On 2 March 2020, the virus was confirmed to have reached the country when it was reported that two men, a 60-year-old doctor who travelled to the north of Italy on vacation and a 33-year-old man working in Spain, tested positive for COVID-19.
[6] On 12 January 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed that a novel coronavirus was the cause of a respiratory illness in a cluster of people in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China, which was reported to the WHO on 31 December 2019.
[39] However, due to the severity of the pandemic a separate website was created dedicated specifically to coronavirus information and updates under the Portuguese Ministry of Health.
[41] The Ministry of Health provides a web page with information for the public about different areas,[42] including brochures, orientation and guidance for different activity sectors, how to deal with self-isolation, and quarantine games for children.
[50] On April 30, 2020, the Portuguese Ministers' Council approved a plan to start releasing the country from COVID-19 containment measures and cancel the State of Emergency.
[52][53] A study by the Faculdade de Psicologia e de Ciências da Educação da Universidade do Porto (FPCEUP) aimed at "assessing the psychological health and social support networks" of LGBT+ young people who live with their parental figures during the COVID-19 pandemic concluded, based on a survey of 632 young LGBT+ people, who most did not feel comfortable in their families during confinement.
[54] This study, with a longitudinal and intercultural character, also concluded that six out of 10 participants considered that the pandemic had "greatly" affected their lives.
[54] "As for the present study, if for some young people the covid-19 pandemic had no impact on their social support networks, an important proportion felt quite isolated from their friends", says FPCEUP.
[54] Portugal announced that it would distribute 5% of its vaccine doses to a group of former colonies in Africa and to the nation of East Timor.
[70] According to the Portuguese mortality surveillance (EVM[71]), the following chart presents the total number of deaths per day in Portugal for the years 2009–2020 (updated on 10 June).