RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The Portuguese government decided to suspend all flights with Brazil as of Friday because of the surge in Covid-19 infections and the detection of new strains – according to a statement released on Wednesday, January 27th.
“The government decided to suspend flights to and from Brazil as of January 29th, considering the evolution of the pandemic worldwide,” the note states.
“All flights are suspended until February 14th, commercial or private, from all airlines”, added the text.
Only European Union citizens and residents will be allowed to continue traveling between Brazil and Portugal, provided they present a negative PCR test done at least 72 hours prior.
Portugal has therefore joined Turkey, Morocco and Peru among the countries that have made this decision.
With 293 deaths in 24 hours, Portugal broke a new daily record of deaths by Covid-19 since the start of the pandemic, which has killed 11,000 people in the country. The number of people hospitalized has also reached a new maximum, with 6,603 patients, 783 of whom in intensive care units.
According to data collected by AFP, Portugal is the most affected country by Covid-19 infection and deaths compared to its population in the last two weeks, a figure exceeded only by the British enclave of Gibraltar.
The approximately ten million Portuguese residents have been confined for a second time since January 15th, in order to curb the explosion of cases of the novel coronavirus.
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