Health

German critical care team travels to Portugal to help pandemic effort

Lisbon, Feb 3 (efe-epa).- A team of German military healthcare staff is to arrive in Portugal Wednesday to help reinforce the country’s intensive care units and hospitals, which have become overwhelmed by soaring Covid-19 rates.

The German government agreed to send 26 critical care specialists to the struggling Iberian nation. The team, which includes six doctors, will also bring equipment — 50 respirators, 150 extraction bumps and 150 beds.

Health authorities in Portugal recently said the country had likely passed the peak of infections in the current wave and that new cases were on the decline but they also underlined the need to increase the capacity of the country’s intensive care system.

Wednesday also marks the start date for the second phase of vaccination in the country. People over 80 and those over 50 with severe underlying health conditions will be offered a dose of the jab. Portugal has reported 731,861 Covid-19 cases and 13,017 deaths since the pandemic began, according to the official count. EFE-EPA

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