Rui Rio left the meeting with the Prime Minister, in the early afternoon of this Thursday, to express total willingness to support “the measures that the government deems necessary” even if “they are not friendly”, leaving the feeling that “Encouraged” the prime minister to move forward with more muscular measures, such as the closure of schools and public places, provided that this measure is accompanied by “restrictions on the circulation” of people.
“The closure of schools is not nice, and the government may need support in restrictive measures of this kind, so that support will have. Because to be prudent, in this case, is to take action ”, said the PSD leader at the end of the meeting with the prime minister in São Bento. António Costa is receiving all political parties to inform them of the measures that the government is studying and to welcome “ideas”. The formal decision on the new measures to be taken by the government will only be communicated at the end of the round with the parties. The Council of Ministers will resume at 8 pm, when the Prime Minister will report on the news.
For Rui Rio, however, there is no point in closing schools if students later find themselves socially in other places. “There is little point in closing schools and not taking care that students are not to be found anywhere else. Being quarantined is not being on vacation, it is being protected. That is why it is necessary that, every time a measure is taken, collateral measures are taken immediately so that the initial measure is not canceled ”. Asked whether this collateral measure should be the students’ quarantine, Rio did not respond.
“The design of the problem is this: if students don’t have classes, we have to find a way to prevent them from being elsewhere,” he said only, not wanting to use the term quarantine. The maximum that Rui Rio defended for this case the term “Restriction of movement of people”.
For the PSD leader, “to be prudent in this case is to take action”, with Rio even citing the popular adage that “prevention is better than cure”. In other words, it is better to take preventive measures, even if they seem to go “a little further than what seems necessary”, instead of “relax and then have a situation similar to that of Italy”. “Any damage that the country as a whole can have is always less than the damage it will have if it does nothing. I prefer to have a controlled loss and avoid a bigger loss ”, he said.
Rui Rio also left a “public thanks to all health professionals for everything they are giving to the country”.
The Left Block was the second party to be received by the Prime Minister in São Bento
–
The Left Bloc has also met with the Prime Minister. On leaving, Catarina Martins did not reveal what the Government is preparing to do in relation to restrictive measures such as the closure of schools, but she was “solidary” with the Government’s plan, leaving only one piece of advice: “All measures must be well explained and substantiated ”.
As for BE’s concerns, Catarina Martins said that she forwarded to the Prime Minister “three concerns”, one of which is the predictable saturation of the SNS, which must be taken care of. In this sense, BE wants there to be an early reinforcement of the hiring and acquisition of equipment in the NHS, just as there should be “Requisition of means and equipment to the private sector if necessary”. In other words, acting now towards strengthening health professionals and equipment before the NHS breaks down.
“The SNS is already under a lot of pressure and it is foreseeable that it will have even more, so acquisitions and contracts should be anticipated”, he defended.
Another of BE’s concerns has to do with ensuring that families and workers do not lose jobs and income in this phase of crisis, and another has to do with “protecting the most vulnerable populations”. In addition, BE kicks in for the Government, which will announce the measures at the end of the day, guaranteeing only “solidarity”.
The Observer is the impossible project, which was launched without advertising, without much money and with the audacity to be different. We had only one argument: our journalism, our work, our reports and investigations, our ability to innovate and create new products, our boldness in dealing with new topics, our courage in breaking with ideas made, our youth. Today we are visited regularly by seven million readers every month and we have become a central reference in Portugal. Today more than ever, it is all these readers who make the Observer, just as the Observer contributed to making their lives as citizens richer. Not least because no citizenship survives without a free press, paid for by its readers.
–
