The Mayor of Felgueiras warned today of the “many complaints” of people being “segregated” outside the municipality due to the Covid-19 outbreak just because they are from Felgueiras, something he says is “inadmissible”.
One such example is that of a businessman in the textile industry who went to a factory in Barcelos and who was prevented from taking samples because, according to the municipality, he is from Felgueiras. The businessman will have left the place without carrying on his professional activity.
“It is discrimination and intolerance that makes no sense, against which I will fight until the last consequences”, commented Nuno Fonseca, in statements to Lusa, referring that the “indignation of Felgueiras” has already been communicated, through the official channels , to the Government.
In the municipalities of Felgueiras and Lousada, in the district of Porto, several cases of new coronavirus were detected, which led the Directorate-General for Health (DGS) to determine the closure of all schools and other public and private spaces, as a measure to try contain the Covid-19 outbreak.
Insisting on the “denunciation of situations of discrimination”, the mayor of Felgueiras gives as a first example the fact that the municipality of Cantanhede (Coimbra) suspended, on Tuesday, for a period of 15 days, a contract for the requalification of two streets in the city, due to the fact that some workers are from Felgueiras.
He also said that there were complaints from the Felgueiras firefighters about difficulties in accessing the Penafiel Hospital, when they transport patients.
To Lusa, he added that there are reports from students from Felgueiras who were not allowed to attend classes at the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto (FEUP) and from citizens who have been facing difficulties in their professional activities.
There is also the indignation of a person who works outside the municipality and who was invited by the employer not to work these days because he is from Felgueiras.
He also noted that there were complaints of difficulties in serving residents in public health equipment in the region and in more remote areas in the country.
Also on Tuesday, in Santarém, he added, a trial was postponed, just because one of the lawyers was from Felgueiras.
For Nuno Fonseca, “there are too many cases involving people from Felgueiras who are being unfairly harmed in their lives”.
“The people of Felgueiras cannot accept this”, he reinforced.
The mayor recalls that the municipality is experiencing a difficult moment, due to the measures imposed by health authorities to try to contain the spread of the new coronavirus and that “cases of discrimination”, such as those he indicated, further accentuate the adverse situation.
Nuno Fonseca stresses that the municipality of Felgueiras, “thanks to the merits of its businessmen and workers, is one of those that most contributes to the national wealth” and that, for this reason, it should deserve from the country “all solidarity and understanding”.
The mayor appeals “to all Portuguese people to be alert and not allow the people of Felgueiras to be harmed”.
The Covid-19 epidemic was detected in December in China and has already claimed more than 4,200 deaths.
About 117,000 people have been infected in more than a hundred countries, and more than 63,000 have recovered.
Portugal registers 41 confirmed cases of infection, according to DGS.
DGS also reported that in Portugal a total of 375 suspected cases have been reached since the beginning of the epidemic, 83 of which are still awaiting laboratory results. There are still 667 contacts under surveillance by health authorities.
Residents in the municipalities of Felgueiras and Lousada, in the district of Porto, were advised to avoid unnecessary travel.
In view of the increase in cases, the Government ordered the temporary suspension of visits to hospitals, homes and prisons in the North, which has so far been the most affected.
Educational establishments, especially in the north of the country, were closed, as well as gyms, libraries, swimming pools and cinemas.
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