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On Thursday, Graça Freitas said Portugal was “quite likely to be in the sixth wave” of Covid-19 not only “because of the volume of cases”, but also because of the specific proportions of the micron variant. The Director-General of Health also confirmed the estimate that there will be about 60,000 cases within 24 hours in the next two weeks and more than 50 deaths per day.
In an interview with Journal das 8 on TVI, Graça Freitas noted that BA.5’s underlining has two downsides: the first is that it “transfers very easily”; The second is that this underline has “the ability to evade the immune system”. This last feature Makes re-infection more likely, pointing to. On the other hand, the Director General of Health stated that underlining results in a less severe disease.
Assuming Portugal is “above the threshold” of deaths, Graça Freitas noted that the country has reached the target of 20 cases in 14 days per million inhabitants.but the new underline changed the image.
With regard to vaccination, the Director-General of Health considers that currently available vaccines “capable of preventing serious diseases”, citing studies by the Ricardo Jorge National Institute of Health (INSA) that prove this theory. In addition, he refused to generalize the second booster dose (or the fourth dose) to the general population. “We’ve already done a mass vaccination that has gone very well.”
Leading that 20% of eligible households have already vaccinated the resident population, Graça Freitas revealed that the vaccination process will “intensify in the coming weeks”.
Regarding individual care, Graça Freitas has ruled out mandatory use of a mask, but recommends that residents use it “in closed environments”. “I think the recommendation is sufficient at this point,” he said.
