Today, the 19th of January, one hundred firefighters from different municipal fire departments and members of the Portuguese Red Cross (CVP), who are responsible for transporting either positive or suspected Covid cases were called forward to receive their first Pfizer vaccination.
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The President of the Regional Government admitted today, that this week, the number of positive Covid-19 cases in Madeira will go up, but hopefully, starting from next week, there will be a decrease in the number of new cases.
From today, the 16th of January, the Regional Government is to assess the consequences caused by the end of year festivities, with regards to the escalating number of Covid cases in Madeira.
According to the 4th of January's Resolution nº 1/2021, all passengers who disembark at Porto Santo airport must present a negative PCR test, which has been carried out within the last 72 hours to the airport authorities.
So with numbers of Covid cases increasing daily, mostly due to the Christmas and New Year rule relaxations, it is now thought that the most optimistic deadline for when Madeira's population will be vaccinated against the virus is the end of 2022. But this could be very optimistic, as the second vaccine package will only arrive in February.
This evening, the first day of the new restrictive measures, the Public Security Police (PSP) were out monitoring traffic and ensuring that the new timings are adhered to. And as motorists desperately tried to get home before 19:00, traffic became congested during the busy streets of Funchal.
The Prime Minister of Portugal, António Costa, has categorically stated that there will be no restrictions on flights from the mainland to either Madeira or the Azores.
The Regional Government has made an official announcement concerning the restrictions that will apply from tomorrow, the 13th of January until the 31st of January and are listed below.
Today a rumpus was caused during a plenary debate in the Madeira Assembly concerning a proposal made by the PSD to transform an old abandoned school in São Jorge into a senior citizen home or a long term integrated inpatient unit which was deemed as not feasible and impractical.
Loja do Cidadão has announced that from tomorrow, Wednesday the 13th of January new opening hours will come into force, ensuring that the offices comply with the new health measures. As such, their services will operate from Monday to Friday between 08:30 - 17:30, and Saturday from 08:30 - 13:30.
The São Martinho Horticulture Supply Market (Funchal Agricultural Products Supply Centre), has announced that due to the new restrictions that they have revised their opening schedules.
Bus company Horários do Funchal has announced that it will increase its services between 16:00 and 19:00 hours on a daily basis, and reduce the number of journeys on any given route from 21:00 hours onwards.
Due to the increasing number of deaths and positive covid-19 cases, the President of the Regional Government, Miguel Albuquerque has introduced a new set of restrictions. These will remain in place until the 31st of January. The new restrictions are:-
As curfew hour drew gradually closer, many ignored the weather and safety warnings and drove up into the mountains to see the snow, while Funchal became a ghost town. https://www.facebook.com/100009450955174/videos/2908935056098164/ Samantha Gannon info at madeira-weekly.com Photo and videos courtesy of JM-Madeira
Diario de Noticias has just released a video of police patrols around Funchal, as the first of two weekend curfews starts tonight.