The coronavirus outbreak continues to intensify in Portugal. After an increase of + 43% yesterday, 27 new cases were confirmed today, bringing the total to 78 people infected with coronavirus. The North region is the most affected by this growing epidemic. The DGS communicated these new figures this morning and does not indicate for the moment not to envisage closing of the schools on the whole of the territory, but rather to evaluate the situation on a case by case basis. Lisbob, the expatriate assistant in Portugal, tells you all about the evolution of the coronavirus epidemic.
78 cases of coronavirus in Portugal
According to the document published today by the Portuguese DGS, there are 78 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Portugal, 637 suspected cases, 133 awaiting laboratory results and 4,923 in epidemiological surveillance.
Out of a total of 78 cases, 44 are in the North, 5 in Coimbra, 23 in Lisbon, 5 in Portimão and one abroad. There are no confirmed deaths, guarantees the official document.
The bulletin indicates that there are six active transmission chains in Portugal. Of the 78 cases, five were imported from Spain, 10 from Italy, three from Switzerland and one from Austria or Germany.
The director general of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom, said on Wednesday that the new coronavirus (COVID-19) was a pandemic, that is to say that the disease had taken on proportions in the worldwide, with different outbreaks in several countries around the world. The announcement comes as 115 countries have reported new infections in Wuhan, China.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director General of WHO, revealed this afternoon at a press conference after a meeting of the World Health Organization (WHO) that there are more than 118,000 cases and at least 4,291 deaths worldwide, according to officer figures.
Porto is the region with the most cases. Source: DGS
Source anmsp.pt
"We can expect the number of cases, deaths and affected countries to increase," said the WHO director-general. WHO justifies declaring a pandemic with "alarming levels of spread and inaction". "Countries can still change the course of this pandemic if they detect, test, treat, isolate, track and mobilize people in the response," said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, at WHO headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, the same day as the General Directorate of Health (DGS).
The Director-General of WHO warned that "pandemic is not a word to be used lightly or carelessly". "It is a word which, if used improperly, can cause irrational fear or unwarranted acceptance of the end of the fight, leading to unnecessary suffering and death," said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
The Portuguese government has decided to suspend all flights to or from the most affected areas of Italy, also recommending the suspension of events in the open spaces of more than 5,000 people. He also ordered the temporary suspension of visits to hospitals, homes and prisons in the northern region, the most affected region.
Some educational institutions, particularly in the north of the country, have been closed, as have gymnasiums, libraries, swimming pools and cinemas. Residents of the municipalities of Felgueiras and Lousada, in the district of Porto, were asked to avoid unnecessary travel.
