COVID-19 | Daily Update

Wednesday, May 29th | COVID-19 Daily Update

CURRENT OUTLOOK

In Portugal, over the last 24 hours, there were 14 more deaths and 350 new people infected with COVID-19, according to the Portuguese General Directorate of Health (DGS) epidemiological bulletin. 

The data revealed shows that the number of fatalities went from 1,369 to 1,383 (+1.02%), while confirmed cases increased from 31,596 to 31,946 (+1.19%). 

The number of recovered cases increased by 274 to a total of 18,911 (+1.47%).

 

PANDEMIC IN PORTUGAL

Today, the Ministers’ Council meets to define the measures of the second phase of deconfinement and make decisions regarding the third phase. 

However, the Government is considering postponing the full opening of shopping malls in the region of Lisbon and Tagus Valley, which was scheduled for Monday, due to the evolution of the pandemic in the region.

Yesterday there was a fatal victim related to the new coronavirus aged between 30 and 39 years old, in Portugal. Graça Freitas, general-director of Health, clarified during the daily press conference, that the woman was a cancer patient with a terminal illness.

The use of the drug hydroxychloroquine in patients with COVID-19 was suspended after a joint recommendation by Infarmed and DGS, issued yesterday. 

Also yesterday, the Minister of Health defended in the Parliament that the responses to the crisis generated by the pandemic of COVID-19 must go beyond fighting infection and must also have a social dimension. 

In the Lisbon area, which continues to show the greatest increase in the number of infected people in Portugal, recovered patients who remain hospitalized are causing the Hospital Beatriz Ângelo, in Loures municipality to be unable to receive new inpatients, warned the director of the hospital’s neurology service. 

The Clinical Pathology Laboratory of Centro Hospitalar do Médio Tejo achieved technological autonomy in carrying out tests on COVID-19, with the capacity to process 1,500 tests per day and deliver results in a few hours.

 

PANDEMIC IN EUROPE AND THE WORLD

In the last 24 hours, 67 more fatalities related to the new coronavirus have been recorded in France. In the last few days, the number of daily deaths has been less than a hundred, and, in total, 28,662 people have died in the country. 

Germany currently has 180,458 diagnosed cases, an increase of 741 in the last 24 hours. German virologist Christian Drosten considered that a second aggressive wave could be avoided.

In Russia, to the 636 deaths recorded in April by COVID-19 and previously reported, the Moscow Department of Health added 756 more people who tested positive but ended up dying from other causes.

On the other side of the Atlantic, the USA recorded 1,297 deaths in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of deaths in the country to 101,573 since the beginning of the epidemic.

In Brazil, for the third consecutive day, more than a thousand deaths were registered in 24 hours.

Guinea-Bissau’s health system could collapse due to the pandemic of the new coronavirus, which has already infected almost 1,200 people in the country and caused eight fatalities, warns the United Nations. 

On the African continent, the death toll has risen to 3,790 in the last 24 hours, 94 more, taking the toll to over 129,000 cases of infection in 54 countries.

The new coronavirus pandemic has killed 357,311 people and has infected more than 5.7 million worldwide since December, according to the latest AFP (French news agency) report.

 

ECONOMIC IMPACT

The Portuguese economy fell 2.3% in the first quarter in year-on-year terms and 3.8% compared to the previous three months as a result of COVID-19, slightly less than initially estimated, INE (Portuguese Statistics Bureau) reported today. 

The inflation rate in Portugal entered even more negative territory in May, with consumer prices falling 0.7% compared to the same month last year. 

In Europe, according to Eurostat (European Statistics Bureau), inflation in May was set at 0.1%, below the April mark.

Parliament approved yesterday a final text that extends support in the scope of the lay-off to the managing partners of micro and small companies affected by the pandemic, regardless of their business volume.  

The Government says that 470 million euros have already been paid to companies with lay-off workers. The figures were advanced yesterday by the Minister of Labor, in the Parliament, who also said that the measure protected 800 thousand jobs. 

From Monday there will be new rules for remote work.

An order determining the times to cross the border between Portugal and Spain, in the localities of Rio de Onor, Tourém, and Barrancos, following the pandemic, was published in “Diário da República”, and signals the first opening to the circulation between Portugal and Spain. 

There is a long way to go before the 750 billion euro “bazooka” can be equipped to help to restore the European economy. 

The measure, announced by European Commission (EC) President Ursula von der Leyen, has yet to pass the scrutiny of two other Community bodies, the Council and the Parliament before it can enter into force. On the other hand, Brussels wants the public-private instrument to support companies in force this summer. 

The French President called for the need to give a “collective response” to the economic crisis triggered by the new coronavirus and to show solidarity with the countries of Africa. 

In the United States, unemployment applications have surpassed 40 million since mid-March. These figures are above all historical records.

 

FINANCIAL MARKETS

The main European exchanges opened going down today, after seven sessions on the rise. 

In Lisbon, this morning, the Portuguese Stock Index PSI-20 was down 0.81% and the EuroStoxx 600 was down 0.94%.  

The London, Paris, and Frankfurt stock exchanges fell 0.68%, 1.25%, and 1.22%, respectively, as well as those in Madrid and Milan, which fell 0.75% and 0.45%.

The Brent barrel, for delivery in July, also opened lower, at $ 35 on London’s Intercontinental Exchange Futures, against $ 35.29 yesterday.