Renewal of the State of Emergency: new measures until February 14

29.01.2021

The Government has approved another set of measures that will be applied during the renewed State of Emergency, in force between midnight on 31 January and 11:59 p.m. on 14 February. The measures concern school activities, border control and the circulation of people and goods, and the hiring of health professionals.

The Council of Ministers has determined the following changes to existing measures:

School activities

  • suspension of school activities until 5 February, with non-face-to-face take-back from 8 February
  • the suspension of school activities does not apply to international curriculum tests or examinations
  • therapeutic support provided in schools, special education institutions and inclusion resource centres may be provided where necessary
  • Reception in learning support centres for students with additional measures should also be ensured.

Borders and movement of people and goods

  • limitation of travel by Portuguese citizens outside the mainland territory, by any means (with the exceptions provided for in decree no. 9-A/2021)
  • checks on the movement of persons and goods at land borders
  • the possibility of suspending flights and mandatory confinement of passengers on arrival in Portugal.

Hiring health professionals

  • possibility of hiring, on a fixed-term basis and for a period of one year, professionals in the areas of medicine and nursing with academic degrees obtained in foreign higher education institutions (as long as the requirements are met)
  • possibility of hiring doctors without full speciality, retired doctors and nurses, extra payment for overtime work and salary reinforcement for nurses and operational assistants with increased working hours.

These measures are supplementary and do not replace the previous ones.

See the initial confinement measures that came into force on 15 January.

From 20 January, measures to combat the pandemic of COVID-19 were reinforced.

New measures for public services and courts have been in force since 22 January.

Source: Portal Estamos On