Pressure to end Portugal’s lockdown measures increases

The pressure is on for an end to Portugal’s stringent lockdown measures. With PS Socialists insisting it is still too early to come up with any kind of ‘deconfinement plan’, President Marcelo is understood to be keen for one to be elaborated as minority parties and civil society are pushing for children under the age of 12 to be allowed back into schools and nursery care ASAP. There is also pressure to allow barbers and hairdressers to reopen. Yesterday’s meeting between the government and specialists at medicines authority Infarmed reiterated that the country needs to remain under lockdown until numbers in hospitals have drastically reduced. There are 627 people still in intensive care units. The consensus is that this number has to reduce by ‘at least two thirds’.