The Prime Minister stressed this Monday that the rules of hygiene and social exclusion will continue to apply after the state of emergency ends in Portugal, until a vaccine against covid-19 is available on the market.
António Costa left this warning after a meeting of about one hour with Cardinal Patriarch of Lisbon, D. Manuel Clemente, at the Seminary of Olivais, on the conditions for lifting restrictions on circulation as of May, after the end of the current state of emergency phase because of combating the covid-19 pandemic.
“This is not yet a time for the country to let its guard down in terms of confinement and social distance measures. Until there is a vaccine, we will not resume normal life. Even without a state of emergency, we will not be able to live as before, “said the executive’s leader.
Before the journalists, António Costa said that the country cannot live “permanently in the current cloistered situation”, but, on the other hand, it will not be able to return to normal until there is a vaccine.
“We have a long period ahead of us when, even without a state of emergency, we will have to maintain norms of social and personal hygiene, norms of removal, containment and limitation to circulation, or voluntarily – as happened with the decision of the Episcopal Conference -, or imposed by the State on the basis of its powers “, he stressed.
At this point, the Prime Minister reiterated the idea that, when the state of emergency ends, eventually on May 2, “everything will not return to normal”.
“Until there is a vaccine, we have to maintain standards for living with the virus, which will be around. This is still the time to maintain great rigor and discipline with regard to containment and social withdrawal,” he added
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