2907 more cases and 11 deaths in Portugal in the last 24 hours
On the eve of the return to the calamity situation, Portugal registered 2907 new cases of covid-19 in the last 24 hours, according to the epidemiological bulletin of the Directorate-General for Health. There are also 11 deaths associated with the infection, according to this Tuesday’s report Tuesday (November 20th).
The North region was the one that reported the most new cases (964), followed by the Lisbon and Vale do Tejo region (921) and the Center region (629). The Alentejo has today 103 more infections than the day before and the Algarve more than 166. In the autonomous regions, 22 more cases were registered in the Azores and another 102 in Madeira.
With regard to the situation in hospitals, there are now 833 inpatients (24 more than the day before), 116 (5 more than reported on Monday) of which are in intensive care units.
Intensive care. Commission calls for immediate action to prevent “the bomb falling into our hands”
The growth trend of covid-19 cases in Portugal is not abating. The incidence of the disease rose on Monday to 325.9 cases per 100,000 population nationwide. In hospitals, there are more than 800 people hospitalized, in the Intensive Care Units (ICU) there are more than 100 patients. The report on the monitoring of red lines, published on Friday by the Ricardo Jorge National Health Institute (INSA), already warned of a 12% increase in patients in ICU compared to the previous week.
For the coordinator of the National Response Commission on Intensive Care Medicine (CARNMI), the rise in the number of cases is once again a concern, as configured for the next few years. To DN, João Gouveia says that “there are transports that indicate that we can reach up to 400 admissions in the month of February”. Therefore, he warns: “It is necessary for hospitals to start preparing for that time, so that they have all intensive care beds open. If not, the consequence is that a bomb in our hands will go off again. And at 5. In the second wave of the disease, we cannot continue to make the same mistakes, we want to believe that something has been learned”.
Switzerland requires negative testing and quarantine for travelers from Portugal
This Tuesday, the Swiss authorities announced the inclusion of Portugal in the list of countries with variants “of concern”, such as Ómicron.
Therefore, Switzerland started to demand a negative test and quarantine from all citizens traveling from Portugal, even if vaccinated or recovered from covid-19, due to the presence in Portuguese territory of the Ómicron variant.
The inclusion of Portugal, by the Swiss health authorities, in the list of countries with variants “of concern”, such as Ómicron, counts from today, a day after Portugal confirmed the existence of 13 cases of this variant of the coronavirus in the territory national.
According to the rules defined by the Swiss authorities, on arrival in the country, any person from this list of countries and who is over 16 years old must have a negative test (rapid antigen or PCR), even if they are vaccinated or have recovered from the covid. 19
The PCR or antigen test must be repeated between the 4th and 7th day in Swiss territory, according to the authorities. Everyone, even children, must still complete an entry form and complete a 10-day quarantine. The rule also applies to recovered and vaccinated.