Portugal declares a ‘state of emergency’ as cases hit 1,020

The Portuguese government are latest European country to declare a “state of emergency” as the country has 1,020 confirmed cases with three deaths and five people have recovered.

The government said in announcement, “Portugal is in a state of emergency and has so far confirmed 785 cases of infection and three deaths.

The announcement comes after bordering country Spain has almost 20,000 confirmed cases with 1,002 deaths, so far 1,588 people have fully recovered from coronavirus.

“The outbreak has already reached more than 222,000 people globally, of whom about 10,000 have died. We follow here, at the minute, all the developments on the spread of the pandemic of the new coronavirus in Portuguese and international territory.

“The government suspended the payment of the Single Social Fee (TSU) scheduled for 20 Friday, not having companies make the payment on this date”

The statement added, “This Friday the Council of Ministers will meet again to discuss measures to support families and sectors of activity such as commercial activity or catering.

“There are new rules for the movement of people in Portugal. The Government has decreed that people who are infected or who are under active surveillance must respect the isolation imposed by the authorities.”

The Italian army have been deployed to impose a forced lockdown in Lombardy region which is the worst hit with coronavirus in Italy.

The regional President Attilio Fontana told a press conference on Friday, “The request to use the army has been accepted… and 114 soldiers will be on the ground throughout Lombardy,”

“It is still too little, but it is positive.”

Italy has now reported more than 41,000 cases of coronavirus as of Friday, the first patient was recorded on 21 February in the country.

The death toll in Italy currently stands at 3,405 or 8% and has now exceeded that of China which stands at 3,253 despite having just under half the number of confirmed cases.

Italy has 41,035 compared to China’s 81,250 confirmed cases of coronavirus.

A major London hospital has declared a “critical incident” as the number of coronavirus cases are doubling, and the death rate is climbing.

Northwick Park Hospital in northwest London has confirmed it has reached “critical care capacity” and does not have any required space for patients needing “critical care.”

In an email seen by LondonLovesbusiness, Lisa Knight, Chief Nurse told colleagues across the NHS were informed on Thursday evening at 19:15 hours that “to be clear we are not declaring a major incident, but the current situation does warrant that special measures are put in place.”