On 2 March, a year to the day since the first case of Covid-9 was detected in Portugal, the President of the Republic stated that the SNS and the social and private sectors have organised themselves in a “meritorious way” in response to Covid-19, but added that he hopes that planning for the future would be improved.

Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa made his statement through a note published on the Presidency of the Republic’s website, in which he noted the passage of “one year since the first case of Covid-19 in Portugal”.

“The primary importance of the National Health Service (SNS) and its dedicated professionals, the work of the social and private sectors, became clear to citizens and to society, the meritorious way in which they organised themselves in response to the pandemic made it clear that this is one of the greatest assets that the country has”, the message reads.

According to the head of state, over these twelve months, “globally, the country has adjusted to the pandemic, sometimes more proactively and, unfortunately in other cases, more reactively”.

“It is desirable that, more than learning from what went well, we all have the ability to learn lessons from what went less well. We need to improve the ability to plan and anticipate scenarios and responses, to react more quickly and to adapt more to the circumstances, these are examples of areas that should be the focus of current and future attention of all of us “, he stated.

Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa concluded with “a particular word of appreciation for the work and commitment developed by health professionals” and saluted the Portuguese people in general for the way “they organised and committed themselves in responding to this pandemic”. Regarding the future, he warns that “there are still many uncertainties about what the evolution of this pandemic will be” and that combating the spread of the new coronavirus “may still face other challenges, such as the emergence of new strains”.

On the other hand, he warned of the effects of “tiredness in adopting the various measures, which continue to be essential, namely in the use of masks and social distance”.

The head of state also highlighted that the “mass vaccination”, necessary to end the pandemic, is currently “hampered by the shortage of vaccine delivery by producers”.

“This is also the opportunity to reaffirm our commitment to fighting the pandemic, while remaining equally faithful in the need to resume other activities in the area of ??health, education and the economy in general”, he said. I
It was on 2 March that the first two cases of infection with the new coronavirus were confirmed in national territory. The virus that causes Covid-19 was detected initially in December 2019 in Wuhan, a city in central China.