COVID-19 | Daily Update

Wednesday, May 7th | COVID-19 Daily Update

CURRENT OUTLOOK 

The Portuguese General Directorate of Health (DGS) announced today that the number of people recovered is currently in 2,258 cases (+8.8%). 

In the past 24 hours, there have been 16 more deaths and 533 new cases of COVID-19 infection in Portugal.

According to the daily epidemiological bulletin, the number of fatalities went from 1,089 to 1,105 (+1.4%), while confirmed cases increased from 26,182 to 26,715 (+2%).

 

PANDEMIC IN PORTUGAL

The Ministry of Health has started to publish all the direct procurement contracts it is making, in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. The total value already exceeds 80 million euros.  

From tomorrow, and until December 31, the VAT rate for face masks and disinfectant gel drops from 23% to 6%. 

Every day, the Institute of Molecular Medicine is performing more than 700 diagnostic tests on COVID-19.

According to experts, the implementation of mobile applications for tracking citizens in the context of fighting the pandemic in Portugal raises questions of an ethical nature.

In terms of education, school principals express their concerns about the return of 11th and 12th-grade students to face-to-face classes. 

The Minister of Internal Administration, Eduardo Cabrita, is convinced that this year there will be no pilgrims at the Shrine of Fátima and that there is no need to ban travel or on-foot pilgrimage.

 

PANDEMIC IN EUROPE AND THE WORLD 

The World Health Organization (WHO) wants to send a new mission to China to trace the origin of the new coronavirus. China accepts the investigation and calls for an end to the politicization of this issue. 

The COVID-19 pandemic has killed 260,546 people and has infected more than 3.7 million worldwide since December, according to an AFP (French news agency) report.

Brazil had a new daily record of deaths since the beginning of the pandemic. Despite this, President Jair Bolsonaro says there are signs that “the worst is over”. 

The death toll in Africa has exceeded 2,000, with more than 51,000 cases of the disease reported in 53 countries.

In Spain, the number of fatalities rose from 25,857 to 26,070 from yesterday to today, a slight decrease compared to the previous day, while the number of infected people increased to 221,447. 

Germany recorded 1,284 new diagnosed cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, the highest number in the past five days.

Russia announced the highest number of infections in a single day, with 11,231 infections in the last 24 hours and 88 deaths.

 

MEDICAL PROGRESS

A group of Italian scientists says they have developed a vaccine that can neutralize the new coronavirus in human cells.

The new coronavirus underwent 150 mutations before reaching Portugal. The discovery was made by Ricardo Jorge Institute, which is developing a pilot project to investigate the virus to try to understand how it develops and whether there are more aggressive strains.

On the other hand, Scottish scientists have denied that there are several strains of the new coronavirus in circulation. 

Dry cough, fever, and generalized weakness are, according to WHO, the most common symptoms of COVID-19. In Portugal, the third most reported symptom is muscle pain, but there are others less common, which are being identified in several studies.

A team of Portuguese scientists investigating viruses with effects on the central nervous system has been authorized by the European Commission to include SARS-CoV-2 in its work, which also affects the brain and can cause neurological damage.

 

ECONOMIC IMPACT

The Government wants to approve the Stability Program today at the Minister’s Council meeting. The National Reform Program is also expected to be debated.

The effects of the pandemic on the labour market already seem to be being felt. The employed population decreased by 0.9% and the inactive population rose by 1.9% compared to the end of last year, the biggest quarterly increase since 2011. 

According to Banco de Portugal, the monthly income of families in Portugal has an average reduction of 5,3%.

The Portuguese Parliament is going to pass today a bill that allows the payment of lay-off subsidies to managing partners of micro and small companies with more than one worker, but the Government says that the expense with this payment extension violates the Constitution.

Companies that want to use the “COVID-19 credit lines” struggle with “red tape” and complain that banks are offering just common credits.

Banks are required, as of today, to disclose and provide information on mortgage and consumer credit default. 

The fund fed by the European Investment Fund and the Fund of Funds for Internationalization will start and intends to mobilize 300 million euros to finance Portuguese SMEs.  

Merchants who do not open their doors will lose access to the lay-off benefits, warns the Portuguese Guild of Certified Accountants.

In Europe, the British economy is expected to shrink 14% in 2020 due to the economic effects of the pandemic, and German industrial production fell 9.2% in March compared to the previous month due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

US President Donald Trump considered the current crisis of the new coronavirus to be “worse than Pearl Harbor” and 9/11.

China’s foreign trade fell 0.7% in April, compared to the same month last year.

 

FINANCIAL MARKETS 

The Portuguese stock exchange opened on the green, in line with its European peers, with the Portuguese Stock Index PSI-20 registering an increase of less than 0.2%.

Interest rates on euro countries’ debt are rising. 

Market rates are rising for virtually all sovereigns after the European Commission submitted its spring forecast.