COVID-19 | Daily Update

Wednesday, May 6th | COVID-19 Daily Update

CURRENT OUTLOOK 

The number of recovered patients from COVID-19 in Portugal is now almost the double of deceased ones.

Since yesterday, it has increased by 19.1%. There are now 2,076 persons who left the hospitals since the beginning of the pandemic.

The vast majority of the patients are being treated at home.

The Portuguese General Directorate of Health (DGS) announced today that in the last 24 hours there have been 15 more deaths and 480 new cases of COVID-19 infection in Portugal. 

According to the daily epidemiological bulletin, the number of fatalities rose from 1,074 to 1,089 (+1.40), while the confirmed cases increased from 25,702 to 26,182 (+1.9%). 

 

PANDEMIC IN PORTUGAL 

Yesterday was recorded the first casualty of COVID-19 under 40 in Portugal, a 29-year-old businessman from Bangladesh. 

According to the weekly barometer of the National School of Public Health, Portugal would have recorded more deaths and more hospitalizations between April 1st. and April 15th. if there were no measures to contain and mitigate it. 

Three Portuguese hospitals have already been authorized to use the still-experimental drug – Remdesivir – in the recovery of critically ill patients, to which the United States has been granting an “emergency authorization” for days. 

The Ministry of Health will release a report with “procedures drawn up by direct agreement” to combat the pandemic, with the reasons that justified them. 

A Portuguese company specializing in gifts, embroidery and uniforms sold, by direct agreement, 14.6 million euros in protective material in just six weeks. 

The purchase of equipment to measure the body temperature also skyrocketed, with most of the material coming from China. 

The Secretary of State for Health reports that since the beginning of the pandemic, more than 2,300 health professionals have been hired to support the NHS, a number that the Medical Association considers insufficient since there are doctors without time off and no vacation.

This entity also points out a serious lack of support and protection material in the fight against the pandemic of COVID-19 in the NHS. 

The Portuguese Guild of Medical Doctors also warns of the need for the Government to speed up the process of purchasing vaccines against seasonal flu, in the context of an eventual second wave of the new coronavirus.

 

PANDEMIC IN EUROPE AND THE WORLD

The pandemic has killed 254,532 people and has infected more than 3.6 million worldwide since December, according to the latest AFP (French news agency) balance sheet, based on official data from each country. 

European and American deaths account for 93% of the world total: 71% are concentrated in the USA, United Kingdom, Italy, Spain, and France.

Spain recorded 244 deaths in the last 24 hours, an increase that occurs after three consecutive days below 200.

Despite having recorded almost 1,000 new cases in the last 24 hours, Germany announced a new relaxation of restrictions. 

In the United Kingdom, the number of coronavirus victims has already exceeded the one in Italy, with more than 30 thousand deaths and the highest official number recorded in Europe. 

The US has reported 2,333 deaths in the past 24 hours.

The number of deaths in Africa rose to 1,843 yesterday, with more than 47,000 cases of the disease reported in 53 countries. 

Yesterday, the World Health Organization (WHO) argued that countries that have samples of patients suspected of having pneumonia by the end of 2019 should analyze them to identify possible cases of undiagnosed COVID-19.  

The organization also welcomed the use of traditional medicine, as long as it is clinically proven, to fight the disease, especially in Africa.

A total of 15 children, many of whom were previously infected with the new coronavirus, were recently hospitalized in New York with a syndrome that doctors still do not fully understand. 

The University of Singapore expects the “theoretical end” of the pandemic in December and that about 99% of cases of infection with the new coronavirus may already be registered globally in the next month of June.

 

MEDICAL PROGRESS 

The antiviral drug Remdesivir may be approved in Japan next Thursday to be administered to patients with severe COVID-19, the country’s health minister said.

In Portugal, researchers from the Faculty of Medicine of Porto are studying the implementation of a tool “based on personalized, fast and low-cost medicine”, to predict the evolution of COVID-19 infection in patients. 

The Champalimaud Foundation leads an international clinical research consortium whose aim is to better understand the nature of COVID-19 and to develop a treatment for the disease. 

In Braga, the INL – International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory has just seen approved the financing for two projects for rapid diagnosis of the disease.

The study on the immunity of the Portuguese to the virus will have the first results by the end of June.

 

ECONOMIC IMPACT

The European Commission says that the pandemic changed the direction of the “strong performance” that the Portuguese economy had until February. Brussels thus sees Portuguese GDP contracting 6.8% this year, with the “dependence” on foreign tourism weighing heavily.

Unemployment in Portugal is still expected to rise to 9.7%. In its spring economic projections for the Eurozone, the European Commission expects a recession of 7.7% and the unemployment rate to rise to 9.6%. 

The Government will expand support to partner-managers of companies, also including micro-enterprises with up to ten workers, and non-contributive workers.

Besides, a package of measures was created to leverage exports.

Chronically ill and immunocompromised patients who are unable to exercise their duties remotely will be able to justify absences from work with a medical declaration and in the first 30 days of that absence, they will not lose the right to their remuneration.

According to INE (Portuguese Statistics Bureau) and Banco de Portugal (Portuguese Banking Regulator), almost 60% of companies had their employees telecommuting in the last week of April. 

About 30% of Portuguese hotels and restaurants are considering bankruptcy.

The land borders between Portugal and Spain will remain closed after May 14th, announced the Portuguese Minister of Internal Affairs.

Retail sales shrank in the Eurozone in March in monthly terms, pressured by measures imposed by national governments to curb the spread of COVID-19, according to Eurostat.

It is estimated that in Europe the prices of airline tickets may increase by up to 50%.

On the other side of the Atlantic, the US President admitted that the reopening of the economy will lead to an increase in the number of deaths and infections, but that prolonged confinement is no longer sustainable.

 

FINANCIAL MARKETS

The Lisbon Stock Exchange returned today to negative ground, following the pessimism that marks the start of trading in Europe.

In the morning, the Portuguese Stock Index PSI-20 was down 0.39% to 4,206.47 points, with nine shares falling.

In Europe, the Stoxx 600, depreciated 0.08%, the French CAC lost 0.13%, the Spanish IBEX-35 fell 0.48% and the German devalued 0.17%. 

In the oil segment, Brent depreciated 0.03% while WTI lost 0.86%.