COVID-19 | Daily Update

Wednesday, June 6th | COVID-19 Daily Update

CURRENT OUTLOOK 

So far, according to the epidemiological report released by the Portuguese General Directorate of Health (DGS), there were 10 more deaths and 377 new cases of COVID-19 infection in Portugal. 

The bulletin reports that the number of fatalities rose from 1,455 to 1,465, while confirmed cases increased from 33,592 to 33,969.  

A further 203 people recovered from the disease were registered. Portugal has now 20,526 patients who overcame the disease.

 

PANDEMIC IN PORTUGAL

The bathing season starts today on all beaches in the Algarve, Almada, Cascais and Nazaré, with rules for social distance and maximum capacity defined, due to the pandemic.  

The Defense Minister announced today that the beaches will have a reinforcement of 169 Navy personnel to ensure the safety of the beachgoers.

Only 30.6% of pre-school children returned to kindergarten, according to Fenprof (Teachers Federation). The justification is mainly “the lack of confidence in the conditions under which pre-school education has been resumed”. 

The Government will review the decision next week, but for now, the shopping centres in the capital city area will continue closed until June 15th. The Portuguese Association of Shopping Centers considers that the postponement can lead to bankruptcy and unemployment.  

The Ministry of Health decided to suspend surgeries and non-urgent medical appointments in all hospitals in the municipalities of Lisbon, Amadora, Sintra, Loures, and Odivelas, a decision taken due to the increase in new cases of COVID-19 in the Lisbon and Tagus Valley Region.

The pandemic reinforced the Portuguese’s confidence in science and the majority agrees with the continuity of restrictions to avoid the increase of the spread of the new coronavirus, points out a public opinion study on the communication of COVID-19.

 

PANDEMIC IN EUROPE AND THE WORLD

The WHO recommended yesterday the use of face masks for COVID-19, made with three layers of fabric when it is difficult to maintain physical distance, as in public transport. 

Germany today has a total of 183,678 infections (407 more than the previous day) and 8,646 deaths from COVID-19 (33 more in the last 24 hours). The data are from the Robert Koch Institute.

The Brazilian president, Jair Bolsonaro, threatened yesterday to withdraw the country from WHO, after accusing the entity of acting in a “political”, “partisan” and “ideological” manner. Brazil totals 35,026 deaths by COVID-19, of which 1,005 were recorded yesterday, the fourth consecutive day in which the barrier of one thousand daily deaths was exceeded, informed the Ministry of Health.

The United States recorded 922 deaths due to COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, bringing the total to more than 109,000 deaths since the pandemic began, according to the count by Johns Hopkins University.

Mexico City authorities have announced that they are investigating an alleged black market for COVID-19-related death certificates on the day the country recorded 625 deaths in the past 24 hours.

The death toll in Africa has risen in the last 24 hours to 4,902, plus 146 in almost 177,000 cases in 54 countries, according to pandemic data on the continent.

India has overtaken Italy as the sixth country to register the most contagions of COVID-19, after identifying a record of almost 10,000 infections in the last 24 hours.

 

MEDICAL PROGRESS 

Hydroxychloroquine does not show beneficial effects in patients with COVID-19, according to the authors of the British clinical trial “Recovery”, who announced yesterday the immediate end of treatment of new patients with this drug, the AFP news agency said.

The adoption of a mobile application for tracking the COVID-19 pandemic requires care, both by programmers and future users, given the risk of improper access to private information, warn cybersecurity experts.

 

ECONOMIC IMPACT

The lay-off appears to be retreating in Portugal after the mass accession in April. Collective dismissals are on the rise, while 134,000 have applied for unemployment benefits. 

In light of the new measures brought by the Economic and Social Stabilization Program, presented this week by the Government, only those who earn the national minimum wage will be spared to cuts in wages, even if they lose income through the cut in the meal allowance. Based on gross wages, workers could lose between two and three wages in 2020.

The TdC (Budget Court) wants to exempt public contracts, public works, and purchases of goods and services below 750 thousand euros from previous visas, revealed President Vítor Caldeira.

The Minister of Home Affairs argued yesterday that EU member states should not impose internal quarantine situations after the reopening of borders, scheduled for 1st July.

In the USA, at a press conference, Trump praised the “unexpected” fall in unemployment and argued that the data show that “it is a great day in terms of equality”. Unemployment in the United States fell from 14.7% to 13.3% in May.

 

FINANCIAL MARKETS 

The Portuguese market ended the last session of this week to lose 0.26% to 4,609.19 points, pressured by the negative performance of the EDP group, in what is the second consecutive fall of the PSI-20.

American stock markets traded in euphoria in the last session of the week, catapulted by good data from the labour market, which were unexpected. 

The Dow Jones ended yesterday’s session climbing 3.15% to 27,110.98 points, thus returning to the level of 27 thousand points.