PORTUGAL: The CoViD-19 Pandemic Crisis Response

Abstract

The first two positive cases of COVID-19 in Portugal were recorded on March 2, 2020, with the first death to be recorded two weeks later, on March 16. At the same time, WHO announced that Europe had become the epicenter of the pandemic, with more cases and deaths than the rest of the world (with the exception of China). A national response began in those early days. Travel to Italy was suspended on March 9 and, on March 18, the Government adopted more restrictive measures, declaring a state of emergency and the first confinement of the population. With the national state of emergency, it was verified a suspension of citizens’ rights so that measures to protect public health could be implemented. Some measures were the confinement of people in the household, the establishment of sanitary fences, and the closure of commercial establishments and educational institutions, among others. In the first month of the pandemic in Portugal, on March 31, 2020, Portugal recorded 7.443 confirmed cases and 160 deaths.