COVID-19 | Daily Update
Wednesday, July 1st | COVID-19 Daily Update
CURRENT OUTLOOK
The number of people infected by COVID-19 in Portugal rose to 42,454, 313 more than in the last 24 hours, according to the epidemiological report released by the Portuguese General Directorate of Health (DGS).
The data also reveal the occurrence of three deaths since yesterday, bringing the total to 1,789 fatal victims of the new coronavirus in the country.
The number of recovered people is now 27,798, 293 more than yesterday.
PANDEMIC IN PORTUGAL
The heads of state and government of Portugal and Spain joined this morning to sign the reopening of the border, with high-level ceremonies in Badajoz and Elvas.
Portuguese Prime Minister António Costa called for "very strict" compliance with all safety and health rules against COVID-19 to avoid the possibility of the borders between Portugal and Spain closing again.
On the other hand, 19 parishes in the municipalities of Lisbon with a higher incidence of new cases are now in a situation of calamity, with more restrictive rules, contrary to the generality of the country.
Until May, hospitals had less than 902 thousand medical appointments and 85 thousand fewer surgeries compared to the same period last year, the Minister of Health revealed yesterday in the Parliament, where she also mentioned that public transport is not associated with any of the new cases of infection in the Lisbon and Tagus Valley region.
The voting marathon to change the Supplementary Budget started yesterday with the certainty that the medical losses by COVID-19 will be paid 100%.
In the same vote, the proposals of BE, PCP, Chega and Joacine Katar Moreira for the implementation of remuneration supplements for health professionals who fight the virus were unsuccessful.
The medical doctor and respiratory diseases expert Filipe Froes warns, in an interview, that those who are asymptomatic should not be devalued. The DGS consultant explains that asymptomatic patients, in addition to transmitting the disease, can also have sequelae. After all, the infection is present even if it does not manifest.
Also in an interview, Carlos Carreiras, Mayor of Cascais, threatens to stop public transport in Sintra and Oeiras if the problem of overcrowding continues. "For great ills, great remedies", he warns.
PANDEMIC IN EUROPE AND THE WORLD
The United States purchased the world stock of the drug Remdesivir, which helps to treat patients with COVID-19, for the next three months. In other words, no other country in the world will be able to access the drug.
Sónia Pereira says that access by all immigrants, including those to be regularized, to basic rights, namely to health and social benefits, "is important (...) beyond the pandemic", acknowledges the high commissioner for Migrations.
In Italy, more than 40% of the inhabitants of an Italian city, with positive tests, did not present any symptoms of the disease, according to a study published yesterday that evidences the potential of propagation of the new coronavirus.
In Spain, the so-called new normality is being marked by the use of masks and increased care, but also by the appearance of new outbreaks of infection.
Tourist demand in Cape Verde is expected to decline this year to 2009 levels, due to the pandemic with the loss of 536 thousand tourists compared to the Government's initial forecast.
China has diagnosed three new cases in the past 24 hours, all in Beijing and originating from local contagion.
MEDICAL PROGRESS
Portugal, through the Champalimaud Center, in Lisbon, has joined a project created in Israel that allows people to monitor olfaction on an Internet platform, the loss of which is one of the symptoms of COVID-19, the institution said today.
After an opinion from the National Data Protection Commission, the administrator of the Institute of Systems and Computers Engineering, Technology and Science said yesterday that the project for the COVID-19 screening application is being reviewed.
ECONOMIC IMPACT
The President of the Republic wished yesterday that “the best possible solution” can be found so that the country continues to have “a Portuguese TAP, which pursues Portugal's interest”, refusing to comment on whether public or private management would be preferable.
Total public indebtedness rises 3% compared to May 2019 and is now equivalent to 132% of GDP, also one of the heaviest ratios on record.
As part of the measures to combat the pandemic, companies that pay taxes in offshore companies will not receive state support.
Concerning jobs in the middle of the pandemic, the Portuguese economy may have destroyed about 192 thousand jobs, from February to May, estimates the INE (Portuguese Statistics Bureau) in the bulletin published yesterday.
The initial guidance points to a rate of 89 basis points above the mid-swaps, which indicates that Portugal should pay a yield below 1%, according to "Bloomberg".
FINANCIAL MARKETS
The Portuguese stock exchange opened the first day of the third quarter to fall 0.6% to 4,363.79 points, following the sentiment of the other European markets in this Wednesday's session.