According to Doctor António Pais Lacerda, director of the Internal Medicine II service at Hospital Santa Maria, Lisbon: “There are parents who are infected at home but are still taking their children to school” and “people who continue to go to their place of work with someone at home who is sick and do not say anything because they are afraid of being on less pay or being judged as having less ability to bring an income home”, which turns out to be “a very serious social situation”, reports the director of the service where patients with Covid-19 and those suspected of contracting the infection are hospitalised.

António Pais Lacerda warns that people have to “take the necessary precautions” and if they know that they were around someone who is infected, they should be careful to say that they will be quarantined at home.

“A person cannot say that they have been with a person who has tested positive for Covid-19 but they don’t need to do anything because they feel fine. This is nonsense, because this is what helps us to stop the spread of the virus to others”, the Doctor told Lusa news agency.