The answer to the dilemma that had been dragging on since the summer and that brought to the public discussion how to celebrate Christmas in the middle of a pandemic was finally revealed. And to comment on the restrictions imposed by the Government for the Christmas season, including the permission to circulate between municipalities between 23 and 26 December, SIC invited FMUL Professor and Principal Investigator at the iMM, Miguel Castanho.
When asked whether this Christmas gift that the Government offered to the Portuguese could jeopardize the Covid-19 containment effort made by everyone in recent months, Miguel Castanho says: “Hopefully not, but obviously there is an increased risk and the risk is associated with contact between people”, he stresses.
According to the Professor, the measures announced by the Government for the upcoming festive season "are more an adaptation to reality than an attempt to shape reality", understanding that they seek to give "some naturalness" to the specific context in which they are applied.
“The most negative part of these measures is that we always live in a certain generality, that is, we were told that a reassessment would be made on 18 December, but there are no indicators. We do not know exactly, beyond the total number of cases, what is guiding the decisions”, stresses Miguel Castanho, adding that“ we continue to have an action based on generalist criteria, little based on facts”, denoting the lack of objectivity in the assessment of the epidemiological situation in Portugal.
The Professor believes that “we should have something more tangible and palpable”, explaining that the total number of contagions is a “very general indicator, which depends on many factors, therefore it is not a good indicator for assertive decisions in certain points”. Miguel Castanho also considers that, “the total number of contagions depends a lot on the situation or on how the public perceives the seriousness of the situation, for example”, justifying the poor efficiency of this indicator in a set of measures, where objectivity and evidence are still scarce.
Regarding the possible need to reinforce communication to the Portuguese for better management of the pandemic in Portugal during the Christmas period, the Professor stressed that “we never had a mass campaign on the correct use of the mask”, reiterating that the communication campaigns alluding to good procedures and good practices “are always necessary”. “Now, at Christmas, what was needed was advice on defensive behaviours appropriate for this period and it would be worthwhile to campaign in this direction,” he said, considering the lack of a “consistent policy of information on good practices” that should be in force more actively in a pandemic context.
Listen here to Professor Miguel Castanho's statements, in a discussion where the SIC information director, Pedro Cruz, also participated, to discuss the constitutionality of the measures implemented by the Government for a “Careful Christmas”.
