The Portuguese authorities have updated the travel restrictions for the United Kingdom and Brazil. Thus, Portugal allows non-essential travel for those arriving from Brazil, after about a year and a half of restrictions.
From 1 September, those arriving from the UK will no longer have to be quarantined. This decision also applies to the unvaccinated. However, the requirement to provide the negative result of a PCR test or a rapid antigen test that was performed no later than 72 hours before arriving in Portugal remains a necessity.
With the new update on entry restrictions, travelers from Brazil can finally enter Portugal after an 18-month ban, despite being the largest emigrant community in Portugal. Travelers in Brazil will also be exempted from the quarantine requirement if they show a negative test result, as will the British.
The decision, which was announced on 31 August, entered into force on 1 September and is due to remain in force until at least 16 September.
Both countries have recently seen a decline in the number of COVID-19 cases, with the UK - which has a population of 66 million - recording 31.931 cases in the last 24 hours, while Brazil, which has a population of 211 million , registered a total of 10.466 cases. According to vaccination rates in these two countries, to date, Brazil has completely vaccinated 29% of its population, while the United Kingdom has completely vaccinated 64.4% of its population.
In Portugal, 83.2% of the population - out of the 10.28 million inhabitants - have been vaccinated, with vaccination of 12-15 year olds starting on September 4. The country has registered 1.908 cases in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of cases since the beginning of the pandemic to 1.037.927.
The Minister of State of Portugal, Mariana Vieira da Silva, announced last Friday that there will be other relaxations of restrictions: increasing the number of people who are allowed to stay together in restaurants and cafes, indoors - from 6 to 8 people , and outside - from 10 to 15 people. On weekends, negative tests or COVID digital certificates are still required for indoor spaces as well as hotel stays.