Health minister says “lockdown must be extended”
Portugal’s Health Minister said "the lockdown needs to be extended for a longer period" in order to reduce ICU bed occupancy to less than 200.
Health Minister Marta Temido opened the door to the possibility to extend the current lockdown for a longer period, even beyond February. However, she said the decision depends on the Council of Ministers.
“Although these [lockdown] measures are producing results, it is clear that the current lockdown needs to be extended for a longer period, covering the whole month of February, and then an evaluation will be made,” said the minister, after meeting with experts in the infarmed auditorium, which took place on Tuesday morning.
“It will be this level of lockdown that will allow us to have an ICU bed occupancy below 200 and incidence below 60 cases per 100,000 inhabitants,” Marta Temido explained.
However, in a speech transmitted by RTP3, the Minister assured that the lockdown is “producing results,” but stressed that “it is quite clear that the level of incidence is extremely high, although on a downward trend.”
