"The epidemiological situation in the country over the last week has worsened, this worsening follows the European situation", said Marta Temido.

The government official also said that estimates and analyses of epidemiological modelling carried out by the National Institute of Health Doctor Ricardo Jorge point to 1,300 confirmed cases on November 7, if the current risk of transmission is maintained.

The minister explained that, in the last week, the cumulative incidence to 14 days was situated at 94 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, despite being “an incidence that is below what is the average today registered in the countries of the European Union, which is 235 cases per 100,000 inhabitants”.

According to Marta Temido, this incidence has been increasing “in line with the risk of effective transmission, which was above one 16 days ago and now stands at 1.08”.

"What was the expected scenario due to the transmission of the disease is being confirmed, although in a context in which a large majority of the population is vaccinated", she said, adding that 85.9% of the Portuguese population is fully vaccinated Covid-19.

Justifying the maintenance of the situation of alert, the minister stressed that, despite this favourable context, "the virus continues to transmit and circulate and, although it is causing less serious disease and less significant fatal consequences, the greater circulation of the virus tends to correspond to a greater number of cases of disease”.

The minister also underlined that new containment measures or eventual adaptations of the current ones “will be made if necessary in due time and always with the analysis” of the defined frame of reference, which at this moment “is only for the growth of transmission”.

Marta Temido explained that the monitoring of the epidemiological situation was defined through a risk analysis published weekly and the latest indicators, of October 22, showed that "the risk remained at a moderate to reduced level".

"The level of incidence, which we define as a reduced risk level is below 120 and we are still below 120. At the level of effective risk of transmission, the reference level is 1 and we are above that value," she said, noting that there are some signs of concern about positivity, which is on the rise.

However, she stressed that the remaining indicators are stable, registering “a stabilization in the use of health care at the level of covid-19” in the use of inpatient and intensive care units, as well as in mortality.

“However, we have to bear in mind that there are several worrying contextual factors, such as the European situation, cold temperatures ahead, circulation of respiratory diseases associated with cold weather and a greater tendency for people to concentrate in less airy spaces,” she said.

In this sense, the minister called for the respect for a set of rules to be maintained, namely the maintenance of the use of masks in closed spaces and environments, the maintenance of not attending or not staying for a long time in overcrowded spaces and concern for aeration of physical spaces.

Marta Temida also indicated that the General Directorate of Health and the Ministry of Health will soon promote information campaigns to draw people's attention to this need.