Home » World » Portugal and part of Europe close their doors to the United Kingdom | Coronavirus

Portugal and part of Europe close their doors to the United Kingdom | Coronavirus

Just four hours before closing air borders to all non-Portuguese or non-resident travelers arriving on flights from the United Kingdom, Portugal announced on Sunday night that it was finally joining, at midnight, countries such as France, Germany, Belgium , Italy, Sweden, Holland, Ireland and Scotland which, during the afternoon, had already announced the suspension of air, rail and road connections originating in the United Kingdom. The difference is that in Portugal citizens of other nationalities may continue to enter as long as they have a legal residence permit here, but everyone has to bring proof of a “laboratory test” with a negative result for the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

The tightening of restrictions in relation to the United Kingdom is the result of the worsening of the situation in that country due to the new variant of the coronavirus, which has a potential for contagion up to 70% and which led to the confinement of London, the southeastern region and part of East of England since yesterday and until the 30th. To the PUBLIC, the National Institute of Health Dr. Ricardo Jorge guaranteed that in Portugal, unlike countries like Holland, Denmark and Australia, no case has yet been detected of the variant identified in England.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs (MAI), which announced the closure of borders just two hours after the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MNE) assure the PUBLIC that there was no intention of doing so, however, does not specify the advance with which the travelers’ test must be carried out. After the announcement, three flights arrived at Lisbon airport on Sunday night, and another ten were scheduled for Monday – not counting Porto and Faro. If passengers do not have a test, they will be directed on arrival by the authorities to do so at the airport and will be isolated. The measure will be “updated according to the evolution of the situation”, says the MAI.

However, unlike this MAI breakthrough measure, the Directorate-General for Health devalued the situation, considering that this mutation is an “expected” occurrence, which is not “cause for concern in itself” and “does not seem to have an impact on mortality”. “Most mutations do not increase the risk for humans. However, some mutations or combinations of mutations can provide the virus with a selective advantage, such as increased transmissibility or a greater ability to evade the host’s immune response, ”added the DGS mentioned by Lusa.

After the MNE said at the end of the morning that he was following the situation “with care”, but preferred the measures taken “universally instead of restricting the circulation possibilities of those who have to travel for professional reasons or family reunions”, at the beginning of the night the PSD appealed to the government to impose control measures such as flight restrictions.

Also because of the chain reaction of the various countries – some where they have already been detected infected with the new strain -, the assumption by England that the situation was “out of control” (on Sunday there were 35,928 new cases and 326 deaths) and due to requests for a uniform position from European countries, the European Council meets on this emergency Monday. On Sunday, the French President, the German Chancellor and the Presidents of the European Commission and the Council were already meeting online.

The World Health Organization has also asked European members to “tighten controls” and “increase their sequencing capabilities” of the virus, to better understand the risks of the new variant.

Experts devalue

This is what the epidemiologist of the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon, Manuel Carmo Gomes, defends: one guesses “a lot of laboratory work”. “We have to intensify the genetic sequencing of suspected cases, such as reinfections, and investigate the strain of the virus that is causing the disease”, he describes, stressing that it will be essential to monitor cases of vaccine failure, that is, in which vaccinated people contract the disease “to check whether or not this variant is involved”.

Asked about the impact of the new variant on the vaccine, the epidemiologist says it is too early to draw conclusions, but admits that it is “unlikely that the vaccine will cease to be effective”, since it “acts on all protein spike”, The same that will have changed with the new strain of the virus. However, with the new variant, the R (disease contagion indicator) can increase up to 0.4 points, which makes it “natural that the transmission process goes a little faster”.

What to do then to deal with it? The epidemiologist insists on the importance of complying with the use of a mask, physical distance and frequent hand hygiene.

Virologist Pedro Simas, from the Instituto de Medicina Molecular de Lisboa, is following the same path: “We have to wait and be attentive, it is not expected to have a huge impact on the vaccine (…) but it is very early to speculate in relation to that”, stated, quoted by Lusa. Pedro Simas devalues ​​the new scenario: “There are always new strains located geographically, but this, in a way, is a good sign: it is a sign that we are not reverting to more virulent strains, which cause more serious disease.” with Pedro Bastos Reis

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