Health

Lisbon residents divided on night-time curfew amid coronavirus surge

Lisbon, Jul 3 (EFE).- Residents of Lisbon expressed mixed feelings Saturday regarding the new night-time curfew imposed across Portugal’s regions amid a surge in coronavirus cases.

The 11 pm to 5 am curfew – which came into effect on Friday – affects 45 of the 278 Portuguese counties and 4 out of the approximately 10 million inhabitants.

In Lisbon, which along with Algarve accounts for most infections, bars and restaurants must shut at 15:30 on weekends.

For Andres Fernande, owner of a restaurant in Lisbon’s city center, the restrictions are correct and in line with the high transmission rate in the capital.

“If the numbers were to start going down, we could be ok, but if they keep going up, we’re in bad place,” he told Efe.

Despite affecting his work, he admits he feels “safe” with the new restrictions.

But owner of a cafeteria in Lisbon, Peralta, doesn’t agree with Fernande and says that he can make little business by closing so early.

“We close at 3:30 in the afternoon, you can’t get anything done, you can’t even work at mealtimes because you are very limited. If a customer comes at 2:40 he has to eat in a hurry because at 3.30 you have to kick him out,” he complained to Efe.

Portugal reported 2,605 new infections in the last 24 hours, the highest figure since mid-February, according to official data.

Hospital admissions due to Covid-19 are also on the rise, with 543 patients hospitalized on Saturday, of which 122 remain in intensive care.EFE

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