Portuguese PM announces suspension of flights outside EU

Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa announced on Tuesday that all flights to and from outside the European Union (EU) will be suspended from Wednesday midnight for a period of 30 days.

The prime minister made this announcement at a press conference following a European Council meeting via teleconference on Tuesday afternoon.

"As of midnight tomorrow, all international flights outside the European Union and from outside the European Union to any national airport will be suspended," he said.

He stressed that the exceptions will be the extra-community countries where there is a "strong presence of Portuguese communities", such as Canada, the United States, Venezuela and South Africa, and the Portuguese-speaking countries.

However, in the specific case of Brazil, the routes will be restricted to Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo, with all others being suspended, he added.

"As for internal borders, the principle of freedom of movement within the European Union was reaffirmed, except for occasional situations that have been in existence and it was agreed that there would be no unilateral measures", he said, citing the example of the restrictions already agreed bilaterally between Portugal and Spain.

Also on Tuesday, the Portuguese government declared a state of public calamity for the northern municipal city of Ovar in an attempt to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.

The announcement of the lockdown, by Minister of Internal Administration Eduardo Cabrita, came after the serious community transmission of the novel coronavirus was confirmed in the municipality.

The minister stressed that the effective date of this order will last until April 2.

Portugal reported 117 new cases of the COVID-19 infection as of Tuesday, bringing the total number of cases to 448, with one dead.