The calamity situation in the country due to the Covid-19 pandemic will continue until the end of June due to holidays, celebrations of popular saints and the reopening of air borders, the Prime Minister announced today.
“In the whole of the national territory, the rules currently in force will continue to apply and until the end of the month, not because there is a negative change in the state of the pandemic, but because we take into account that in this period there is a coincidence of the traditional celebrations of the saints popular, the existence of the opening to Europe of the borders to European countries on the 15th and also the high number of holidays ”, António Costa told journalists at the end of the meeting of the Council of Ministers that approved the Supplementary Budget.
The Prime Minister considered that “it is important to convey the message that containment measures cannot mean any kind of relaxation regarding the rules of detachment, individual protection and hygiene”.
“If we continue to evolve positively as it has been happening, our forecast is that as of the 1st of July we can make a change from the state of calamity to the state of contingency and perhaps in some regions, such as the Algarve and the Alentejo, for the situation of mere alertness ”, he advanced.
In this sense, the Prime Minister appealed to the responsibility of collectively continuing to control the pandemic so that positive results can be achieved and that on July 1, “this new step in evolution” can be taken.
Portugal has been suffering from calamity since 3 May due to the pandemic, after three consecutive periods in a state of emergency for 45 days.