Up To 350 Euros Fines For Those Who Do Not Wear A Mask In Public Transport - Announced By António Costa

Up To 350 Euros Fines For Those Who Do Not Wear A Mask In Public Transport - Announced By António Costa.

António Costa revealed this Thursday in an interview with RTP 1 that there will be fines for those who do not use masks in public transport. Although the use of a mask is mandatory also in schools, shops and in closed spaces with many people, only in public transport will fine be imposed.

"We have now established a timetable for what we think is possible, but for each restriction, we lift, the risk of contagion increases. We will reopen the neighbourhood stores, but we will have to wear a mask in public transport, in schools, in shops and in closed places with many people ", warned the prime minister.

Regarding the lifting of the state of emergency and the decree of the state of calamity, which starts this Sunday at 0.00, Costa says that the danger has not disappeared, but that Portugal has entered a new phase, in which it will have to live with the COVID-19. "It is not bearable to be permanently with the levels of restriction that we have had. We are going to move to a new phase, in which we will have to live with the virus. The virus is here and will continue here", he stressed.

The contagion index, the so-called R0, was taken into account in this situation, but it was not decisive for this change. "The rate of contagion is very sensitive. It was enough to have a contagion in a hostel to shoot. At this stage, it no longer made sense to prolong the state of emergency, but we went down a notch, to the state of calamity", he stressed.

António Costa refuses to apply a group immunity strategy because he argues that people should protect each other, although he admits that only contagion or vaccine can stop the virus from spreading. "There are only two ways to immunize the population: vaccine or contagion. No country has managed to carry out the group immunity strategy until the end. In Portugal, that strategy would not be understood. The strategy we have adopted is that we have to protect each other ", he stressed.

The government leader hopes that the Portuguese can go to the beach, but he confessed that this will be an issue where more problems will arise to solve.

Regarding the summer festivals, he sent a decision for next week, but added the "enormous probability" of not being held, because there are no scheduled places.

Regarding football, which he saw coming back at the end of the month, António Costa guaranteed that "there will be no public in the stadiums" and that he decided only to summarize the I League because "it is the competition that has the technical conditions for there to be testing and isolation to prevent problems of virus propagation in the group of professionals ".

The prime minister welcomed "the responsiveness of Portuguese companies", which are "reinventing themselves", but warned that the economic recovery will have to take place on a "European scale", with the support of Brussels. "Aid from Europe will be essential. We do not live on an isolated island, we are part of the European market. We have to reach the European Council in June with an economic recovery program", he predicted.

Source: Diário De Notícias