2020 March •
March 2: The first two recorded cases of COVID-19 were confirmed in Portugal. •
March 12: The Portuguese government declared the highest level of alert because of
COVID-19 and said it would be maintained until 9 April.
Portugal entered a Mitigation Phase as Community
transmission was detected. •
March 18: The
President of the Republic,
Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, declared the entirety of the Portuguese territory in a
State of Emergency for the following fifteen days, with the possibility of renewal, the first since the
Carnation Revolution in 1974. •
March 24: The Portuguese Government admitted that the country could not contain the virus any longer. •
March 26: The country entered the
"Mitigation Stage". The health care sites dedicated to fighting the disease started including the Portugal
Health centres groups (
agrupamentos de centros de saúde, ACES).
April •
April 2: The
Parliament approved the extension of the State of Emergency, as requested by the President. The State of Emergency will remain until 17 April, subject to further extensions of similar duration. Under the new regulations, for the
Easter traditions, from 9 April (
Maundy Thursday) to 13 April (
Easter Monday) the
Portuguese Government decreed special measures in restricting people movements between
municipalities (
Portuguese:
municípios or concelhos) with very few exceptions, closing all airports to civil transportation and increased control in the national borders. •
April 30: The Portuguese Ministers' Council approved a plan to start releasing the country from the COVID-19 container measures and cancelling the State of Emergency.
May •
May 2: The State of Emergency was canceled. •
May 4: Portugal started the first phase in easing restrictions. Small street stores reopened (see
Response, Return to Normal section). •
May 18: Portugal entered the second phase in easing restrictions. Nurseries and the last two years of the secondary school reopened, along with restaurants, cafés, medium-sized street stores and some museums, all with mandatory usage of mask and distance rules.
September •
September 15: "state of alert" to nationwide "state of contingency". The decision is thought to prepare the country for the return of students and teachers for the new academic year, the return of workers into the workplace from months of work-from-home policies and for the possible surge of new cases due to the beginning of fall and winter. The following measures were adopted: :* Mandatory domiciliary or hospital confinement for people infected with COVID-19 or subject to active health surveillance. :* Prohibition of gatherings with more than 10 people. :* Prohibition of the consumption of alcoholic beverages in public areas. :* Prohibition of sales of alcoholic beverages in service areas and gas stations. :* General commercial establishments have to be closed at 8 p.m. :* Supermarkets can remain open until 10 p.m, however the sale of alcoholic beverages after 8 p.m is prohibited. :* Restaurants can remain open beyond 8 p.m for local consumption (both in the interior of the commercial establishment or on the outside, where permitted) and for take-away services and home delivery. :* Closing time for the following establishments were not fixed: gas stations (which can remain open 24 hours per day exclusively for the sale of fuel), pharmacies, funeral homes, sports establishments, clinics and medical establishments.
October •
October 14 : Government declares "state of calamity" due to surge in new cases.
2021 January •
January 15 : Government reinstates nationwide lockdown due to a surge in new cases. •
January 17 : Portugal registers the highest number of coronavirus cases in Europe per capita over the last seven days, according to Oxford University's ourworldindata.org. •
January 21 : Government declares closure of all schools, kindergartens and universities for at least 15 days. The decision was motivated by the increase in infections caused by the
UK SARS-CoV-2 variant. •
January 22: Catholic bishops decide to discontinue the public celebration of
Masses, Baptisms, Confirmations, marriages, and other pastoral activities, as of January 23. The Shrine of
Our Lady of Fátima has been negatively impacted by the pandemic measures. •
January 23: Portugal registers record number of daily cases (15,333) and the highest number of people in intensive care units (720) since the beginning of the pandemic. Death toll passes the 10,000 mark (10,194). •
January 26: Portugal registers record number of daily deaths (291).
March •
March 11 : The country launches its second time lockdown for a month. There are now a totaling 813,152 confirmed cases, 16,650 deaths since the pandemic broke out and 793,162 people have taken the vaccination.
April • Portugal is back to lockdown for the second time since 15 Jan 2021. • April 22, health authorities reported that the country has a total of 833,397 confirmed cases with 16,957 deaths.
November • November 29, it was announced 13 cases of the Omicron coronavirus variant were detected amongst players and staff of top division Lisbon soccer club
Belenenses SAD.
December • December 1, health authorities ordered all members of Portuguese soccer club
C.D. Tondela to go into isolation following a new surge in coronavirus cases in the country. == Response ==