"This is a fight for our own survival, for the protection of the health of the Portuguese and we are all in this fight", said António Costa, in a statement at the official residence in Lisbon, after a round of meetings with all parties with parliamentary seats on the measures that the Government will take to combat Covid-19.

For the Prime Minister, it is necessary to “assume that this pandemic on the European continent, and, particularly in Portugal, has not yet reached its peak”.

“On the contrary, it is evolving so that it is very likely that in the coming weeks more patients will be infected, perhaps with more serious consequences for their health and for their own life and that this may be a more lasting than initially estimated ”, he admitted.

For this reason, António Costa reiterated that one must “hope for the best”, but everyone must “be prepared for the worst”.

“The one that is the biggest responsibility of each one of us is to take care of the other”, he appealed, insisting on the need to respect the rules of hygiene and limit “the maximum level of circulation and social contact”.