Portugal’s COVID-19 crisis continues to rise as 41 cases have been confirmed, flights cancelled and the President places himself in self-quarantine. COVID-19 originates from a member of the Coronavirus family that has never been seen before, and like other members of its virus family, comes from animals.

Symptoms can be severe as a result of the infection, and some infected people can develop pneumonia.

Carriers of the virus have reported difficulty breathing, fever and coughs – except antibiotics do not work in the case of COVID-19.

The UK official medical advice states that you should self-quarantine.

Patients are also advised to call NHS 111 if you have recently travelled back from an affected area.

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Is it safe to travel to Portugal?

There are currently no travel restrictions in place towards Portugal as a result of the coronavirus, and any holidaymakers returning from the hotspot will not need to self-quarantine.

The current advice given to travellers from the UK government states: “There is an ongoing outbreak of coronavirus (COVID-19) in China, but cases have been confirmed in other countries, including Portugal.

“The Portuguese authorities have introduced measures to limit the spread of the virus.”

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Portuguese President Marcelo Rebele de Sousa confirmed that he had placed himself into self-quarantine for two weeks after visiting a school which had a confirmed positive case.

He has since been tested negative for the virus, but remains in quarantine.

President Rebele de Sousa said: “I had commitments involving hundreds, thousands of people in the coming weeks.

“It is simply not worth the risk.”

Are there still flights going to Portugal?

If you have plans to fly to Portugal within the next few weeks, your flights should be unaffected.

But you are advised to keep a watchful eye on the situation for any last-minute developments.

The country’s flagship airline, TAP Portugal, has cancelled over 3,500 flights so far with routes to Spain, Italy and France all severely affected.

TAP issued a statement however in which they blamed the epidemic for a decline in sales.

They said: “The drop in demand naturally means lower revenues, therefore TAP has decided to suspend all non-critical investment, review non-essential spending cuts and suspend hiring.”

Concerned passengers can contact the airline if they want to enquire about changing flights or cancelling bookings – but be warned that you are unlikely to receive a refund.

Holidaymakers are advised to check with their travel insurance provider to see if anything can be done about cancelled reservations.

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