António Costa was speaking at the end of another meeting on the evolution of the epidemiological situation in Portugal, which took place at in Lisbon, attended by the President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, and representatives of the parliamentary parties.

António Costa noted that, technically, from a legal point of view, the state of emergency is only valid for 15 days. "Every 15 days is necessary a new initiative of the President of the Republic, a new opinion of the Government and a new authorization of the Assembly of the Republic, but it is essential that people know how they can organize from here until 6 and 7 January. Technically this situation is resolved," the prime minister stressed.

According to António Costa, depending on the steps of the President of the Republic, the debate of the Assembly of the Republic and the consideration by the Council of Ministers, its executive will present on Saturday the programme of measures that will be in force until the 7 January. In his remarks to journalists, the Prime Minister refused to anticipate the measures that will take effect over the Christmas period. "We have a demanding institutional process, because declaring a state of emergency is not something that is done lightly and the country has never done so in more than 40 years of democracy. We have a process to be respected," he added. For António Costa, it is essential that "political decisions are taken on the basis of a level of scientific knowledge that is available and shared by all".

"Let's wait until Saturday about what will happen after the 9th of this month," he insisted.