Minister of Health does not hide it: the situation is very critical and will not improve this week

Portugal is in the midst of a flu epidemic, in a winter more severe than in 2024 and with more aggressive viruses in circulation.

A situation in waiting times for urgency and “very critical” e shouldn’t improve this weekparticularly in the Lisbon and Tagus Valley region, said the Minister of Health today.

“This week is a very critical situation, because It’s the end of parties and vacations and time tolerances. If, on the one hand, we will have our professionals who were on vacation returning, on the other hand we also have many more patients, the truth is this, particularly in some regions of the country, coming into our emergency rooms”, Ana Paula Martins explained to journalists.

Speaking on the sidelines of a visit to the Figueira da Foz District Hospital, headquarters of the Baixo Mondego Local Health Unit (ULSBM), the governor does not expect that waiting times in emergency rooms “can improve significantly”, during this week, specifically at the Amadora-Sintra, Beatriz Ângelo (Loures) hospitals and, in Lisbon, “Santa Maria itself, which is also experiencing many difficulties”.

Ana Paula Martins stressed that Portugal is “still in the middle of a flu epidemic”, num harshest winter than last year and with most aggressive viruses in circulationalthough there is still no concrete data on whether the peak of the disease has already been reached this year.

“Our virologists say that we are possibly even reaching the peak, but we will only know in a few more days, if we start to see the number of infections, through the Sentinela network, decreasing”, explained the minister.