COVID-19 | Daily Update

Wednesday, April 8th | COVID-19 Daily Update

CURRENT OUTLOOK

The Portuguese General Directorate of Health (DGS) announced today 380 deaths and 13,141 infected with COVID-19 in Portugal. In the last 24 hours, the number of deaths has risen from 345 to 380, plus 35 (growth rate of 5.6%), while the number of infected has increased from 12,442 to 13,141, plus 699. The number of recovered cases has risen from 184 to 196.

PANDEMIC IN PORTUGAL

The President of the Republic and the Prime Minister participated yesterday in a technical session with epidemiologists, who found that Portugal is in the “plateau” of the COVID-19 curve, although any scenario of lifting restrictions has the risk of increasing the epidemic. Today, António Costa will meet with all political parties represented in the Parliament to discuss a possible reopening of schools in May.

The DGS yesterday issued guidelines for responding to nursing homes and units of Integrated and Continued Care networks, as well as for children who are sheltered in institutions during the pandemic mitigation phase.

PANDEMIC IN EUROPE AND THE WORLD

The United States recorded nearly 2,000 deaths from COVID-19 in the last 24 hours, the highest daily figure so far worldwide, according to Johns Hopkins University.

In Spain, 757 deaths were recorded in the last 24 hours, 14 more fatalities compared to the previous day, and 6,045 more cases.

Germany, on the other hand, recorded 4,003 new contagions, bringing the total number to 103,228, and accounted for 254 deaths in one day, reaching 1,861 victims.

WHO warned today that this is not yet the time to ease measures, and we need to keep restricting the movement of populations, stressing that the progress made against the pandemic is still too fragile.

The President of the European Research Council, Mario Ferrari, presented his resignation, for disagreeing with the EU response to COVID-19.

ECONOMIC IMPACT

The Eurogroup meeting to discuss Europe’s response to the coronavirus economic crisis will continue tomorrow after Eurozone finance ministers failed to reach an agreement. The European Central Bank, which has pledged to buy € 750 billion in assets in response to the COVID-19 crisis, is asking for twice as much stimulus.

The OECD released today its indicators for March, which point to the biggest monthly fall in the activity in most major world economies, already reflecting the impact of the pandemic.

For Portugal, the forecasts of several institutions for the economic recession, following the crisis, ranging from a decline in GDP of 0.8%, in the best scenario, to 20%, in the worst.

The Portuguese Government will create non-refundable support lines to fund science and support companies that redirect the means of production for the manufacture of equipment such as masks and ventilators.

The Ministry of Agriculture is negotiating with Brussels the use of land in a period of rest and awaits authorization to support the producers most affected by the crisis caused by the new coronavirus. The Minister of Agriculture was interviewed at SIC Notícias TV to explain some of the measures that are being implemented by the Executive.

INE (Portuguese Statistical Bureau), together with Banco de Portugal, will launch weekly surveys of companies to understand the impact that the pandemic is having on their business.

FINANCIAL MARKETS

The Portuguese Stock Index PSI-20 opened today’s session falling more than 0.70%, after gains in the last two days in the face of signs of a slowdown in the spread of the coronavirus, following the declines seen in Europe.

The European Stoxx 600 decreased 0.7%, while in the stock exchanges of Madrid, Paris, and Frankfurt the declines were between 0.6% and 1.1%.