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LISBON (Reuters) – Portugal is to ban home journey and shut faculties round two upcoming holidays in a bid to cut back the unfold of coronavirus forward of Christmas, Prime Minister Antonio Costa mentioned on Saturday.
Journey between municipalities will likely be banned from 11 p.m. on Nov. 27 to five a.m. on Dec. 2, after which once more from 11 p.m. on Dec. four to five a.m. on Dec. 9, to forestall motion round nationwide holidays on Dec. 1 and Dec. 8.
Faculties will shut on the Mondays earlier than each holidays, whereas companies should shut early. Employers are being inspired to offer staff the break day in an effort to minimise journey exercise.
“We proceed to have a really excessive variety of circumstances which is a risk to our well being,” Costa informed a press convention. “We should persist to not solely halt that development charge however invert it.”
Masks, already necessary in public and enclosed business areas, at the moment are additionally necessary within the office, Costa mentioned. Checks will enhance to make sure that those that can are working remotely.
An evening-time curfew and weekend lockdown after 1 p.m. in 191 municipalities since Nov. 9 will proceed in 174 municipalities with notably excessive an infection charges for an additional two weeks.
Portugal reported 62 deaths and 6,472 circumstances of coronavirus on Saturday, principally within the north of the nation, bringing the entire infections to 255,970 circumstances, with 3,824 deaths.
The variety of circumstances has elevated considerably since late September, with common day by day charges rising from round 300 in the summertime to six,000 in latest weeks regardless of testing solely growing roughly three-fold, well being ministry knowledge reveals.
The nation, with round 10 million individuals, ranks third in Europe for the variety of cumulative deaths per 100,000 individuals and seventh within the variety of new circumstances, in line with European Centre for Illness Prevention and Management figures.
(Reporting by Victoria Waldersee; Modifying by Mike Harrison)
Copyright 2020 Thomson Reuters.
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