During his press conference regarding new Covid 19 restrictions during Christmas and the New Year, the President of Madeira confirmed that “the pandemic is now controlled because we have all the connections and the entire circuit of local transmissions. We do not want community transmission and that is what we have to avoid in Madeira.”
Asked if it would not be more effective to carry out massive testing of the population, as has happened in Asian countries, the President of the Madeiran Executive replied: “In Madeira, we have performed a large number of tests, in fact twice the national average. We have tested those at risk and continue to test in all the right places (airports, ports) and we have, at this moment, a set of effective procedures in place.”
Furthermore, the epidemiological situation in Madeira “is in no way comparable to that in Portugal. Providing we adhere to the rules and observe social distancing and mandatory mask wearing we will be able to avoid compulsory confinement. In fact we must avoid compulsory confinement in order to strengthen Madeira’s economy for the benefit of the island’s citizens. As such I see no reason to confine or limit people’s movement between municipalities.”
In order to clear up any confusion the Prime Minister of Portugal, António Costa, has confirmed that the confinement rules, including curfews and travel restrictions currently in place in Portugal, do not extend to Madeira or the Azores.
Samantha Gannon
info at madeira-weekly.com
