Portugal extends COVID-19 lockdown as overstretched hospitals struggle

On Jan. 15, Portugal shut non-essential services and schools, and made remote work compulsory where possible, its second lockdown since the initial outbreak in March-April 2020. Costa said the latest lockdown led to a decline in daily cases and deaths, with the virus reproduction rate - dubbed 'R' - standing at 0.77, the "lowest level since the start of the pandemic".

Portugal extended on Thursday a nationwide lockdown until at least March 1 to tackle its worst surge of COVID-19 infections since the pandemic began, but Prime Minister Antonio Costa warned the strict rules were likely to stay in place for longer. "The situation is still extremely serious and requires these measures to be extended not just until the end of February but probably until the end of March," Costa told a news conference. "It's not the time to discuss the end of the lockdown."

Under Portuguese law the so-called state of emergency is limited to 15 days but can be extended indefinitely. The country of just over 10 million fared better than other nations in Europe in the first wave of the pandemic, but 2021 brought a devastating surge in infections and deaths, in part blamed on the rapid spread of the British variant of the virus and easing of restrictions over Christmas.

Nearly 14,900 people have died of COVID-19, with cumulative infections at 778,369. Although the number of daily infections and deaths has been decreasing this month, a fragile health service is still struggling to treat the around 6,400 COVID-19 patients in hospitals and intensive care.

"The truth is that the country's hospital capacity continues to be put to the test ... so there is no alternative but to reduce cases," President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa wrote on his official website before parliament approved his proposal to extend the lockdown by another two weeks. On Jan. 15, Portugal shut non-essential services and schools, and made remote work compulsory where possible, its second lockdown since the initial outbreak in March-April 2020.

Costa said the latest lockdown led to a decline in daily cases and deaths, with the virus reproduction rate - dubbed 'R' - standing at 0.77, the "lowest level since the start of the pandemic". "We cannot conform to the number (of deaths) we still have," Costa said. "It's completely unacceptable."

Around 426,000 people have received one vaccine dose so far, 133,000 of them both. But Costa said vaccination delays meant the country would only receive 1.9 million shots during the first three months of 2021, less than half of what was initially expected.