Schools close – Dramatic corona situation in Portugal

 The  country with around 10.3 million inhabitants reported a new high of infections within 24 hours with 4,647 new cases on Wednesday. 13,544 new infections were reported in Portugal on Thursday. Because of the dire situation, calls for a postponement of the presidential election scheduled for Sunday had recently been raised.

Costa said there would be no online learning for the next 15 days either.

 The  failed face-to-face classes should be made up for in the coming holidays. However, some schools would remain open to care for the children of workers in essential sectors. At an extraordinary cabinet meeting, it was also decided to close all citizens’ advice centers. In addition, court hearings should be limited to urgent cases.

Compared to other countries in Europe, Portugal got through the pandemic relatively lightly for a long time.

 The  situation has been getting worse since autumn. According to the latest figures from the EU agency ECDC, 1,215 people per 100,000 inhabitants were infected with the virus within 14 days. Only two of the 30 countries recorded are worse off: Ireland with around 1,444 and the Czech Republic with 1,362. For Germany this value was a little more than 319.

According to the health authorities in Lisbon, a good 595,000 infections have been detected in the country since the beginning of the pandemic. 9,686 people died with Covid-19.

 The  situation in hospitals is becoming increasingly worrying.

 The  number of Covid patients treated in intensive care units rose from 611 to 702 in just one week.