Prime Minister, António Costa, has stated that he will announce the lockdown measures and restrictions for Portugal on 5 December.

“The Government proposed to the President of the Republic, and he accepted that this time, that when we announce the renewal of the state of emergency, we can announce not only the measures for the next fortnight, but also the measures for the next fortnight, that is, until the 6 or 7 January ”, said António Costa today, in an interview with Observador radio.

According to the Prime Minister, “it is essential that people can have an early idea of ??what Christmas is going to be like”, this week being decisive for the decision on these measures, which he will announce.

“We are all going to make the effort to be able to have Christmas in the best possible conditions, but right after that, there is one thing that I can anticipate right now, that New Year will have restrictions because there cannot be any kind of tolerance”, he warned.

Costa made it clear that this year Portugal “will not be able to have a normal Christmas”, and the Government is working with specialists to help “families to be able to understand the logic of the transmission of viruses and what needs to be avoided as much as possible”.

“The more Christmas takes place at the table, the more dangerous it is because at the table we are sat without a mask. The more people that are at the table the more dangerous it is because the risk of contamination is greater”, he said.

“Our collective goal should be that on 24 and 25 December, people can move around and find each other safely, avoiding the risks of contagion as much as possible,” he said, reiterating the effort “to find a solution” for Christmas.

However, and despite going to announce the measures for Christmas already on Saturday, Costa left a warning: “everything depends on how the pandemic evolves from there”.