Scheduled surgeries may be canceled due to the flu

The Minister of Health, Ana Paula Martins, said that surgeries scheduled in hospitals will be suspended whenever there is strong pressure resulting from the flu epidemic.

At a press conference at the Ministry of Health, in Lisbon, about the increase in flu activity, this Monday, Ana Paula Martins added that in Portugal, similar to what has happened in other European countries, there has been “increasing flu activity in recent weeks, with a visible impact on health units”.

According to the Minister of Health, the “impact will be more intense in the coming weeks”, taking into account that “flu season started about a month earlier than usual”, which may pose an increased risk in the most vulnerable groups, such as the elderly or chronically ill.

The minister admitted that there will be “an increase in demand in hospital emergency services, in health centers, on the SNS24 line”, and that it is, therefore, It is likely that there will be a need to “stop surgical activityalways maintaining urgent surgeries and oncological surgeries”.

Call for vaccination

The minister took the opportunity to appeal for vaccination, especially to those who are part of risk groups, remembering that the vaccine is freeand revealed that by November 30th “2,297,551 people had already been vaccinated, 139,386 more than in the same period in 2024, with high coverage in the highest risk groups”.

“In addition to vaccination, there are simple and effective measures that we can all adopt: use mask in closed spaces or when symptoms are present respiratory, protect yourself from the cold and take special care of the elderly and the most vulnerable”, said Ana Paula Martins.

The general director of Health, Rita Sá Machado, added that, in addition to the mask and respiratory label, there must be hand washing, ventilation of spaces and good air circulationremembering that flu activity is increasing, but not epidemic.

The Director-General of Health assured that there are vaccines for all risk groups and, taking into account that the elderly are part of the risk groups, she added that nursing home residents were the first to be vaccinated.

According to Rita Sá Machado, around 75% of elderly residents in nursing homes over 85 years of age are vaccinated, as well as around 70% of residents under 85 years of age.