Speaking to journalists, the president of the Regional Health Administration of Lisbon and Vale do Tejo (ARSLVT), Luís Pisco, stressed that access to this equipment requires a medical prescription, and is not open to anyone who wants to take the test "for his initiative or of his own free will".

Luís Pisco was speaking at the entrance to the screening centre installed at the Quinta dos Frades School, in Lumiar, as part of the opening of the first two screening equipment to covid-19 in the municipality of Lisbon, accompanied by the space director and the mayor, Fernando Medina (PS).

The president of ARSLVT explained that there are 35 locations in health establishments throughout the Lisbon and Tagus Valley Region, to which people with symptoms such as cough, fever and breathing difficulties can go before an eventual referral to the screening centres.

Currently, underlined Luís Pisco, the tracking centre installed in Lumiar has a capacity for 200 daily tests, reaching up to 300, while the mobile tracking centre of Parque das Nações ('drive thru' model) can make a total of 150 screens per day.

In the whole of Lisbon and the Tagus Valley, the estimate is that "between 2,000 and 2,500" tests will be carried out in 20 screening centres.

The two that newly opened are part of a set of 10 units, to be installed in the municipalities of the Lisbon Metropolitan Area.

Luís Pisco also said that ARSLVT is working with laboratories "that already work for the National Health Service", with whom he has confidence, and that "have conventions for other analyzes", having been "extended for this analysis as well", ensuring that hospitals "continue to maintain their ability to address a range of issues".

Asked if there is enough medical supplies, the president of ARSLVT said that "the 'stock' has been managed millimetrically", with the prospect "that there will be no shortage" for both doctors and people who are working in these places.

The director of the Lumiar screening centre noted that the equipment works by appointment, being able to respond to about 12 users per hour, and guaranteed that "people will always be enrolled with protection from receptionists and technicians".

"The concern here is obviously to protect the people who work here," said José Germano Sousa, adding that patients directed by the doctor must comply with the guidelines given, such as maintaining "always safe distances" and social isolation.

Regarding users who will go to the screening centre, masks will not be guaranteed for everyone.

"We are not able to give masks to 500 people here, nor is that what is advocated. What we are always concerned with is ensuring that (...) there is no contamination in here and that is how we comply", he stressed.