Portugal Says It Will Take ‘Necessary’ Measures to Face Pandemic

(Bloomberg) -- Portugal will take the measures that are considered “necessary” to face the latest increase in coronavirus infections, Presidency Minister Mariana Vieira da Silva said.

The government doesn’t expect to adopt measures of the same level and “seriousness” of those it had to take in the past, Vieira da Silva said on Wednesday in comments broadcast by SIC Noticias. A meeting with experts on the Covid-19 pandemic will be held on Friday.

At the start of October, Portugal removed limits on the size of groups that can be seated at restaurants, taking the last step in a plan to gradually lift restrictions after the vaccination program accelerated. Face masks are still required on public transport. About 86% of the country’s population has now completed vaccination, among the highest rates in the world, according to the government.

Portugal reported 2,527 new coronavirus infections on Wednesday, the highest number of daily cases in two months, and the number of patients in intensive-care units is at 75. The latest figures on new confirmed cases are still just a fraction of the daily record of more than 16,000 cases reported at the end of January, when the country faced one of the world’s worst outbreaks and the number of patients in intensive-care units was around 900, forcing the government to impose strict confinement measures.

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