So as you may or may not have heard, the cases are growing in an unstoppable way, Portugal leading the lists outgrowing France and even the United States on the statistics regarding the daily new confirmed COVID-19 cases per million people. As it was expected (since most countries in Europe were already in lockdown before), Portugal also enounced the lockdown that got confirmed on last Wednesday, the 13th of January 2021 and it made our last outgoing day to be on the very next day, closing places on Friday. The cases were expected to grow since the Christmas and New Years Eve were handled in a lighthearted way, letting people out longer than the usual curfew.
There are some surprising loopholes in the new rules but I am sure that the people who made them already had the risks in their mind. Here is the list of the rules announced and I will also tell my personal opinion of some that I don't really see as a logical choice and please feel free to tell your opinion in the comments, I'm curious of what you might think about the situation.
The prohibition on movement between municipalities at the weekend is restored - I suppose it has some kind of sense behind it but it's just the same reason people didn't really understand how we can safely eat in restaurants at the tables, no fear of covid and then if we stand up we need our masks because covid is only above a certain height. I just want to highlight that if there is a possibility to travel during the weekdays, it's not like we can only spread it on the weekends but I guess this way at least people who work in the weekdays and can't take advantage of it are lowering the travels.
All establishments of any nature must close at 8 pm a week and 1 pm at the weekend.
The exception is the food retail that can be extended until 5pm at the weekend. - I'm curious how this will work because I don't think with Ubeareats and Glovo around this will work. In my opinion this is wrong because these companies are already suffering big loss and their only income is through takeaways, it's a bit absurd to limit this part making them lose even more money (especially since dinner here in Portugal is usually pretty late - anywhere from 8 pm to midnight)
The sale to the wicket of any non-food establishment, such as clothing stores, will be prohibited;
It is prohibited to sell any type of drink to the wicket, even coffee; - I will admit, this makes me pretty angry because no jokes, I'm a coffee addict. There are days I cannot function properly only to remember later that the reason was that I didn't get my daily dose of caffeine. I was talking about this with my friend and she had a good point: coffee gathers people, they take it away and go to a miradouro and they socialize this way. I think it is a really good point but there certainly are people that don't have a coffee machine, not even a moka pot and I think it's highly inhumane to punish them into drink instant coffee.
It is forbidden to stay and consume food at or near establishments;
All restaurants in shopping centers are closed, even on a take-away basis; - If it's allowed for any other restaurants to stay open for take away then so should the restaurants in the shopping mall. I know that the loss would be less since they're usually not companies owned by individuals but by big corporations BUT they still have coworkers that need the money especially in these days.
Balances and promotions that promote the movement of people are prohibited; - fair enough
People are not allowed to remain in public spaces such as gardens. They can be frequented, but they cannot be places of permanence; - This is hard to monitor because as soon as the police shows up people start moving or saying they just got tired that's why they got a seat, how do you even prove them wrong... This is another thing, lockdown in other countries means the inability to leave your own house if it's not a necessity. While I think it's great to think about fresh air and moving as a necessity, I think they're not strict enough to lower the numbers (thankfully in a way if I just selfishly think of our little erasmus generation). For example, I remember going to the grocery shop on our very first day of the new lockdown and the streets were packed with people, even more than there are usually and nobody seemed to do anything about it.
So these were my thoughts on the not-so-new but new situation. One of my friends jokingly - but very accurately - described how Portugal truly works; he said:
"Here in Lisbon the rules are more like a guideline than an implied law"
Also, as a bonus, this meme also sums it up perfectly:
- Is it forbidden to leave home?
- It is
- But can I?
- You can
- But is it forbidden?
- Yes
- And what happens if I leave?
- Nothing