Restrictions back despite progress

Portugal is bringing back some tight pandemic restrictions, less than two months after scrapping most of them when the goal of vaccinating 86% of the population against COVID-19 was reached. A recent rise in coronavirus infections compelled the government to act, Prime Minister Antonio Costa said Thursday, though he noted that his country hasn’t seen a surge on the scale witnessed elsewhere in Europe.

From Dec. 1, wearing a mask will once again be mandatory in enclosed spaces; a digital certificate proving vaccination or recovery from the coronavirus must be shown to enter restaurants, cinemas and hotels; and even inoculated people must have a negative test to visit hospitals, elderly care homes, sports events and bars and discos.

Furthermore, everyone arriving on a flight from abroad must present a negative test result and the rollout of booster shots is being stepped up, Costa said.

A new coronavirus variant has been detected in South Africa that scientists say is a concern because of its high number of mutations and rapid spread among young people in Gauteng, the country’s most populous province, Health Minister Joe Phaahla announced Thursday. Currently identified as B.1.1.529, the new variant has also been found in Botswana and Hong Kong in travelers from South Africa, he said.

South Africa has seen a dramatic rise in new infections, Phaahla said. After a period of relatively low transmission in which South Africa recorded just over 200 new confirmed cases per day, in the past week the daily new cases rapidly increased to more than 1,200 on Wednesday. On Thursday they jumped to 2,465.

Almost 18,400 people have died of COVID-19 in the country of around 10.3 million.