Admiral Gouveia e Melo said this Thursday, 19 May, in Faro, which, if it is necessary to re-create a task force to fight the pandemic, Portugal can "count on the military".
Aboard the NRP Hydra, after the return to the sea of a turtle rehabilitated by Zoomarine, the current Chief of Staff of the Armada explained that, “were called upon to play a role again”, the Armed Forces would respond.
«We are here to protect the Portuguese population. We could not refuse and would gladly play the previous role”, he added.
Even so, Henrique Gouveia e Melo, who led the task force of vaccination, considered that, «after the whole process, there is already enough knowledge and structures, which in the meantime have been created in the Ministry of Health, for the Ministry of Health to carry out this work in a capable and efficient way».
Asked about the current situation of the pandemic in Portugal, Gouveia e Melo considered that we are entering a «zone, in which we have gone from a pandemic to an endemic»: that is, a «long-term disease».
“We will have for sure, over time, fluctuations up and down. In fact, we are very vaccinated and very protected with it, now this disease is here to stay, like the flu and others, and we will have to live with it”, he said.
The admiral, however, gave a “message of tranquility”.
“Of course, all deaths are tragic and all these problems of fluctuating our health services, but it is the reality and we have to live with it – it will be a reality from here to the future”, he concluded.
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