Lockdown Easing

A Cautious Re-openning

While Portugal has not seen the anti-lockdown protests some other European countries have experienced, the Portuguese are clearly tired of confinement.

January Lockdown

On 15 January, Portugal’s more recent lockdown took effect. It was originally announced as possibly lasting only two weeks, but few believed that. In general, it followed the same guidelines that had been in effect during the early stages of the pandemic. Schools, which were to remain open, closed shortly thereafter. It then became clear that confinement would continue for all of February. And then, they started suggesting it would extend into March. As an American, it seemed more severe than what we had experienced in California;

• You were not permitted to leave your council area on weekends and 1 pm curfews remained in effect.

• While you were permitted to pass through parks for exercise, you were not permitted to sit on a park bench.

• You were even asked to carry proof of address when you went for a walk. Denise was stopped by a policeman one day and asked her address. She didn’t have a document, but he believed her when she said she was a Cascais resident.

February: More Restrictions

In February, Portugal instituted additional border controls and canceled flights from countries that had new variants. Some European countries also banned flights from Portugal. Even the promenade that runs along the beach between Cascais and Estoril was closed. While the news was bleak, it seemed that the Portuguese people were generally following the rules. Few people were on the street, and most of the people we observed were masked. (Note: 100% were masked in stores as security, stationed at the doors, would not permit entry otherwise.)

As numbers (new cases, hospitalizations, ICU beds, and deaths) began to fall, calls to re-open began to surface. The pace of Portugal’s vaccine rollout was criticized and queue jumping scandals emerged. Yet, the President held firm. In a televised address, he said planning for the future was essential. But rushing to reopen because of recent numbers would be as foolish as it was tempting.

March: Slow Opening

Earlier this month, a reopening plan was announced. The major components of confinement will remain in effect until 5 April. For example, golf courses remain closed until April. (On the upside, 4 months without golf provides a great excuse for a poor round when we are able to play again.) Certain restrictions, however, were eased last Monday (15 March). Elementary school children returned to school. I got my hair cut. (Thank Goodness.) Certain businesses (car dealerships, realtors, and books stores) along with at-door pickup of online sales were permitted. The promenade re-opened earlier this month, as did the beaches. (As someone who heated their southern California pool to 85 degrees Fahrenheit, I shivered as I watched some beach-goers wade into the frigid Atlantic waters 58F/14.7C.)

At the same time, the country outlined metrics that will be tracked as deconfinement continues. Should the country backtrack on these metrics (e.g. incidence rate or RT rate) the country will tap the brakes. This seems sensible and in keeping with how some US states have recently handled deconfinement. What is markedly different is the rate at which people are being vaccinated.

E.U. Challenges

As I write this, Portugal has administered roughly 1.2 million doses of vaccine, but only 350,000 people have received both doses. In part, Portugal is being constrained by supply…as are other E.U. nations. While some countries (the US and Isreal) aggressively contracted with manufacturers for vaccines, the E.U. took time to work out process issues like distribution and attempted to negotiate its price. The E.U. temporarily suspended the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine over concerns related to blood clot risks. While the J&J vaccine has been approved, it has not yet been distributed. All of these factors have caused Portugal to consider the use of the Russian Sputnik vaccine or extending weeks between first and second doses.

Future Possibilities

Recently, Portuguese scientists announced that they may have found a way of ‘domesticating’ the SARS-CoV-2 virus – transforming it “from a wolf to a dog”. Their research focuses on limiting the severity of the disease as well as limiting its replication rate. While this research offers hope, particularly as new variants emerge, its reality is a bit off in the future. First, the “discovery” would need to be patented. Then a pharmaceutical company would need to take the medication through the clinical trial, manufacturing, and distribution processes.

Since at least 10% of the Portuguese economy relies on tourism, we are keeping our fingers crossed. The E.U. is working to implement a ‘digital green pass’, a Covid passport for lack of a better description. Meanwhile, Portuguese tourism representatives began suggesting on BBC outlets that Portugal would be open to tourism as early as May.

We hope they are correct. We long to visit Porto in the summer. Frankly, we’ll be giddy just spending a day in Lisbon! And, of course, we hope that soon our vaccinated friends and family can safely plan trips to visit us and Portugal’s many treasures.