"The position that I had the opportunity to transmit to the Government was one of support, they are appropriate, necessary and proportional decisions in relation to the situation in the Lisbon Metropolitan Area", said Fernando Medina, speaking to journalists on the sidelines of a visit to the Portuguese Firefighters League , in Lisbon, alongside the President of the Republic and the Prime Minister.

Shopping centers and citizen's stores will remain closed in the Lisbon Metropolitan Area until June 4, according to the third phase of the Government's deconfinement plan, approved by the Council of Ministers, since this area has had an increase in new cases of covid-19 in the last few days.

Asked whether it would be possible to test and trace outbreaks of infection until next Thursday - the date on which the Council of Ministers will reevaluate the situation in the AML -, Medina considered that this "very demanding phase of pandemic management" which implies adapting the measures to the circumstances, but promised a "permanent cooperation" with the health authorities.

"All of this has to be reassessed at every moment, we will all work so that it is reassessed in a positive sense and not in the sense of greater restriction, but we must be prepared to make the decisions that are justified at each moment," he said.

Asked if this screening could not have been done before, the socialist mayor responded in the negative.

With regard to stores with a capacity of more than 400 square meters, Medina pointed out that these were not allowed to open in the municipality of Lisbon, which will continue.

The AML president also appealed to people's confidence, but also to a sense of responsibility.

"There are a set of behaviours that we know can significantly reduce the risk of contamination, such as distancing and the use of masks” he said, calling for a balance between resuming normal life and the need for "not" relax alert levels .

The Government approved new measures to take effect on June 1, with emphasis on the opening of shopping centers (with the exception of the Metropolitan Area of ??Lisbon, where they will remain closed until at least June 4), gymnasiums, ATL or concert halls.

These measures are in addition to those that came into force on May 18, including the resumption of visits to users of nursing homes, the reopening of daycare centers, face-to-face classes for the 11th and 12th year and the reopening street shops, cafes, restaurants, museums, monuments and palaces.

The return of community religious ceremonies is scheduled for today, while the opening of the bathing season will take place on June 6th.

In AML, the gatherings will continue to be limited to 10 people, to "avoid agglomerations", while in the rest of the country the maximum limit is 20.

Strengthening of epidemiological surveillance, in particular in activities that concentrate "a high number of foci of infection" (civil construction works and temporary work) and emergency resettlement plans to allow "the separation of people who are infected" are other specific measures for the AML.