Portugal extends state of emergency amid record daily COVID cases reuters.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from reuters.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
12:26 AM MYT LISBON, Jan. 6 (Xinhua) Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa is in self-isolation after having been in contact with a civil servant who tested positive for the coronavirus, the presidency announced on Wednesday. According to information released on the presidency s website, the president had contact last Monday with a member of his staff whose positive result for SARS-CoV-2 was known this morning. A negative result for the president was expected since his contact with the infected individual was very brief, very short and with a mask, a source told the Portuguese news agency Lusa. The president is running for re-election in the presidential poll on Jan. 24, and has expressed a desire to participate in the presidential debate scheduled for Wednesday, which must occur by electronic transmission.
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Portugal s president self-isolating after contact with COVID-19 case
FILE PHOTO: Portugal s President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa addresses the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, France, June 26, 2019. REUTERS/Vincent Kessler
06 Jan 2021 09:54PM (Updated:
06 Jan 2021 10:55PM) Share this content
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LISBON: Portugal s President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa said on Wednesday (Jan 6) he would self-isolate after being in contact with someone who tested positive for the novel coronavirus.
The 72-year-old is campaigning to win a second term as the country s president in an election on Jan 24. He has several presidential debates scheduled before then.
Portugal President Rebelo de Sousa Is Isolating Over Covid Concerns
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(Bloomberg) Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa has gone into quarantine after he was in contact on Monday with a member of his office who has since then tested positive for the coronavirus, according to a statement posted on the presidency’s website.
Portugal on Wednesday reported the biggest daily increase in confirmed virus cases since the start of the outbreak. There were 10,027 new cases in a day, more than the previous record of 7,627 announced on Thursday, taking the total to 446,606.
The president has proposed extending a state of emergency until Jan. 15 as Prime Minister Antonio Costa’s government tries to contain the pandemic.
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File photo: A nurse prepares a dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine on December 27, 2020, at Santa Maria Hospital in Lisbon. PATRICIA DE MELO MOREIRA / AFP
Portugal’s government acknowledged Wednesday that hospitals were under “strong pressure” from the coronavirus, as health authorities reported a record 10,000 new cases in 24 hours in the country of 10 million people.
Meanwhile, the country’s conservative President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa entered isolation less than three weeks ahead of his reelection bid on January 24, his office said, after he had come into contact with an infected person.
His office said in a statement that he was isolating as a precaution “until the health authorities decide what measures to take following a risk assessment”.