Tourism season is kicking off in Portugal, but Covid cases are rising too.
Covid-19 cases and deaths are rising quickly in Portugal’s popular tourist hotspots such as Porto, Lisbon, and the Algarve region.
On the back of two year’s cancellations and the pandemic, Portugal’s latest outbreak has made the country a hotspot of Covid-19 in Europe.
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According to stats from Our World in data, Portugal registered an average of 1,989 new cases per million people over the past seven days.
In comparison to the UK, that registered just 161.
More than 90 percent of the Portuguese population is vaccinated against the coronavirus
It’s reported that the Omicron sub-variant is behind the latest surge in Covid cases and over the past 7 days there has been over 112,339 cases recorded.
Portuguese health authorities say that the increase is likely due to the emergence of Omicron sub-variants, the tourist season, and live events created the perfect breeding ground for transmission of the virus.
In an interview with Al Jazeera, Hajo Zeeb, a professor of epidemiology at the University of Bremen in Germany discussed that there had been hope there would be no more waves, but that the hope had gone.
Mr Zeeb said: “The hope was that during the summer, we would have no more waves, no more coronavirus increases, so the hopes are somewhat diminished.”
In April, Portugal announced the decision to drop its mask mandate, but you still need to wear a mask in shops.
Scientists have warned that the subvariant BA.5, which represents nearly 90 percent of new Covid-19 infections in Portugal, is more contagious and could evade natural immunity from past infections.
Across the EU, health authorities have warned that a relaxed approach and the removal of Covid-19 measures during the summer months could give way to a difficult winter in terms of a new wave.
To enter Portugal tourists don’t need to be vaccinated if they provide a negative PCR result within 72 hours of departure or a health administered antigen test within 24 hours of departure.
For anyone who has had Covid-19, they need a valid recovery cert will also be permitted entry.
For up to date travel advice, you can check the Department of Foreign Affairs website.
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