The Municipal Councils of the Algarve will make themselves available for «whatever is necessary, in case there is a need for an auxiliary health network», in a meeting they will hold tomorrow with those responsible for the Regional Health Administration and the University Hospital Center of the Algarve .
Ao Sul Informação, António Miguel Pina, president of AMAL – Algarve Intermunicipal Community, revealed that the 16 mayors will meet this Saturday with those who are at the forefront of the fight against the new coronavirus pandemic «to understand what are the contingency plans in the Health area".
Along the way, the municipalities will put themselves at the service of the fight against Covid-19. “We are willing to help. Tell us what you need!”, said António Pina.
The AMAL president assured that the mayors “are united, vigilant and available to help. We will evaluate the measures weekly and take the necessary decisions, whether with regard to prevention or what might mean with regard to care».
On Wednesday, the mayors had already met with regional civil protection commanders. Yesterday, Thursday, there was an extraordinary meeting of AMAL, where it was decided that non-essential services would be closed in all municipalities, as well as reducing attendance as much as possible, among other measures.
Revealing that the Algarve's mayors feel that "the focus is really on social isolation" to contain the spread of the virus, António Pina said that the Councils decided to "close the services that are not essential and that if they were open they would promote the concentration of people. We are talking, for example, about the swimming pools, the library, the auditorium… in short, cultural and sports facilities».
In addition, «the face-to-face services that are not considered essential were closed, remaining in operation by telephone or email». With regard to essential services, a reduction to what is considered strictly necessary was decreed.
«In Olhão, for example, Balcão Único will reduce it to 50%. We consider that this is the documentation entry service and that the Clearinghouse cannot close 100%. If we had five posts, we were left with two. And then we favor contact by phone and by email», framed the also mayor of the Oyenne Chamber.
The remaining workers of this service will be allocated «to dematerialized care. On the other hand, other services, such as education, urbanism or social action, will be provided only by phone or email».
In a press release, AMAL revealed that several decisions were taken from yesterday's meeting, from the outset "to close and/or reduce technical assistance and face-to-face assistance to the public in municipal services, appealing to the community not to go to these services, not unless it is strictly indispensable, and dematerialized alternative forms will be created for this purpose (creation of email addresses / telephone numbers and, when possible, video calls)».
In addition to this measure and the closure of cultural and sporting facilities, the Algarve Councils also decided to suspend “cultural, sporting and other activities”, as well as “the operation of fairs and non-food markets”.
"In each of the councils, there will be complementary measures suitable for each of the municipal realities", added AMAL. These measures "will have immediate effects in all municipalities".
«These are exceptional measures, and AMAL is primarily concerned with the population of the Algarve, reinforcing the need for them to follow the recommendations issued by the General Directorate of Health, also appealing to common sense and that the Algarve community maintain serenity with regard to this matter», concluded the Algarve Intermunicipal Community.
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