Portimão advances, as of this Tuesday, March 23, with a massive test of Covid-19. Any resident can register and take a free trial at drive thru, installed in Portimão Arena.
In a press release, the municipality explains that "it is not satisfied with the way the pandemic is evolving in the municipality", reinforcing "the measures with an immediate impact on the health security of the community".
This massive testing also comes at a time when, due to an outbreak detected in the civil construction sector, "screenings are being carried out at construction sites in Portimão".
O Sul Informação you know that this outbreak gave rise to what, in the last week, 56 more cases of Covid-19 have been confirmed, in Portimão, arising mainly from the 17th of March.
The local health authority, moreover, "has already advanced with the testing of all workers in this sector, with the support of the Authority for Working Conditions, the Municipal Civil Protection Service and the Fire Department of Portimão."
However, in a «more ambitious municipal strategy», the municipality also decided to proceed with massive testing of the population, in partnership with the structure of the Algarve Biomedical Center (ABC), which was installed in the drive thru from the Portimão Arena.
As of today, any resident will be able to register and take a free trial of Covid-19 by filling out the form available. here or by telephone contact with the “Proteção 24” line, through the number 808 282 112, which is available 24 hours a day, informing, if necessary, if you need a means of transport, in order to find a solution for the journey.
After individual submission, each user will receive an email confirming receipt of the data.
Before the «performing the respective antigen test, each person will receive another message confirming the location, date and time of the appointment», explains the Portimão Chamber.
In addition to this measure, and as a direct response to the current Covid-19 outbreak detected in civil construction companies operating in the region, identified by the screening actions carried out in the municipality of Portimão, the municipality continues to test all workers in this sector, covering the various construction sites active in the municipal territory.
In a joint effort between the Authority for Working Conditions, the Local Health Authority and the Municipal Civil Protection, since the 20th of March “all civil construction personnel in the municipality are being tested, in order to control and stop the currently existing outbreak, which was detected as soon as it emerged'.
According to the local authority, the outbreak "has increased in the face of events of a social nature, which are vehemently inadvisable at this time."
In this sense, «the multidisciplinary team to support public health, which includes workers posted by the municipality in the Municipal Civil Protection, is working uninterruptedly to closely monitor the contacts of positive cases, not only the employees, but also the respective families, placing everyone in isolation early, in order to break the chains of transmission'.
As for "the high indicators of the pandemic that are currently registered in Portimão", they occur "after, in the last two months, a controlled epidemiological situation has been registered, with a daily number of cases considered low, in counter-cycle with the Algarve region and the parents".
Therefore, concludes the autarchy, the "priority objective is to stop this and future outbreaks quickly and effectively, preventing Portimão from suffering in the coming weeks a disastrous setback in the ongoing debriefing, due to the above-average rise in health indicators, which , if it happens, it will have very serious repercussions for the local economy and for the citizens'.
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