LISBON.
The Minister of Health reported on Friday that there were four new confirmed cases of infection with the new coronavirus in Portugal, three in the north of the country and one in Lisbon, which bring the total of infected to 13.
“Of these four new cases, three are in the North and have an epidemiological link to previous cases” and Italy, Marta Temido told reporters after a meeting of European Union (EU) health ministers in Brussels.
Marta Temido said that three of these cases are being followed up at the São João hospital center, in Porto, while the other is being followed up at the Lisbon Central hospital center.
“We continue with an identification of the epidemiological link of the cases […], which allows us to identify the existence of cases and allows us to have confidence that there is not yet free transmission in the community”, pointed out the Minister of Health.
Asked about a possible relationship of the new case in Lisbon with the secondary school Roque Gameiro, in Amadora, where a teacher was diagnosed with Covid-19, the governor said: “As far as I know, there is no connection”.
With a total of 13 confirmed cases, Portugal remains in an “extended containment phase”, said Marta Temido, indicating that there is still no outbreak mitigation scenario, as is already the case in other EU countries with more cases.
Marta Temido called for “judicious use of personal protective equipment”, noting that “not all people need masks”.
In Portugal, according to the minister, there is a quantity of equipment that allows the Government to be “calm”, both in relation to the ‘stocks’ of the national strategic reserve, as well as others in institutions such as the Portuguese Red Cross.
“But we do not have quantities that allow us, at this stage, to share them” with other EU countries, he said.
Speaking about the meeting of health ministers in Brussels, Marta Temido pointed out that the meeting left “the concern for coordination, coordination and, above all, the activation of mechanisms that exist in the EU for joint purchases, for joint programming”.
“What the Commissioner [of Health, Stella Kyriakides] assured us is that, next week, measures related to this issue of personal protective equipment will be underway and that work is also being done to monitor what are the insistence on the distribution lines “, he pointed out.
Stella Kyriakides announced, at the meeting, a joint contract between 20 Member States for access to personal protective equipment.
“It is extremely dangerous for all of us if doctors, nurses and frontline health professionals do not have the necessary protective equipment,” noted the European Commissioner for Health.
Stella Kyriakides also announced a financial support of 37.5 million euros, in addition to the 10 million euros already announced, to finance 17 projects of 136 research teams that will work on the development of vaccines, new treatments, diagnostic tests and medical systems to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus.
The Covid-19 outbreak – the disease caused by the new coronavirus, which can cause respiratory infections such as pneumonia – detected in December in China has already caused 3,385 deaths and infected more than 98,000 people in 87 countries and territories.
Of the infected people, more than 55,000 recovered.
In addition to 3,042 deaths in China, there are fatalities in Iran, Italy, South Korea, Japan, France, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Australia, Thailand, the United States of America and the Philippines, San Marino, Iraq, Switzerland, Spain, United Kingdom and the Netherlands.
The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the Covid-19 outbreak as an international public health emergency and increased the risk to “very high”.
