Algarve has one of lowest Covid-19 transmission rates on mainland Portugal

The Algarve has one of the lowest transmission rates (Rt) of Covid-19 in all mainland regions, despite the increase in new cases in recent days, the president of the Regional Health Administration (ARS) said on Monday.

At the fortnightly press conference of the District Civil Protection in Loulé, Paulo Morgado said that the Rt in the Algarve region is 1.07, which means that each infected person passes the infection to an average of 1.07 people.

“The Rt of Algarve is one of the lowest on the mainland,” he stressed, noting that the situation is relatively controlled in the region, even though there is a daily increase in new cases.

The regional health delegate from Faro, Ana Cristina Guerreiro, considered that the situation in the Algarve is comfortable, given the circumstances, namely the fact that there was a lot of mobility during the summer vacations.

According to her, mobility, activities and family reunions – especially with emigrants or people from other regions – are the factors that have contributed most to the increase in the number of cases.

Currently, the largest active outbreak in the Algarve is related to the senior soccer team of Louletano, detected at the end of August and which caused a total of 47 cases.

Regarding a balance of the number of cases detected during the summer in the Algarve, Ana Cristina Guerreiro said “Our cases in July and August were quite controlled,” she stressed, noting that one of the authorities’ concerns was an increase in cases for the possible transmission of the virus on beaches, which did not occur.

For the fall and winter season, ARS/Algarve is preparing a reinforcement of teams, with the hiring of doctors, nurses, diagnostic technicians and technical and operational assistants.

The Algarve has 10 new cases of infection by the new coronavirus and Portugal 613, according to the epidemiological bulletin of the Directorate-General of Health (DGS), with four more deaths, compared to Sunday.

The DGS said that three deaths were registered in the North region and one in the region of Lisboa e Vale do Tejo.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, Portugal has registered 1,871 deaths and 64,596 cases of infection.