Covid-19 in Portugal: a strategy
Being part of a group that made proposals to define the country was one of the biggest challenges, which was a huge task, the impact of the serious challenges, as disparate measures from the most varied quadrants. Every one of us could fail. Now, it’s time to portray this experience in a book.
Formally we are seven, but around us people. Some we asked for help, others we could observe. Even when the country was confined, they tried to broaden our gaze through various environments. Everything mattered: different sectors of activity, ways of life of different social groups or age groups. attentive to Portugal, but we also followed some changes where the virus had a different geographical evolution from ours. Grasping all this seemed impossible, but the truth is that we gradually started an articulated strategy for the liberation of the country.
In as a working regime for the well-being of employees, each made public health available for measures that had individuals and the well-being of collective structures. My role in this group, with a profile linked to health and statistics to statistics, was to attend to the clarity of the proposals and create a communication strategy.
I always had as presented as delivered from Infar and those ordered to Governomed have an easily decodable by everyone. To act on the measures, everyone had to understand each phase of the deflation. It was also important to ensure effective communication and that had requirements. Basics. First of all, there could be no scoops. Everything should be announced at the Infarmed meeting. The journalists soon realized this and scrupulously respected our position. At the end of the meeting, the coordinator, Raquel Duarte of the group, available for any clarification. This availability extended until the day of the Council of Ministers. Then, we arrived at the time of decisions and the group retreated from the public explanation. Otherwise, we would call ourselves the role of commentators and that would create noise.
This afternoon, in Braga, together to present the book that this work, available at open access at https://ebooks.uminho.pt/index.php/uminho/catalog/view/71/129/1407-1, an edition of Fundação Mestre Casais and UMinho Editora. For the first time this, side by side, because we’ve always worked together, and that was also a great experience.
*Professor associated with UMinho aggregation