Portuguese companies willing to produce material

The State Secretary for Health said today that 24 million surgical masks will arrive in Portugal this month

This is in addition to the production of 100 Portuguese companies willing to produce material necessary to fight the covid-19 pandemic.

This will be followed by a further 1.8 million masks by the end of May.

Latest figures show there are now 246 coronavirus deaths and almost 10,000 cases of infection in Portugal.  

Australia should follow Portugal and treat Migrants as residents.

Australia is being called on to closely consider Portugal's approach to supporting migrants during the coronavirus outbreak.

The European nation has decided migrants will be treated as permanent residents until at least 1 July to ensure they have access to public services.

Refugee Council of Australia Chief Executive Paul Power told SBS News the model recognises the pressing needs of temporary migrants amid the health crisis.“During the life of this pandemic the situation.

Under the Portuguese model, applicants, including asylum seekers, would only need to provide evidence of an ongoing request to qualify for public services. 

This means they would be granted access to the national health service, welfare benefits, bank accounts and work and rental contracts. 

Portugal's Internal Affairs Ministry spokeswoman Claudia Velosa told Reuters migrants should not be deprived of their rights in the pandemic.

“In these exceptional times, the rights of migrants must be guaranteed,” she said.  

But in Australia, concerns have been raised that more than 1.1 million temporary workers could be ineligible for almost all welfare measures. 

This group includes international students, working holidaymakers, as well as those on bridging, temporary protection and safe haven visas. 

With the exemption of some New Zealand nationals, temporary migrants have been excluded from most coronavirus welfare assistance responses.changed,” he said.  

“We all know that the virus doesn’t discriminate on the basis of people’s citizenship or permanent residency or the nature of their visa.”

   Source SBS news

Portugal gives Migratns residents right equal to the portuguese

Migrants in Portugal will be treated as  residents of portuguese until at least 1 July to ensure they have access to public services during the Covid-19 outbreak.

Applicants including asylum seekers need only provide evidence of an ongoing request to qualify - granting them access to the national health service, welfare benefits, bank accounts, and work and rental contracts.

Claudia Veloso, spokeswoman for the Ministry of Internal Affairs, told “People should not be deprived of their rights to health and public service just because their application has not yet been processed,”  She said,“In these exceptional times, the rights of migrants must be guaranteed.”

The policy also aims to reduce contagion risk by minimizing contact between border control service staff and applicants, the statement said.