Rising corona numbers: Lisbon is sealed off

Status: 06/18/2021 3:13 a.m.

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Portugal has issued new restrictions for the capital due to the sharp rise in infections with the delta variant. Travel to and from Lisbon that is not strictly necessary is prohibited from Friday to Monday.

Lisbon will be sealed off for two and a half days due to a worrying increase in corona infection cases. From Friday afternoon to Monday morning, the 2.8 million residents of the Portuguese capital are only allowed to leave the greater Lisbon area for good reason, as the government announced. Foreigners will only be allowed to enter in exceptional cases.

With 928 new infections within 24 hours, Lisbon last recorded the highest value since February 19. The number of cases of infection corresponded to around 75 percent of all new infections registered in Portugal (1233). However, only around 27 percent of all Portuguese citizens live in the “Area Metropolitana” of Lisbon.

Lockdown not excluded

In Lisbon, the delta variant of the corona virus, which was first discovered in India, is currently spreading relatively strongly, said government spokeswoman Mariana Vieira da Silva. “It is not easy to take such measures, but we thought they were essential to prevent the current situation in Lisbon from spreading across the country,” she said.

The former corona hotspot Portugal had successfully fought the virus in winter and temporarily had the lowest values ​​in Europe in spring. The state of emergency to contain the pandemic therefore ended on May 1 after five and a half months. However, the nationwide 14-day incidence rose from 55 to 87 within a few weeks, according to the EU authority ECDC.

Portugal’s President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa had previously vehemently rejected a possible further lockdown. The contagion rate alone does not justify drastic restrictions as long as hospital admissions are well below the winter high, he said. Prime Minister António Costa said more cautiously: “Nobody can guarantee that we will not have to go back to the lockdown.”