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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
National
William Walker

Portugal tourists must show negative Covid test or proof of vaccine to stay in hotels

Brit tourists travelling to Portugal will need to show a negative Covid test, a vaccination certificate or proof of recovery to stay in hotels or other holiday accommodation, it has been confirmed.

The government in the European country announced the raft of new measures on Thursday in a bid to tackle a rising number of coronavirus cases.

Negative tests, vaccination certificates or proof of recovery will also be required to eat indoors at restaurants in 60 high-risk municipalities, including the capital Lisbon and the city of Porto.

Those measures will be effective on Friday nights and at the weekend.

"For a long time, the only measure we had to our disposal was limiting economic activity," Cabinet Minister Mariana Vieira da Silva told a press conference.

A Portuguese restaurant association said it would drive business away (Getty Images)

"With the digital certificate, and the more frequent availability of tests, we have other ways of guaranteeing security."

Holidaymakers and restaurant-goers can use the EU digital Covid certificate.

Rapid antigen tests will also be valid, the minister said, and can be provided by hotels at check-in.

Portugal's restaurants association said in a statement "there were already too many rules and restrictions" and that the measures risk driving customers away.

People arriving at Humberto Delgado International Airport in Lisbon, Portugal (Getty Images)

"This (requirements to enter restaurants) could destroy the ray of hope for many business people," the association said.

The measure will allow restaurants to re-open for dinner on Saturday and Sunday in high-risk areas, where they were forced to shut for the two previous weekends.

A night-time curfew, already in place 45 municipalities, will be extended to a further 15 areas moved to the high-risk list including Faro, the main city in the popular southern Algarve.

Portugal, whose population numbers 10 million, reported more than 3,000 daily coronavirus cases on Thursday, bringing the total number of infections since the start of the pandemic to 899,295.

Nearly 90 per cent of new cases in Portugal are of the more infectious Delta variant.

The number of new daily cases has been rising steadily in recent weeks, returning last week to levels last seen in February when the country was under a strict lockdown.

Daily deaths remain well below February levels with new cases primarily reported among younger, unvaccinated people.

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