The state of emergency in force in Portugal since 19 March to curb the coronavirus pandemic will come to an end next weekend, the head of state announced Tuesday, warning that the resumption of activity would take place "in stages".
The third 15-day state of emergency will end at midnight on Saturday 2 May and "we hope it will not be necessary to resort to it again in the future," President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa told the media.
On Thursday, Prime Minister Antonio Costa is due to unveil details the sectors that will be able to resume from next Monday.
During the long weekend starting on 1 May Portuguese citizens will only be able to leave their home towns and villages to carry out jobs that have been considered essential since the start of the confinement.
Portugal, where the first cases of contagion by the new coronavirus were detected later than in other European countries, such as neighbouring Spain, had nearly 1,000 deaths and just over 24,000 cases of Covid-19 disease on Tuesday.
The Brussels Times
