New lockdown from next week in Portugal, schools remain open
While Portugal has recorded its worst day in terms of coronavirus-related deaths since the start of the pandemic, a return to lockdown on the same model as that of April 2020 is more than likely and this from next Tuesday, like the confirmed the Minister of Economy Pedro Siza Vieira. Indeed the Portuguese Prime Minister António Costa was this Friday in a meeting with the different parties to discuss other measures to be applied, from the closure of non-food businesses and restaurants, to the opening of schools or the postponement of the elections. presidential. Lisbob, the expatriate assistant, tells you all about the likely comeback of lockdown in Portugal.
New lockdown from next week in Portugal, schools remain open - © tvi24.iol.pt
The coronavirus figures are bad in Portugal and the government wants to tighten the screws very quickly. A new lockdown, as during the months of April or May 2020, with a minimum duration of 15 days, would be about to be announced for implementation as of next Tuesday. Restaurants will remain closed and will only be able to operate with take-out and home delivery, but schools will be open. This is the scenario that the government is studying to stop the rate of growth of contagions, according to the Minister of the Economy Pedro Siza Vieira, after a meeting with the various social partners.
The minister confirmed that the government was considering "the need to have more restrictive measures for the mobility of the population", while the number of new cases of infection has crossed the 10,000 mark this week. Siza Vieira admits that the measures to be implemented are similar "to those we had during the month of April or the first half of May", when the country was in lockdown. Non-food businesses and restaurants will be closed, but schools open according to the economy minister.
On the other hand and as during the first lockdown, the sectors of industry, construction and food distribution should continue to operate. “What we must consider as plausible is the framework that was in effect during the month of April or the first half of May, during this first confinement. These are situations in which we kept the industry, civil construction, all the food retail trade in operation, but where the restaurants only operated take out or home delivery, ”he explains.
One of the main differences will also be the non-closure of schools. The government does not want to penalize students, and is studying the possibility of leaving them open for any level of education. Still according to the minister, companies forced to close will be able to access the simplified lay-off regime, as happened in the months of the first lockdown and will continue, for example, for nightclubs. Lay-off workers will have a 100% guaranteed salary, without this imposing any more burdens on companies.
The government is also considering the possibility of postponing the presidential elections, which are due to take place on Sunday January 24, but some political parties do not seem to agree, such as the Portuguese Communist Party. The official announcement of the return from lockdown to Portugal is expected to be Sunday or Monday.