Health minister Marta Temido has this afternoon ordered that all hospitals in the Lisbon area “concentrate human resources in ICUs (intensive care units).
Explain reports, her order is to take immediate effect and takes the capital’s hospital contingency plans to ‘maximum’.
In an email to the regional health administration of Lisbon and Vale do Tejo, Ms Temido has asked all hospitals “to guarantee allocation of human resources in the area of critical care” in order to maximise the capacity of intensive care response.
This afternoon’s news has been moving at an extraordinary pace – yet MPs are still debating in parliament whether or not to allow the State of Emergency to be extended by another seven days.
Considering exactly the same debate will almost certainly be needed in a week’s time, it’s just another ‘bizarre’ aspect of Portugal’s current day-to-day.
UPDATE:
As expected, the final voting in parliament – after some damning speeches from the left and centre-right – came out in favour of a renewed State of Emergency.
President Marcelo has since said the current “very worrying” epidemiological situation made a new State of Emergency “imperative”.
