The prime minister said today that the minister of Health has "even strengthened political confidence" and added that the Government will favor the agreement and will only resort to the request of private hospitals if there is no other remedy.
These positions were transmitted by António Costa in an interview with Antena 1, hours before the Assembly of the Republic voted on the draft decree of the President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, for the validity of the state of emergency in Portugal between 9 and 23 of this month .
Questioned whether political confidence in Marta remains Feared in the current context of pressure on the National Health Service (SNS) in the face of the continuous increase in people hospitalized with Covid-19, António Costa replied: «I would definitely say [political confidence] until reinforced'.
“No health minister has yet been subjected to such a harsh test as the current one. I think the Minister of Health has given the answer that has strengthened people's confidence in the NHS», sustained the prime minister.
In the interview, António Costa was also confronted with criticism because his Government, at a difficult stage for the NHS, was not resorting to contracting with the private and social health sectors.
“If we reach an agreement (as we have been reaching) with many private hospitals so that we can have support, it will be excellent. If we have to order, what remedy will we have», said the leader of the executive, in an allusion to the fact that the decree of state of emergency provides for the use by public authorities of means and facilities of the private and social sectors.
Regarding the draft presidential decree for a state of emergency that will be voted on by the parliament today, António Costa reiterated the thesis that this diploma aims above all to “give legal certainty to situations that have existed and that have given rise to debates” on matters of respect or not by the Constitution of the Republic, namely with regard to limitations on circulation, temperature measurement, or the possibility of having support from civil servants “who are in isolation but who can support health operations”.
"But that does not mean that the measures [included in the draft state of emergency decree] have to all be adopted," he warned.
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