Economic effects of pandemic will be long-lasting says President

Portugal’s President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa says that the economic and social effects of the Covid-19 pandemic will be tough and long-lasting.

In an address to the nation on Thursday, in which he prolonged the State of Emergency by a further 15 days until 17 April, he called the situation “our biggest challenge in 45 years (i.e., since the Revolution of 1974 which overthrew the dictatorship which had been in place for 50 years prior).
“Its economic and social effects will be tougher and longer-lasting than the other crises we have lived through,” stated the President who also warned that there was a “long and very uphill path to recovery ahead.”
Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa praised the Portuguese for their “calm courage” in the way they were dealing with the pandemic but called on an “extra effort” in the face of an “insidious and unpredictable adversary” which “hits in a concentrated way life and health and which is without parallel in our democratic history.”
The extension of the State of Emergency will include even more restrictive measures for the population than up to now as Portugal enters the most critical weeks in fighting the pandemic.