EMERGENCY DEPARTMENTS at hospitals in Beja and Faro have been inundated with patients due to the high temperatures experienced in recent days, confirms the Direcção Geral a Sáude (DGS), the department for public health.
Weather stations in the districts of Faro, Guarda, Portalegre, Beja and Évora have been registering heat wave conditions, but, for now, no information points to there being a higher mortality rate due to the high temperatures, according to the deputy director at the DGS, José Robalo.
Robalo said that weather stations in these districts registered “maximum daily temperatures, which were five degrees higher than the average temperature for this time of year, based on records going back 30 years.” The situation continued for six consecutive days last week, signifying a heat wave situation.
However, José Robalo explained that the increase in demand for assistance at emergency units had still not exceeded the normal figures for the summer season. According to the Instituto de Meterologia (IM), the Meteorological Institute, temperatures are expected to return to normal from now onwards, in line with the normal levels for September.
