Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa spoke to journalists after visiting the pharmaceutical factory Hovione, in Loures, accompanied by the Minister of State and Economy, Pedro Siza Vieira, and by the president of this municipality, Bernardino Soares.

At the end of the visit, before the journalists, the President of the Republic left a request especially to citizens who are not working, at a time when the Easter holidays are beginning.

"Now that the Easter period is approaching, those who are not working and do not have to work, need to respect the call for restraint. It is a collective call. Basically, we are facing a collective task, that we are living, that we are winning, because the adhesion of the Portuguese is massive, but it has to continue ", declared Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa.

Faced by journalists about whether he should not be the first to set an example - especially belonging to a risk group - given that he was visiting the factory, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa replied that this "is an exception that was intentional", to "show to the Portuguese who are at home that there are people who are working "and that the example will be set for the rest of the weekend.

Easter Sunday falls this year on April 12 and, according to the 2019/20 school year, Easter holidays run between March 30 and April 13.

The President of the Republic stressed the thesis that combating the covid-19 outbreak requires "a continuous effort".

"This implies that, the next day, we cannot lose what we won the day before or the week before. We are gaining a flattening of the curve, but we cannot lose," he said, in an allusion to the evolution of the number of infected in Portugal over the past week.

Asked if the Government should tighten the rules of the state of emergency, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa said that the Minister of Internal Administration, Eduardo Cabrita, "in a democratic statement of authority", stated the concern of monitoring and control "in the sense that it is not an occasional determination" of the executive.

"When the Government makes these calls or makes these decisions, it is based on what epidemiologists say. When experts ask for attention to mobility in a period as long as Easter, it is so that an effort that is going well is not compromised . The Portuguese have to understand that ", he insisted.

Next Tuesday, a meeting will take place with political leaders, in which State advisers will be invited to participate, in a preparatory meeting for the possible extension of the state of emergency, he said.

As for his opinion on this possibility, as President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa limited himself to replying that the decision will result from the hearing of experts on the evolution of the process.

With this visit to a factory in the pharmaceutical sector, the head of state said that he also intended to show that "there are Portuguese people who are working on Saturday and Sunday" and, on the other hand, that Hovione is in continuous work in the production of medicines (part for export) and disinfectant gel, which is being "distributed by 200 entities, National Health Service, security forces, Armed Forces, firefighters and social solidarity institutions all over the country".

"The economy plus health cannot stop. Here are many workers working for Portugal", he added.

In fact, the head of state stressed the importance of always bearing in mind that "the country has not closed its doors, the economy has not closed its doors, it is necessary to produce, export, work, and after this critical phase, the country returns to its normal pace of activity learns a lot, in teleworking, in the way of living with the family, in the way of organizing production, or in the challenges that arise in living in society ".

"I think that in certain aspects, the country, Europe and the world will not be the same again, they will be different", he underlined.