COPING WITH COVID-19 - TRAVEL

Cruise ship in quarantine

Twenty-seven Portuguese citizens or persons with Portuguese residence permits on board the cruise ship MSC Fantasia have disembarked in the Port of Lisbon  after being tested negative for coronavirus.

The remaining 1,338 passengers are being kept in quarantine aboard the liner, which docked in Lisbon on Sunday after its other intended European stopovers were cancelled.

The Portuguese interior ministry has said that all the remaining passengers   -  from the European Union, the UK, Brazil and Australia  -  will be allowed to disembark if tests on them for coronavirus prove to be negative. So far, no positive cases have been reported.

Embassies of various countries will help with repatriations.

 Metro managing

The Metro system is still operating in Lisbon, albeit with fewer carriages on trains running on weekend rather than normal weekday schedules.

Taxis, no trouble

Taking a taxi in Portugal should not be a health problem as all authorised taxi services have been instructed to ensure rigorous  cleanliness within the vehicles and not allow passengers to occupy the front seat next to the driver.

Many of the taxi services are taking passengers to Faro Airport where flights are continuing between Portugal and a number of countries including the UK, though not Spain.

PORTUGAL NEWSWATCH is well aware of the extreme seriousness on the coronavirus pandemic and that news of it is being extensively covered by the mainstream media. Our focus is simply on positive  and perhaps helpful aspects, locally as well as regionally.