Pandemic in the Algarve ‘has stabilized’ despite the population ‘having tripled’ with tourists

The epidemiological situation in the Algarve “is stabilized”, after two weeks “with, practically, every day with a number of new single-digit daily cases”, considered Ana Cristina Guerreiro, the Regional Health Delegate, at a press conference discussing the ongoing pandemic which took place today, the 14th, in Loulé.

Populations numbers have reached “the height of summer, at a time when the population of the Algarve has tripled” due to tourists, which in practice means that the Algarve has a ratio of less than 20 infected per 100 thousand inhabitants, that is, it is within the norms to be considered a safe region under EU guidance.

According to the Regional Health Delegate, there were five new cases of Covid-19 in the Algarve today, which, she said, has increased the total number of infected with the new coronavirus since the beginning of the pandemic to 948 in the Algarve region.  However, there are already 700 people who have recovered from the disease in the region, which means that there are just 229 active cases today in the Algarve.

According to José Apolinário, current Secretary of State who is also the coordinator of the State of Alert in the Algarve, the number of active cases “has been decreasing since the beginning of the month”, thanks to the “work and commitment” of the regional entities, whether in the sector health or civil protection.

He gives the example of the outbreaks that emerged in the Civil Construction sector, which, according to Ana Cristina Guerreiro, became “a great concern”, but which are now under control.

“As soon as these outbreaks appeared, we immediately carried out verification and awareness actions in shipyards with workers”, he recalled.

António Pina, on the other hand, shone a light on the fact that pandemic numbers have been remaining under control in the Algarve, despite the many tourists who are currently in the region. Admitting that “there are not as many as in other years”, the president of AMAL stressed the behaviour of visitors who, “apart from one or another occasional situation, have been exemplary”.

For this, he said, good organization also contributed, as a result of the work of the regional Health Authority, of the municipalities and other public entities, but “also of the businesses, who were able to prepare themselves” excellently.

Returning to the pandemic figures, in the Algarve hospitals there were, at midnight yesterday, nine people hospitalized with Covid-19, “none of them in intensive care”. The figures of the Regional Health Authority also account for 397 people under active surveillance.

According to the Regional Health Delegate, many of the new cases are “imported”, since they are foreigners or Portuguese who are on vacation in the Algarve. “Every day we have cases of foreigners. Usually, people arrive here without symptoms and develop them when they are here,” she said.

There have also been cases related to “emigrants and foreigners working here”. Ana Cristina Guerreiro clarified that the cases are “counted in the region of occurrence”. In other words, all foreigners who are diagnosed in the region are considered cases in the Algarve. Even when it comes to nationals from other regions, “if they stay here for treatment” they are considered sick in the Algarve.

“If you are someone who is tested here, but then you go to your region of origin and you don’t know the result, it is counted in that region,” she added.