Doctors despair, schools shut as pandemic overwhelms Portugal


  • World
  • Thursday, 21 Jan 2021

FILE PHOTO: A health care worker wears personal protective equipment in Santa Maria Hospital Intermediate care unit, during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic in Lisbon, Portugal, January 18, 2021. REUTERS/Pedro Nunes/File Photo

LISBON (Reuters) - Overwhelmed by record numbers of COVID-19 patients, Portuguese hospital doctors spoke on Thursday of exhaustion and despair, as the government sought to slow contagion rates by ordering all schools to close for 15 days from Friday.

Western Europe's poorest country coped well in last year's first wave of the coronavirus pandemic, but it has been swamped in recent weeks by a faster-spreading mutation, registering the world's highest infection and death rates.

Limited time offer:
Just RM5 per month.

Monthly Plan

RM13.90/month
RM5/month

Billed as RM5/month for the 1st 6 months then RM13.90 thereafters.

Annual Plan

RM12.33/month

Billed as RM148.00/year

1 month

Free Trial

For new subscribers only


Cancel anytime. No ads. Auto-renewal. Unlimited access to the web and app. Personalised features. Members rewards.
Follow us on our official WhatsApp channel for breaking news alerts and key updates!
   

Next In World

'I can't breathe': Black man in Ohio tells police before he died, video shows
Support for South Africa's ANC near 40% weeks before election, Ipsos poll shows
Azerbaijan's Aliyev rejects criticism over journalists' arrests
Russia attacks Ukraine's rail lines to disrupt supply of U.S. arms, source says
Andrew Tate human trafficking trial can start, Romania court says
Ceasefire monitoring centre in Nagorno-Karabakh shuts as Russian peacekeepers withdraw
Supporters of Spain's Sanchez call rallies, leftists abroad urge him to stay
Let us press on with UK migrant plan, Rwanda tells critics
Ukraine's Zelenskiy calls for air defense systems as allies meet
Analysis-Trump election subversion case bogs down as allies' legal woes grow

Others Also Read