there may still be face-to-face classes in the third period, but Costa was not sure.

Globally, according to an AFP report, the covid-19 pandemic has already caused more than 170,000 deaths and infected almost 2.5 million people in 193 countries and territories.

In Portugal, which has been in a state of emergency since March 19, 762 people out of the 21,379 registered as infected, died, according to the Directorate-General for Health.