Biggest spike in C0vid-19 cases in Portugal in a month

REASSURANCE: Prime Minister Antonio Costa said Portugal was not experiencing “a situation of generalised growth in the pandemic.” CREDIT: Antonio Costa Twitter @antoniocostapm

PORTUGAL saw its biggest spike in new Covid-19 cases in a month on Friday.

Another 377 people tested positive for coronavirus in 24 hours, according to figures from the DGS Directorate-General of Heath.

The vast majority of the cases were registered in the Lisbon and Valle del Tajo area.

A day earlier the Portuguese Government announced the lockdown restrictions would remain in place in both regions until at least June 15 due to increases in cases in several municipalities since the state of emergency ended on May 2.

However Prime Minister Antonio Costa stressed that the country was not experiencing “a situation of generalised growth in the pandemic”, pointing out that the upsurge in infections were concentrated in certain municipalities.

Costa also said that it was mainly the civil construction sector and temporary workers which were affected.

Today DGS director Graça Freitas described the evolution of the virus in Lisbon as “stable”, but with relatively high rates compared to the rest of Portugal.

Freitas underlined the importance of testing in order to be able to isolate asymptomatic cases and prevent further contagions.

Portugal has registered 33,969 Covid-19 cases in all. A total of 1,465 have lost their lives to the virus.

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Written by

Cathy Elelman

Cathy Elelman is the local writer for the Costa de Almeria edition of the Euro Weekly News.

Based in Mojacar for the last 21 years, Cathy is very much part of the local community and is always well and truly up on all the latest news and events going on in this region of Spain.

Her top goals are to do the best job she can informing the local English-speaking community, visitors to the area and the wider world about about the news in Almeria, to learn something new every day, and to embrace very new challenge this fast-changing world brings her way.

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