Speaking to Lusa, the secretary general of AMRR, Marco Claudino, said that the “constant unpredictability” in taking measures makes planning difficult and businesses are already experiencing cancellations, especially in terms of restaurants.

The measures announced by the Government, he added, will slam the breaks on companies at a time when they were beginning to see "some light at the end of the tunnel", with the added bonus of not forcing the closure, but of creating new restrictions - which excludes them of supports such as the simplified 'lay-off' or the APOIAR programme.

Regarding the limitation of store capacity, Marco Claudino said that he was unaware of the scientific support for the measure and doubts its effectiveness in preventing crowds of people, recalling what happened during the long months in which this measure was in force.

"In the past, measures of this kind had harmful effects because they led to gatherings of people at the door of commercial spaces", he said.

The secretary general of AMRR also criticised the "unpredictability" of the measures that did not take into account all the logistics installed in restaurants, considering that the new restrictions "will eventually lead to cancellations".

For Marco Claudino, nothing that has happened in the last two or three weeks justifies the changes which have been announced.