The Portuguese authorities have announced that the country has decided to drop the mandatory isolation rule for people infected with the COVID-19 disease.
Instead of undergoing isolation, the Portuguese authorities have suggested that those who show symptoms of COVID or any other respiratory disease limit their contact with vulnerable persons as well as wear a face mask.
While Portugal has decided to relax the isolation rules, the authorities emphasised that everyone must still wear a face mask when accessing different health establishments.
Commenting on the country’s latest decision to drop the mandatory isolation requirement, the Portuguese Director-General of Health, Graça Freitas, said that the population is ready for facilitated measures despite the country expecting to register an increased number of infection cases this winter.
Freitas said that COVID infection cases would increase in the upcoming months. Nonetheless, the same noted that it would be manageable as the majority of the population has already received vaccines.
Data from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) shows that Portugal has administered a total of 25,139,876 vaccine doses as of September 22.
ECDC further shows that 94.7 per cent of the entire adult population has already completed primary vaccination. Moreover, the same reveals that 80.2 per cent of the adult population has received the first booster shot, and another 5.4 per cent have received the second booster shot.
Previously, ECDC recommended the use of the newly authorised adapted Coronavirus vaccines as colder months approach. More specifically, ECDC recommended that adapted boosters get received by people over 60 and vulnerable persons, among others.
“Timely vaccination and deployment of boosters ahead of a potential autumn and winter surge of COVID-19 cases are essential for protecting people and stopping health systems from being overwhelmed. Eligible people who still have had no COVID-19 vaccination or who have not had any booster dose are advised to come forward for vaccination as recommended in their countries,” the statement of ECDC reads.
Additionally, ECDC emphasised that residents, as well as staff in long-term care homes and healthcare workers, be prioritised due to their increased exposure.
Source SchengenVisaInfo.com
