“The state of emergency will cease to be in force after this second renewal on 2 May at midnight. It is hoped that it will not be necessary in the future to resort to the state of emergency again. If necessary, this will be considered,” said Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa.
According to the head of state, who was speaking to journalists at Infarmed in Lisbon, Portugal will now enter a “third phase” of combating the spread of Covid-19, which “remains in control of the situation”, but with “a recovery or an opening - any of the terms may apply - by small steps “.
“And the two things are inseparable: the resumption by small steps and, on the other hand, the concern of permanent control of the situation. Here the idea is no longer that of closing, it is no longer the use of a drastic and radical instrument, it is to use other instruments “, he added.
The President of the Republic warned, however, that “the third phase cannot be seen as normal” and that “the Portuguese must have the notion that containment remains important, the control of the situation remains important “.
Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa considered that the key in this “new phase” is to achieve “this combination, this balance” between “resuming in small steps” and “the permanent control of the situation”.
“That is why small steps are required and that is why the situation will be constantly evaluated. That is the key to the success of this third phase, after which there will be a fourth phase and in that fourth phase it can be said that the end of the outbreak is truly expected”, he concluded.
The state of emergency, which is incumbent on the President of the Republic to decree, after hearing the Government and with the authorisation of the parliament, has been in force in Portugal since 19 March.
About two weeks ago, when it was renewed for the second time for a new period of 15 days, both Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa and the Prime Minister, António Costa, said they hoped it would be the last.
After yet another technical meeting on the “Epidemiological situation of Covid-19 in Portugal”, with the participation of the President of the Assembly of the Republic, the Prime Minister, party, employers and union leaders, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa defended that the state of emergency had “a legal, but also symbolic political and psychological role”.
“It corresponded to the concern to close. In an extreme situation, it was an extreme weapon to close down the country. The Portuguese understood this and adhered to this. This was followed by the people and this can be verified by the data that we have collected to have had a positive effect”, he said to journalists.
The President of the Republic referred that there was afterwards “a second phase, still in force of the state of emergency, which was a phase of reinforcing the containment and control of the situation, lowering numbers that needed to be lowered:, the number of inpatients in intensive care, and the number of deaths “.
According to Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, this “second phase” that “corresponded and corresponds to the month of April” can be described, in general terms, as “a plateau with a downward evolution”, and ends now, with the end of the term state of emergency.