The New COVID-19 Variant Spreads Almost All Over Portugal, The Medical Personnel Are Critical

Illustration (Unsplash / Daan Stevens)

JAKARTA - The new variant of COVID-19 from England was found to be spreading rapidly throughout Portugal. That makes the country's health care system critical.

The spread of the new COVID-19 variant occurs amidst Portuguese health workers who are still overwhelmed by the high daily transmission rate of COVID-19. One of the effects is that the availability of beds in hospitals is running low.

Launching Reuters on Thursday, January 21, Portugas Health Minister Marta Temido said around 20 percent of cases of COVID-19 transmission reported came from a new variant. Marta also reminded that this number could increase to 60 percent next week.

"The health system can't handle this level of infection," said Temido. "I feel we are very close to the limit. Some of the hospitals around Lisbon are in a complex situation. The number we face is huge," he explained.

Meanwhile, Ricardo Mexia, president of the National Association of Public Health Physicians, said there were various reasons why the number of deaths was increasing in Portugal. The increase, said Mexia, was allegedly due to the government's inadequacy in preventing transmission during the Christmas period last December. What's more, the new COVID-19 variant also plays a big role.

Previously, the owner of the policy imposed a new national lockdown last Friday. All non-essential services were closed and the Portuguese people were asked to stay at home. Nevertheless, the Portuguese government still decided to keep opening schools the crisis was occurring.

So far Portugal has confirmed 566,958 cases of COVID-19 transmission. Among them, there were 9,246 deaths.