One Step Forward, Two Steps Back: 19 Districts in Portugal’s Lisbon Are Back in Lockdown

Sadly, Portugal has taken one step forward, yet two steps back as the country which initially had the pandemic under control have had to put 19 districts in Lisbon back into lockdown.

THE worrying amount of coronavirus clusters in Portugal has forced the government to take action and place various districts back into lockdown.

Residents in 19 out of 24 of Lisbon’s districts are only allowed to leave their homes to buy essential goods, like food or medicine, or go to work.

Although Portugal has not opened its borders or relaxed its measures too much, the country is now facing a worrying wave of outbreaks. This Thursday the number of people who have contracted the coronavirus has reached 40,415. In 24 hours, the number of new cases has escalated by 311, with the regions of Lisbon and Valle del Tajo being the worst affected.

This stricter lockdown has been enforced after initial measures, such as closing businesses at 8.00pm and prohibiting reunions of over 10 people, were not enough to control the spread of the virus.