COVID-19 | Daily Update

Wednesday, May 30th | COVID-19 Daily Update

CURRENT OUTLOOK

The Portuguese General Directorate of Health (DGS) announced today that in the last 24 hours there have been another 13 deaths and 257 new cases of COVID-19 infection in Portugal.  

According to the epidemiological bulletin, the number of fatalities rose from 1,383 to 1,396 (+0.94%), while confirmed cases increased from 31,946 to 32,203 (+0.81).  

The number of recovered people increased to 19,186, 275 more than yesterday (+1.45%).

 

PANDEMIC IN PORTUGAL 

The third phase of the deconfinement plan was presented yesterday by the Prime Minister. 

The increase in cases in Lisbon will cause the easing of restrictions to be delayed in the region.  

The head of the DGS, Graça Freitas, was concerned with the behaviour of young people, as they are the pattern of the new contagions in the Greater Lisbon area.

António Costa confirmed the strategy of a progressive return of people to office buildings. DGS can impose teleworking if there are no safety conditions.

The NHS was reinforced with about 3,000 professionals, including 125 medical doctors and more than 900 nurses, due to the pandemic, the Secretary of State for Health revealed yesterday. 

DGS has developed guidelines for leisure, physical activity, and sports spaces, within the scope of the COVID-19 pandemic prevention measures. 

About 45% of respondents in a DGS study said they had changed eating habits during the confinement period, with almost 42% admitting it was for the worse, and more than half had decreased physical activity.

A study, carried out at the pediatric hospital Dona Estefânia, reveals that the pandemic has aggravated the stress of pregnant women. Due to the increase in cases of depression and anxiety, researchers call for increased attention to these cases and more responses in the area of mental health.

 

PANDEMIC IN EUROPE AND THE WORLD 

Donald Trump has announced that the U.S. will cut off relations with the World Health Organization (WHO), accusing it of being controlled by the Chinese government. 

The American President demanded responses to the pandemic from Xi Jinping government.  

The Russian authorities questioned this decision, considering that it undermines cooperation relations in health at a critical time. 

Washington’s announcement is a “serious setback for global health”, warned the German health minister, arguing that the European Union now needs to “commit more” financially towards WHO. 

In the past 24 hours, more than 1,200 people have died in the USA, victims of COVID-19, making a total of 102,000 deaths since the pandemic began.  

Brazil recorded the highest daily increase in deaths and became the fifth country in the world with the highest number of fatalities. More than 1,100 people died and almost 30,000 new cases of infection were registered across the country.

The African continent recorded 132 deaths from the coronavirus from yesterday to today and has a total of 135,292 infected. In the 54 countries analyzed, 56,416 patients, recovered, 3,002 more than the previous day.

Francisco Pavão, a public health specialist, considered that the state of emergency in Angola had a “very negative impact” on primary health care and maternal and child care, admitting higher mortality in “non-COVID-19 diseases”.

South Korea has recorded 39 cases of the disease in the past 24 hours, most of them in the densely populated area of Seoul, where authorities have identified numerous infections associated with warehouse workers. At least 12 of the new cases are related to international arrivals.

 

MEDICAL PROGRESS 

A group of 37 countries, including Portugal, has joined a platform launched yesterday by the WHO to guarantee open access to scientific research data, clinical trial results, and the intellectual property of technology developed to diagnose, prevent and treat COVID-19. 

Chinese scientists, who are testing a possible vaccine, are confident that it is 99% effective. CoronaVac is still in phase 2 of the tests and phase 3 should have the collaboration of European countries because China now has few cases.

 

ECONOMIC IMPACT

INE (Portuguese Statistics Bureau) confirmed yesterday that GDP fell 2.3% in the first quarter, in what is the worst record of the last seven years, but highlights that investment in aeroplanes, the financial sector, and construction have reinforced value, in a counter cycle, dampening the recession. 

The deconfinement of the economy is being done gradually and slowly. The Portuguese continue practising social distance. António Costa guaranteed that the “risk of contamination” by COVID-19 in public transport “is controlled”. 

The Prime Minister also assured that in mainland Portugal there will be no quarantine rules for those coming from outside the country, and said he was calm and “unhurried” about the reopening of the land border with Spain. 

The President of the Republic considers that EU support to minimize the effects of COVID-19 “helps a lot”, but “the money from Brussels is not enough”, “the economy needs to start”, defended the head of state.  

The president of the Eurogroup, Mário Centeno, said that the measures of the European response to the crisis are “a leap in integration” of the EU, considering that “it is much easier to make progress in times of crisis”.

The Spanish Government approved the Minimum Vital Income to support families affected by COVID-19. The measure will cover 850,000 vulnerable families.

 

FINANCIAL MARKETS

The Portuguese Stock Index PSI-20 ended yesterday with a decrease of 1.14%, following the negative trend of European stock exchanges. In the rest of Europe, London lost 2.29%, Madrid 1.77%, Frankfurt 1.65%, and Paris 1.59%. 

On the other side of the Atlantic, Wall Street was negotiating under pressure from fears of US-China tensions but eventually recovered. 

The Dow Jones closed down 0.07%. Standard & Poor’s 500 advanced 0.48% and Nasdaq Composite added 1.29%.