According to the same source, Matos Fernandes has no symptoms and is doing well, but he was advised by the health authorities to remain in isolation, as happened with the prime minister, António Costa, after a risky contact. The presence of the official was expected at the launching ceremony of the international public tender for the design/construction of the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system of Metro do Porto, which was initially scheduled for 21 April.

The covid-19 pandemic has caused at least 3,980,935 deaths worldwide, resulting from more than 183.7 million cases of infection by the new coronavirus, according to the most recent assessment made by the Agence France-Presse. In Portugal, since the beginning of the pandemic, in March 2020, 17,117 people have died and 890,571 cases of infection have been registered, according to the Directorate-General for Health. The respiratory disease is caused by the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, detected in late 2019 in Wuhan, a city in central China, and currently with variants identified in countries such as the United Kingdom, India or South Africa.

Photo:Richter Frank-Jurgen