UNU-EGOV continues to deliver on its goals and mission during the pandemic, albeit without any physical interaction of its staff members for the time being. Updates on research and news item, as well as opportunities to engage virtually with us, will continue via our website, social media, and email.

Below is a chronological list of measures taken to date by the Operating Unit and other measures enforced country-wide to help stop the spread of COVID-19 and keep its staff safe as much as possible.

• All UNU-EGOV staff is working remotely since 9 March 2020, with access to the office allowed only during short periods of time and in case of urgent need.
• All further official travel requests for 2020 were denied and existing official travels were cancelled.
• All events scheduled for the year were either cancelled or held virtually when possible, including the annual ICEGOV conference.
• Mário Meira was appointed as the COVID-19 Outbreak Coordinator at UNU-EGOV.
• Establishment of weekly virtual meetings with all staff for updates regarding work and for everyone to share their current experience and wellbeing status.

• The State of Emergency is declared country-wide by presidential decree, in force from 19 March to 1 May.
• After a gradual lift in restrictions during summer, the State of Emergeny was once again declared on 9 November and is expected to last until 2021.
• Use of mask is mandatory everywhere when outside the house.
• Curfew is in place on weekdays from 23h00 to 5h00 and on weekends from 13h00 to 5h00. Further restrictions apply to municipalities where the infection rates are higher, including no travel between different municipalities.

Current status of the pandemic in Portugal

The National Health Directorate (Direção-Geral de Saúde or DGS) has set up a website for COVID-19. It contains information about the disease, how to prevent it, news, and health and safety instructions. Although an English version is not available, an automatic translation to English of most pages on the website can be performed by clicking on the globe icon and selecting “English”.

It also shows the latest numbers in the country for infected people (blue), suspect cases (yellow), recovered people (green), and the death toll (red), split by region and district. The numbers are updated every day at midday, together with a live press conference.

There is also a hotline called SNS24 – 808 24 24 24 (press “5” for English). Anyone with COVID-19 symptoms must call this hotline first and stay isolated. The service will then perform the necessary actions to ensure the person is tested for the disease and what to do afterwards.

• DGS – Frequently Asked Questions
• DGS – Press conferences