LISBON: An overnight curfew from 11 pm will come into force in Portugal on New Yr’s Eve, Prime Minister Antonio Costa stated on Thursday (Dec 17), as the government introduces measures to cut back the spread of the coronavirus throughout the usually busy night.
“Now we have to completely minimize out on New Yr celebrations,” Costa informed reporters after a video meeting with ministers, including that individuals wouldn’t be allowed to leave their houses between 1pm and 5am from Jan 1 to Jan 3.
Two weeks ago, Costa had stated people would be capable to return house earlier than a 2am curfew on New Yr’s Eve. But a previously announced reevaluation of measures took into consideration the present pandemic situation and forced the government to take a step again.
“The number of cases per week are dropping but not as quick as they were before,” Costa stated, explaining the government decided to toughen New Yr’s Eve measures so guidelines over Christmas were not as extreme.
There is no such thing as a limit on how many individuals can gather per family for Christmas and a ban on domestic travel will not be imposed between Dec 23 and Dec 26.
“Christmas celebrations need to be carried out with the utmost care,” he stated, urging folks to keep away from poorly ventilated areas and to make use of face masks during family gatherings whenever possible.
After a relatively mild first wave of the disease in contrast with countries such as Spain or Italy, Portugal has had a file variety of infections and deaths during the second wave although the everyday tally has dropped slightly in recent weeks.
Portugal, which has a population of just over 10 million, has recorded 362,616 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 5,902 deaths.