14/05/2021
The following News from afpop was sent today to our Members:
Included in this briefing:
1. Stage 4 continues to 30th May
2. Teletrabalho – office visits
3. What opens today?
4. Who stays behind?
5. Vaccinations for 55s and over
6. Beaches
7. Flights to Portugal
8. UK Citizens Residency
9. Reopen Europe website
10. Vilamoura Boat Show - Golf
11. The islands
12. Covid across Portugal
I hope you are all well and keeping safe.
The government’s now weekly assessment has been made and the State of Calamity is to continue until 23h59 on 30th of May. Weekly assessments will continue, as the government appraises the changes to infection rates, but almost all of the country is now in ‘Stage 4 deconfinement’, with some exceptions which I’ve highlighted below as usual.
I remind you again of the president, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa’s, warning, that “the virus has not disappeared, the pandemic is not over and we must do everything to avoid a setback.” He asked us all to use “common sense, prudence, precaution and discipline in the 4th phase of Desconfinamento”.
Office visits:
Sadly, the expected news about the end of ‘teletrabalho’ wasn’t mentioned, so the afpop office will remain closed to visitors for a further week, which I hope will be the last week that Members will not be able to visit the office in Portimão.
A reminder of what is open from the today.
Additionally to the opening of shops, restaurants, café, gyms etc
• All sports and outdoor activities are permitted
• Water parks may now open, observing guidelines from DGS
• Children’s amusement parks, again with DGS guidelines
• Mobile amusement equipment may again be used, within DGS guidelines
Who doesn’t join the rest of the country?
The level 2 rules of April 19, apply to the municipalities of Arganil and Lamego
The level 3 rules of April 5, apply to the municipality of Resende and the parish of São Teotónio, in the municipality of Odemira. (The remainder of Odemira concelho joins the Stage 4 deconfinement.)
More information can be found on: https://covid19estamoson.gov.pt/
Vaccinations for over 55s:
The vaccine programme has already rolled down to those over 60 and now goes further, to include those 55 years of age and over. Those people can now make an appointment themselves via the Health Ministry website on the link https://covid19.min-saude.pt/pedido-de-agendamento/. Enter your date of birth, click ‘Validar’ and follow the instructions on the subsequent pages, where you also choose the date. The health service will then contact you by SMS to inform you of the time for your vaccination. You might not get a response within 72 hours, so please be patient and do not try to apply again otherwise you can cause the system to crash.
Remember, vaccinations can also now be booked at Espaços de Cidadão, for those who are not comfortable with booking on-line or who have any difficulty with the on-line system.
Beaches: You may have seen in the press that there are “new rules” for the beaches, but essentially these are the same rules that were put into force last year, with some tweaks. The main difference perhaps, is that while last year the Maritime Police had the role of assisting and informing people who were transgressing, this year they can issue fines to those who do not comply with the rules, such as a distance of 1.5 meters between people, whether when accessing the beach or between towels. The minimum distance between groups is 3 metres. Wearing masks will be required when accessing the beach, restaurants and changing rooms during the bathing season. Also remember that sports/games with two or more people are prohibited.
The traffic light system at the accesses to beaches will be maintained, but the respective capacities will be adjusted to 50% of the limit the traffic light will be green; between 50% and 90% yellow and for over 90% it will be red and therefore access to the beach forbidden.
Flights to Portugal:
The situation on flights appears to remain unchanged and still at the moment for countries outside the EU/Schengen areas, a trip to Portugal must be for a genuine reason, one of which is for foreign residents to return to their homes in Portugal. A negative Covid test taken with 72 hours of boarding must be produced.
Those visiting Portugal from countries who are obliged to comply with the 14-day mandatory isolation in Portugal must register with SEF - Foreigners and Borders Service before entering the country at https://travel.sef.pt where they can select how they are entering the country and complete the appropriate form. (This is currently Brazil, Croatia, Cyprus, France, India, Lithuania, Netherlands, South Africa and Sweden).
For British Members you can see the UK travel advice on: https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/portugal
Members from other countries here: https://www.visitportugal.com/en/content/covid-19-measures-implemented-portugal
UK Citizens Residency:
The SEF ‘Brexit’ Portal for UK nationals has been updated with information on how to
obtain a Residency Certificate if you arrived in Portugal before 31st of December 2020, and
were unable to register for Residency. You can now request the Residency Certificate (Certificado de Residência) by emailing [email protected]
You must include following in the email: Name, telephone number, NIF. You must attach copies of your passport, proof of address and evidence that you were living in Portugal before 31st of December 2020 (which could be for instance travel tickets, rental contract, bank statements etc.)
If you have any queries, you can also contact the SEF Brexit helpline on +351 21 711 50 45.
Reopen Europe:
As Europe begins to reopen, the restrictions in force will vary from country to country. In this link: https://reopen.europa.eu/en/ you can find information on each country for those who will be travelling across the continent, including quarantine and testing requirements.
Vilamoura Boat Show - Golf:
The Golf Tournament that is being held on June 5th at the Dom Pedro Old Course is now open for bookings on the website https://golf.easyrentall.pt/torneios/
Information about the Boat Show itself is available at www.vilamouraboatshow.fil.pt, which is in Portuguese but does translate to other languages when using Google. Anyone who might wish to be an exhibitor at the event can still register and you should contact Paulo Jorge, whose details are also included on the website.
The islands: The links below will take you to the Covid pages for the islands.
Madeira: https://www.madeira.gov.pt/Covid19/DecisoesExcecionaisCovid19
Azores: https://portal.azores.gov.pt/en/web/comunicacao/news-detail?id=2621765
Covid across Portugal:
In this link https://covid19.min-saude.pt/relatorio-de-situacao/ you can see the current infection situation in Portugal. The website is in Portuguese and you can select the latest report each time it is updated by the government. In this link https://covid19.min-saude.pt/relatorio-de-vacinacao/ you can find the current status of the vaccination programme in Portugal
