At the briefing after the Council of Ministers, Mariana Vieira da Silva was asked about the evolution of the numbers of the pandemic in Portugal, which that day recorded 105 deaths related to Covid-19 and 1,944 new cases of infection with the new coronavirus, according to the Directorate General of Health (DGS).

Despite considering that the numbers of infected show "the success of the measures" in force, the governor recalled that this is not the only factor to take into account, since it is necessary to analyse the response capacity of the NHS and the number of deaths, variables that, despite the downward trend, do not allow to anticipate an end to lockdown soon.

"It is a very high number, it continues to be, with the exception of last month, the highest number that we have had in this whole year and it is a number that is not compatible with creating an expectation of an imminent end to lockdown," she warned.

Thus, the Government maintains the line of the Prime Minister, António Costa, who precisely a week ago, also in a press conference after the Council of Ministers, argued that this was not yet the time for the country to focus on an end to lockdown, but to continue to comply with the rules of lockdown.

"There is technical work being done, there will be articulation work with the other parties. This is the moment to appeal again to all Portuguese women and men that we need to consider that we have very high numbers of internments in hospitals and intensive care units and although the path we are taking is encouraging, it is still too early to think that it is close to the end", he reiterated.