According to an official source at the Amadora-Sintra Hospital, the visit had the character of a "diplomatic mission", consisting of a meeting of at least two German military doctors - who "came as institutional representatives of the government and not as doctors" - with a doctor from that unit and the Lisbon and Tagus Valley Regional Health Administration (ARSLVT). No members of the board of directors were present.

"It was a short meeting to quickly assess where the German state could come to assist the hospitals in greater Lisbon in terms of logistics and equipment, never human resources. It was not a working meeting, it was almost a presentation", said the same source, adding: "It was a general approach to the cooperation that the two states might establish in the coming weeks to fight the pandemic in this region".

The Amadora-Sintra Hospital suffered "a number of constraints in the medical oxygen supply network", which forced the transfer of 53 patients to other units.

Portugal's use of the European cooperation mechanism to support the fight against the pandemic is being considered by the Portuguese government. In response to a question from Lusa, the Ministry of Health stressed that "all the possibilities are being considered in order to continue providing health care to the Portuguese" and that "European cooperation mechanisms are obviously a possibility".

"As long as we have answers and the capacity to respond to the needs of the Portuguese, we are responding. Obviously, we consider scenarios and always plan the possibility of triggering European cooperation mechanisms," he said, admitting that human resources in health "is always a difficult area" for Portugal.