The meeting was convened by the Prime Minister, António Costa, at a time when the number of infections and the transmissibility index of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus are falling.

This new assessment meeting is part of a context in which Portugal is considered to have reached a peak in terms of Covid-19 cases about 10 days ago, with the number of infections now showing a downward trajectory.

The meeting will open with interventions by the DGS public health specialist Pedro Pinto Leite and the epidemiologist at the National Health Institute Dr. Ricardo Jorge (INSA) Baltazar Nunes, who will “characterise the epidemiological situation” of Covid-19 in the country.

This will be followed by a presentation by researcher Ana Paula Rodrigues from INSA, entitled “Surveillance in the recovery phase of the pandemic”, and by researcher Henrique Barros, from the Institute of Public Health of the University of Porto, with the theme “Covid-19: From emergency to endemic”.

Finally, pulmonologist Raquel Duarte, from ARS Norte and the Institute of Public Health of the University of Porto, presents the “recommendations for the management of Covid-19”.

The prime minister has already admitted that Portugal may move towards lifting a set of restrictions, as is already the case in several European Union countries, adding that the experts who have worked directly with the Government in the adoption of measures to control and combat the pandemic “are considering what changes should be introduced in view of the evolution of Covid-19”.