Lisbon (Portugal), April 4: Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa said on Saturday that respecting restrictions during Easter and throughout April will be "crucial" so that "there is not a fourth wave of COVID-19 in the country."
Visiting a nursing home in Lisbon, the president appealed to the Portuguese to "do everything in their power" on Easter Sunday to stop the transmission of the pandemic and reduce the "number of inpatients in intensive care."
"We all hope that there will be no setbacks ... if the reopening is done with attention to care, at a time when vaccination will see a decisive leap in April to maintain control of the pandemic before summer," he said, adding "the sooner the pandemic disappears, the less the economic and social crisis will be."
Portugal recorded seven deaths and 280 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the last 24 hours, taking the toll and caseload in the country to 16,875 and 823,142 respectively since the beginning of the pandemic.
According to data from the Portuguese Directorate-General for Health, more than 1.19 million people have already received the first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 494,521 immunized with both doses.
As the world is struggling to contain the pandemic, vaccination is underway in an increasing number of countries with the already-authorized coronavirus vaccines.
Meanwhile, 269 candidate vaccines are still being developed worldwide -- 85 of them in clinical trials -- in countries including Germany, China, Russia,
Britain, and the United States, according to information released by the World Health Organization on Friday.
Source: Xinhua